Major Oil Leak Sprung

Hello,
I've had my 2003 Golf TDI for about 3 months now and its been great. Today I pulled into my driveway, and got out of the car to notice a stream of oil on my driveway from the rear of my car to about 50 feet up the street. The check-engine light was not on. I checked the oil and there was still plenty left so I turned the car on for about 20 seconds. Long enough to confirm the check-engine light was not on and to look at the engine without the cover on it. I immediately saw rapid leaking coming from a bolt line below the oil filter housing and slightly toward the cabin. I don't have a manual for this thing yet, so I'm not sure what kind of oil line this is. Can someone tell me what this is? I tried to tighten that bolt with a wrench, but it was already incredibly tight -- too tight for a lack of bolt tightness to be causing the issue. The line leading from it is hard...perhaps a crack in it or a crack in the gaskets/rings in the bolt.

Is it the metal line that goes around the backside of the engine to the turbo?

If so, it could just need new banjo seals, but I would carefully check that line for cracks. Don't run the engine anymore, the leak is depriving the turbo of its oil supply.

Thanks for the quick reply. I struggled a bit posting a pic, but I put a link in the original post showing the bolt/line that seems to be leaking.

Yup...turbo oil feed line. Your friendly VW dealer should be able to get you the seals separately. Don't let them try to sell you the entire line.

What does the check engine light have to do with oil? Given that people ignore the oil light when it comes on, why would the CEL get people to shutdown?

I'm not that familiar with every situation that would throw the CEL. My assumption, perhaps wrong, was that if enough oil leaked out of the engine to cause low pressure the CEL would come on. In any case, no lights in the dash came on oil/cel etc. Thanks tdicaddguy for confirming for me. After perusing this site it seems the Bentley manual is the one held in higher esteem. Had a Bentley manual for my old Volvo 240 so will be getting one for the VW as well....

I've never heard of a car that threw a CEL due to low oil or low oil pressure. At the point the CEL comes on after either condition, it is because the engine just seized up. Low oil pressure (but NOT low oil level) will cause the oil light to come on, however

And what (sadly) most folks these days don't realize is that unlike a CEL coming on, the oil light comes on, YOU MUST SHUT DOWN _*IMMEDIATELY*_ unless you want to buy a new engine. Not, when you get home, not soon, not at the next exit, NOW.

Not, of course, that YOU all didn't already know that. I only mentioned it in the off chance some newbie who is unaware of this matter was reading this thread, in hopes of maybe saving one person, somewhere, from making that particular mistake.

dwinfield10 said:

I'm not that familiar with every situation that would throw the CEL. My assumption, perhaps wrong, was that if enough oil leaked out of the engine to cause low pressure the CEL would come on. In any case, no lights in the dash came on oil/cel etc. Thanks tdicaddguy for confirming for me. After perusing this site it seems the Bentley manual is the one held in higher esteem. Had a Bentley manual for my old Volvo 240 so will be getting one for the VW as well....

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It sounds like you didn't do any damage then, since the oil light never came on. If it had happened even a mile farther away, you may have lost enough to trigger the oil light before getting home.