Major oil leak...ran with no oil...HELP

Hi, i just got back from a roadtrip(600miles or so) and noticed the entire underside of the car covered in motor oil. i checked the dip stick and it is not even reading...added a quart and still no read. the car seemed to be running fine but i dont really know how long it was running with out oil. after adding more oil i started the engine and crawled under to see where its leaking...its dripping off a bolt on the underside of the turbo, it looks like an oil feed or return line and it bolts up on the underside of the turbo. I took a picture to make explainning it easier but i dont know how to put it on here(im not real computer literate) but i can email it to you if needed. Also I am very concerned that when the car was running to find the leak i hear no turbo noise at all...with my exhaust it is normally quite noticable, even if i rev it no turbo noise. what do you guys think? what is the first step here???

The first thing is to determine how low the oil level is. Add until the dipstick reads full.

Car engines can run on a quart or less, but not for long. If your low oil pressure light did not come on, then odds are that you are ok.

It sounds like the oil return line from the turbo. It is also possible that the pressure line is gone, and oil is dripping down onto the drain line from above. If you clean the area, run the engine and inspect for leaks, you should be able to spot the leak without much issue.

If oil light never came on, your engine may be ok.

I second Windex...Keep adding oil til full, and post how much it took.

The turbo should be ok as long as oil light never came on. It may have a problem if not spooling, but probably unrelated to low oil level.

Does your oil light work? key on, engine off it should light.

If there were a turbo problem, you would have noticed a lack of power on that roadtrip. Mild lack of power: no boost. Serious lack of power: turbo failed, came apart and engine damaged.

just a quick not here, I had bug come in a few months ago that had been driven about 1/4 mile after having a 2 inch hole knocked in the pan, to the point where it started to seize up, it was shut off, towed to a garage, epoxied over, driven 1200 miles to me, repaired properly, driven 600 miles home, and is still running well to this day.

There always seems to be one miracle around the Christmas season...

Well it took just under 4 quarts to fill it...the oil light never came on. What is the most common place for an oil leak that would drip under the turbo...I'm new at this kind of thing but it looks like its comming from one of the bolts conecting the oil line to the underside of the turbo

If you just poured it in and checked it then you are now overfilled. You need to wait at least 10-15 min to get a real accurate reading.

What was mentioned above is right. You should be fine. Also you do not really hear the turbo when reving because there is no load on the car. The computer is smart and won't advance the vanes.

The leak could have been at the Turbo ... hope not.

Also, the oil could be coming from the oil line that goes to the Turbo. Facing the engine from the front of the car, the oil line is routed from the front of the engine around the end of the engine (tranny side) then back behind the Intake Manifold down to the turbo. There is a fitting (connection) at the Turbo that could be leaking. (It's hard to see cause it is behind the Intake.)

And, just maybe the cam seal was leaking or the valve pan cover on the back side could have been leaking.

Oil leaking from the front with road wind could look like it was coming from everywhere.

It's probably the oil line that lubes the turbo bearings. If it was the bearings in the turbo that were leaking I would think you would have had a run-away engine. The fact that all the oil seems to be external and you lost a lot of oil points to what should be a a real squirter of a leak. It may need to be under load to make it happen. Maybe the thing to do is clean it up real good and take it for a ride around the block and check it again. Lines corrode. If in doubt I would just replace them.

so did you clean the turbo and recheck for the leak to see where it is comming from?

Hi all,

This is my first post, but unfortunately it is about a problem I have.
I too have the messy oil leak, and after snooping around it seems taht the turbo is leaking oil from the top oil line.
The weird thing is that it also leaks when idling.

I've had the head gasket replaced the last few days because of another problem (coolant going out the overfill). Now that that's fixed I have this brand new one.

So, I have two questions:
1. Is this type of leak (right where the oil line enters the turbo) a sign of a turbo failure?
2. Can the 2 events (head gasket change and oil leak) be connected ? I mean, does the top oil line need to be disconnected in order to change the head gasket.

Thanks,
Ovidiu

#2 yes. The head gasket is under the head. The turbo is attached to the head. You have to disconnect that line when you remove the head to replace the head gasket.

It could just need a new crush washer for sealing (if it is leaking directly at the connection into the turbo), or a tightening of oil feed line to the fitting that goes into the turbo.

It is not a sign of turbo failure.

It leaks at idle because oil is still being pumped through that line at all engine speeds (except 0 RPM).

Thanks a lot for the reply MOGolf, I guess I was hoping the same thing as well.
I'll talk to the guy tomorrow. After spending 200 euro on the head gasket thing I wasn't looking forward on buying a new turbo.

In the rush of things I also forgot to congratulate you guys for this wonderful forum. It is indeed a great source of info.

Ovidiu

My 2001 Jetta TDI also ran out of oil. While the car was sitting over the summer, the turbo oil feed pipe developed a leak and one day I turned it on to idle, the engine just turned off on its own after about 4 minutes or so. Now the engine is hard to turn, starter burns and smokes. I replaced the starter, but the second one also overheats if I try to start the engine. I guess that's my luck, with other stories about people running for blocks on end without oil and their car still starts. I'm curious to hear your comments on this case

SmoothVW said:

My 2001 Jetta TDI also ran out of oil. While the car was sitting over the summer, the turbo oil feed pipe developed a leak and one day I turned it on to idle, the engine just turned off on its own after about 4 minutes or so. Now the engine is hard to turn, starter burns and smokes. I replaced the starter, but the second one also overheats if I try to start the engine. I guess that's my luck, with other stories about people running for blocks on end without oil and their car still starts. I'm curious to hear your comments on this case

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You need an engine.