Oil in Intercooler line

Oil in intercooler line

few drops dribble out, normal. few cups pour out, turbo seal. dont know if bad egr system could put excess oil in there or not. depends how much is there. posting with a little more info would be nice. found because running bad and you pulled off, or shop told you something bad, or car running fine but just noticed something that struck you as strange???

Here is a link you could check out.
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=450101

Follow up to this?

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=450101

shortaxis said:

oil in intercooler line

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Normal.

How much oil in the IC line? It is normal to find a coating of oil in the intake path everywhere downstream of the turbo. The turbo seals always leak a little bit of oil by design and there's some contribution from the CCV system.

If the inside of the IC line is just wet with oil and a little bit dribbles out when you drain it, it's normal and nothing to worry about. OTOH, if a gusher of oil comes out, then it may be a sign of failing turbo seals or simply accumulated oil from not driving the car hard enough on a regular basis.

Good luck and Welcome to TDIclub.

What car? Its normal and will accumulate over time. If you have gallons of it, check the turbo.

Guys, check out the link I referred to in #3

Next chapter in this story:

I continued to run the vehicle since October, 2015, when oil was found in the intercooler line. I monitored the oil level closely and it did not change for 5 months. There were a few dribbles on the garage floor, but it seemed to have stopped leaking any. Then, I drove it about 800 miles this weekend and the leak got noticeably worse and the oil level on the electronic monitor showed it dropping.....but, within the min/max bracket. I took it to dealer today and learned that turbo is blown and will have to be replaced. Service mgr said oil level was critically low even though when I arrived at the dealer, it was still registering above the min level with the message that "oil is OK".
Quote for replacing turbo is just short of $4000. 62,000 total miles of fairly gentle driving. So, VW cheats on the worldwide stage on emissions....may offer me some sort of buyout deal in the future, but denies any responsibility for this obvious factory flaw....
I have no choice but to repair the engine. Doubt that I'll ever be a VW customer in the future.

You have made a mistake by "fairly gentle driving", most likely this is your problem

I am pretty sure the Touareg was the #1 worst vehicle for reliability for many many years. People don't buy them for the dependability, they buy them for the German engineering?

I'd certainly get a second opinion before dishing out $4,000.00 to a dealer for anything.

How are power and MPGs?? All normal or down in power and MPGs??

Excessive oil can and will build up in the intercooler from babying it all the time and not driving the car hard enough on a regular basis.

Could be a sign of failing turbo seals since you saw oil consumption going up.

$4000 for a turbo replacement? Mine was only around $2500 - and it's a MUCH bigger turbo than you have.

Took it to the dealer to get the oil checked? Really....

Your first post was funny though! The recorded around here for keeping it simple, wow.

Get a second opinion and check out the trusted Mechanics list for MO. I'm curious to know just where the oil is leaking from. Perhaps a loose connection in one of the boost hoses/pipes.

I didn't take it to the dealer to get the oil checked. However, the only way I know to check the oil in this vehicle is via the digital gauge. I took it to the dealer because the digital gauge showed a drop in the level (which had been stable) and the missing oil was on my garage floor. Since October, I have driven with more attention to running the rpm's up with acceleration as recommended. The engine had lost (maybe) a bit of power, but it was negligible. Anyway, the job is done and I have the vehicle back. The service manager said the "bad" turbo is being sent back to VW for inspection. According to the technician, the oil level was down 3 qts and "critical", even though there were no warnings on the dash and the guage showed the level still 3 bars above minimum.

This is why I will never buy a vehicle without a dipstick! These stupid electronic monitoring systems will eventually fail, and most likely out of warranty. Nope, nope, nope.