Oil leaking from intercooler

ausinus

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 27, 2003
Location
Bristol, PA USA
TDI
1998 Jetta GL TDI , white, 166,000 miles
Does anybody have any comments or feedback on this problem.

I have engine oil leaking from the intercooler and bleeding through the driver side marker light. Not enough to leak on the ground but it resembles the size of a childs hand after driving.

I am not burning or consuming excess oil and the car has zero driveabilty problems. I have 145,000 miles with no previous engine problems. That is if you count my glow plugs going at 135,000 miles. I used Castrol Synthetic for 120,000 miles and then switched to Shell Rotella Full synthetic and have been running Rotella since.(Less exhaust smoke with Rotella!)
I have been told that the intercooler fills with oil and just overflows at the top(behind the drivers headlight), which is visible. It is recomended that you drain the excess every 15,000 miles or so.

So the question is this. Does the intercooler need to be drained every 15,000 miles or so, by removing the lower hose? Has anyone experienced this or done this maintenance?
 

VelvetFoot

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 17, 2001
Location
Sand Lake, NY
TDI
NB, 2000, Yellow
Maybe not every 15k miles, but once in a while. It is easy. Just loosen clamp on lowest point and let oil drain out. It is condensed blowby gasses mostly.
 

ausinus

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 27, 2003
Location
Bristol, PA USA
TDI
1998 Jetta GL TDI , white, 166,000 miles
Thanks. It looks like it's relatively simple and I don't have a problem doing it. Just that it is the first time it has happened and apparently should be done as regular maintenance.
 

Rick P.

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2002
Location
Barrie, Ontario
TDI
'97 Passat, Tornado Red, RIP Feb 17, 2006
Oil will collect in your intercooler and it's a good idea to drain it every now and then. However, the only way oil can leak from the intercooler is if it's cracked or you have a loose hose connection. If oil can leak out so can air, and you shouldn't have any leaks in the charge air system.

Rick
 

mgwerks

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2003
Location
Texas Hill Country
TDI
black 1999 New Beetle
Adding a good separator to the CCV system would eliminate the need for this, be it ON CCV, Eclipse, ProVent or good home-built.
 

Rock Crusher

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2002
Location
Hayward, CA
TDI
Golf GL, 2002, Blue
ausinus,

Interesting. FWIW, my '02 Golf TDi, with almost 95,000 miles is leaking a little oil from around where the large diameter hose connects to the intercooler.

No oil showing up on car, but I noticed a few drops on the ground under the intercooler area the other day.

Cleaned up the area -- used spray on degreaser (Gunk) and used water hose to hose off the area.

Manifold pressure appears to be good, for it hits around 63 under certain high load conditions, though it doesn't stay there for long since I don't have a place I can really subject it to high load conditions. I either get to the top of the hill or exceed the speed limit or run into traffic or some combination thereof and have to back off.

But there doesn't appear to be any pressure leaking from the pressurized side of the intake system.

I'm going to buy a new section of hose and one of these days remove the hose clamps and pull the hose free and see if I can find out where the leak is coming from.

At the same time, I'll let any collected oil drain from the intercooler and maybe if it is not too much work, find some way to flush the oil out with some non-residue cleaner (acetone?).

Sincerely,

Rock Crusher (Oo.)
 

Old Navy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 15, 2001
Location
Ozark Hill's in Missouri, USA
TDI
None now, .
The oil is coming into the intake system from the CCV system that runs from valve cover to the hose that connects to the air filter. Most of the oil goes into the intake to mix with sook that helps clog up the intake.
This is all normal because VW didn't put any kind of oil/air seperator or filter in the system to stop the oil.
My 21 year old MB came with one from the factory.
 

pinehead

Veteran Member
Joined
May 19, 2003
Location
Treasure Coast, FL
TDI
Passat
Check the rubber hoses that connect the hard piping. One of mine split last year causing a leak similar to what you are describing but no noticeable loss of power. It has happened more than once. If the split gets large enough you will be able to hear it and notice a loss in power.

Check that the clamps are sealing the "hose to intercooler" connection.

Also would not be a bad idea to check the intercooler for damage as well (not likely but possible).

AJ
 

ausinus

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 27, 2003
Location
Bristol, PA USA
TDI
1998 Jetta GL TDI , white, 166,000 miles
Thanks to everyone for your help.

I drained and cleaned the intercooler and went for a decent drive. No driveability issues or excees oil coming from the side light.
 
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