Oil leak 2005 Passat

Hello all,

My first post with TDIClub.

Bought a 2005 Passat GLS station wagon with the BHW / B5 engine with 175K miles late August, now at 177K. Previous owner had a lot of work done on it by dealers so took a chance it would be in good shape. Maintenance records show:
- 142K timing belt, tensioner, water pump, thermostat, fan clutch
- 167K new tranny
- 171K EGR valve, mass air meter, replaced cylinder head & cam shaft (salvage parts), fuel filter, both manifold gaskets, new turbo, oil change.
- ???K front suspension, brakes.

Last night, just noticed a 2" spot of oil on the floor. Had not noticed any leaks before. Added 1/2 Qt 505.01 to top off.
Not familiar with this engine yet, but leak appears to be coming from near front bottom of the engine where there's a horizontal gasket split about 4''/9.5cm from the bottom of the engine. And, I can feel some oil above that gasket split. (I tried to insert a photo, but just got pages of alpha-numeric gibberish when I previewed my post.)

Can someone advise me what this might be? Hope to gawsh it ain't the dreaded balance shaft module or oil pump. No weird noises coming from the engine--but I'm not familiar with TDI's and they make more noise that the typical gas engine. A mechanic who checked it out before purchase had no comment about this oil leak, so I presume it has just started.

Thanks!

KurtsTDI

Hey KurtsTDI,

Welcome to the club!

There are not many gaskets on the bottom of the engine, you have a pan gasket which is just gasket sealer. Typically the BHWs will leak from the boost hose on the passengers side, or possibly the valve cover gasket... other than that they have been relatively leak free from my point of view.

Might try cleaning the area you think it's coming from with brake cleaner and see if it is still where you think it's coming from.

there is a howto somewhere on posting photos, it's a little archaic, but it works.

Hi KurtsTDI:

The most common leak with high mileage BHWs is the tandem pump gasket at the rear of the cylinder head. Hard to see and usually tough to fix given the room back there. It may not be your leak based on the location of the oil pool, but just a thought for reference.

Like alphaseinor said, check boost hose connections to the turbo and running to the driver's side.

Thanks for the hints, guys. I'll see if I can dig into this and look at the boost hose, especially since the turbo was just replaced. Valve cover gasket OK. TDIs and turbos are new to me - need to get the manual. Taking it to a trusted shop next week anyway to get a really good checkout incase all else fails.
Cheers!
Kurtstdi

Hi Kurt, wondering what ever cam about with this? Did you find where the leak is coming from?

Kurt hasn't posted in over a year.
Try the Model Specific Forum

Oil Leak turned out to be BSM Chain Tensioner Failure

Well, the oil leak was from a Balance Shaft Module (BSM) Chain Tensioner Failure! (There was a valve cover gasket that need to be replaced also.) Shop initially thought the lower engine leak was the front crankshaft seal, but when they got in, a hole was punctured in the front cover, caused by the BSM chain tensioner failure. Straightaway Motors in Bozeman, MT (406-586-2569) did the work for me, removing the BSM and replacing it with an ALH upgrade kit from Bora. (We went with the lower pressure ALH version because it gets cold in MT and thick oil makes for high oil pressures until it warms up.)
Engine runs good and no problems. Idles a little rough, as expected when you remove a balancing mechanism, but still less than my 4-banger Subie and Toyta pickup. Haven't seen any oil leaks since the BSM delete, which was done in December 2015, almost 3 years and 47K miles ago. (So why did I wait so long to report this--either I wanted to make sure Straightaway Motors did a good job, or I'm the world's worst procrastinator...maybe both!). Cost was competitive and they are recommended. Last time I visited them, they had done another BSM delete.
COMMENTS:
- Two mechanics checked my car out and missed this problem. I had noticed a small engine noise and thought it to be normal. One web site mentioned the sound of a bad BSM was like marbles in a blender--which I envisioned as being pretty loud. But no, it as faint. All you should hear is the chug-chug-chug of the engine when everything is OK.

- Running VW spec 507.00 oil. Previous owner / dealers ran wrong oil and they had to replace engine head at 171K miles. Wrong oil contributing factor to BSM failure???

- Bora Parts are good people to work with. No hassle on returned part in un-opened boxes.
- We used instructions (Pt 1 and 2) from myturbdiesel.com. Recommended.

- ADMIN: This post should probably be moved or copied to the BSM delete form and Straightaway added to the recommended shops. I'd post some photos, but can't attach them. Thanks!

Regards, Kurt

very nice post!! thanks