2015 Passat TDI EA288 Engine Oil Leak Around Front Area

[93celicaconv]

Hello. I have a 2015 Passat TDI with the EA288 diesel engine and has 109,000 miles on it now. It has had a very small engine oil leak at the front end for several years, which only showed around the top of the oil pan and on the top of the under engine covers - never dripped to the ground - until just recently now. It is still about 20,000 miles from needing the timing belt change - which when done will likely show exactly the source of the oil leak.

Until then, or until the leak gets worse, does anyone have any previous experience with this engine and a front end oil leak who could advise what the possible source is?

Could it be a crankshaft oil seal? A camshaft oil seal? And oil pump shaft oil seal? Something else?

I believe, when I checked for oil seals, the oil pump does not have a replaceable oil seal - it is rather resolved by replacing the entire oil pump assembly. That seems rather strange, but that is what it appears like to me.

I would just like to get a little background so I'm prepared when I do change the timing belt - so I don't have to order extra parts after finding out the source of the oil leak and having to wait 1-2 weeks to get the parts - I don't want the vehicle to be out of service that long. So if anyone has had a similar experience with their EA288 engine and had the leak repaired, please advise what the source of the oil leak was on yours. Or if you have experience with this family of engines, what the probably causes might be. I would really appreciate it.

 

[oilhammer]

Front sealing flange. Big job, the UPPER oil pan has to come off, along with some other stuff, and you'll need a couple more SSTs.

 

[93celicaconv]

By front sealing flange, do you mean the front crankshaft seal (P/N 04L 103 151)?

What are the SST's needed (besides those needed for a timing belt replacement)?

For doing it the first time at home, about how many hours would you expect it to take?

Is there a procedure documented here in the TDI Club Forum that does a good job going through the process?

 

[calimustang]

Oilhammer is correct. My 2015 Passat is doing the very same thing. It is the most Dumbest design in my opinion.
I am forever grateful I have CJAA (2014 JSW) over this. My gf drives the Passat.

 

[93celicaconv]

I saw on a video where the upper oil pan does not have to come off to change the front seal flange. But all the work up to that point is the same as a timing belt change (almost the same). How many miles on the 2015 Passat, calimustang? I think the EA288 (2015) is very superior to the EA189 (2014), with this seal requiring a complete housing to allow replacement being the only exception. I did get a quote from a VW dealer if the only thing done was to replace that front seal flange: $237.33 in parts + $860.00 labor = $1,097.33. Although the also quoted a timing belt change by itself (with a new tensioner, water pump and coolant): $959.54 in parts + $1,030.00 labor = $1,989.54. If both were done at the same time, about $500.00 labor would be reduced. I don't know, but for normal maintenance items, that seems high. I'm hoping to do this myself, but I'm fearing how long the vehicle will be out of service.

 

[740GLE]

A local VW independent shop (same shop that did my CJAA TB back in 2016 for around $1000) also quoted $2K for a TB and about $1K to sprinkle on the crankshaft seal over the phone. That is a tough pill to swallow if it happens every 100K.

My only hope is that they padded the quote with some contingency items, they said they needed to replace the metal bottom oil pan as "it gets bent on removal" (well first they said it originally had a plastic oil pan . . .) I didn't ask for a formal break down of price printed out.

Right now the oil marking in the garage is very hit or miss. Wife drove for +3 hrs straight (180 miles) this past Monday on a return trip home, parked in the garage, no oil spot Tuesday the next day. She went to work this morning Wednesday, and low and behold an dime spot of oil. This was the first oil spot that has shown up in about a week and half.

Looking at the repair manual it does state there are some blocks that have two piece upper oil pans, and some that have only one upper oil pan. Is there a VIN break down of this change?

Also it looks like this sealing flange needs to be removed to replace the oil pump belt, anyone also doing that belt "while you're in there"?

If i were to tackle the job, I'd wager I'd want to plan a full weekend with the hopes day 1 I'd get the TB system removed upper lower pand and flange removed, and the point the new flange would be ready to install, then day two would just be focusing on putting everything back together.

 

[oilhammer]

There is a specific threaded hole in the lower oil pan that is used to gently pull it off the upper, so you do NOT bend it.

That part really is not any more difficult than doing the same thing on the EA888 engines or the 2.5L engines.

The basic arrangement of the bottom of the CVCA/CRUA is not drastically different than the TDIs before it, but there are more specific sealant apply points to the upper oil pan. And the front sealing flange is of course plastic, which is how the rear sealing flange has been for many years on other engines, so the need for careful starting of threads on those bolts is critical as they are not threading into cast iron, but threading into brass inserts molded into plastic.

 

[740GLE]

I saw that comment about bolting the pan off, so i lost a little bit of faith in their comments but i'm sure they aren't elbow deep in TDIs all day especially knowing the '15 is such a short run.

So what's the book time to do a TB plus front flange seal replacement 10-15hrs? How does that book time match your experience?

 

[oilhammer]

Book time is 3hr for the upper oil pan. So that, plus the timing belt job, plus the R&R of the crank sprocket and the flange itself. Which, other than it being plastic, isn't really any different at that point than any of the other late type belt driven 4 cyl engines (ALH, AEG, AWM, BEV, BEW, BHW, BRM, etc.)

If I were bidding this job, I'd add 3.5hr to the normal T-belt job.

A significant chunk of time for jobs like this are consumed with CLEANING things. Surfaces sealed together with a liquid applied sealant means a lot of scraping and scrubbing and spraying and wiping to get everything squeaky clean again so the newly applied sealant can do its job. And with the CVCA and its "stacked" oil sump setup, that part is doubled, that's why the time is so much more (an ALH oil pan, for instance, is only 2.1hr).

 

[740GLE]

thanks for the info

 

[93celicaconv]

What would be the best investment regarding getting a complete service/repair manual (or set of manuals) for a 2015 VW Passat TDI, which would cover timing belt, water pump, oil seal housing, DSG oil flush & fill, etc.? Given I will have a lot to deal with in the next 20,000 miles or so, time to get a complete & detailed manual (I think).

 

[AverageAndy]

Go here:

erWin Online | Volkswagen of America | Step by Step

erwin.vw.com

Set up a one day subscription and download everything you need or think you will need.

 

[93celicaconv]

Thank-you, AverageAndy. I suspect the information is broken into multiple pieces. I was hoping for something like a large PDF that contains everything an original service/repair manual used to contain (or a PDF for each volume in a full service/repair manual set). I suspect this is not set up like that. I will take a look and see if it is possible to download an equivalent of a complete service/repair manual for my vehicle from this site.

 

[740GLE]

it is a single PDF for engine/driveline related stuff. It has a bunch of different pages for the timing system, not the absolutely cleanest as following compared to a custom DIY that's been composed here.

 

[93celicaconv]

it is a single PDF for engine/driveline related stuff. It has a bunch of different pages for the timing system, not the absolutely cleanest as following compared to a custom DIY that's been composed here.

If the custom DIY that's been composed here is better than the erWin VW PDF, could you tell me where this thread is located in this forum?

 

[740GLE]

i think a couple have been created for Gen 1 and Gen 2 TB jobs, you'd have to do a search and i think they are easily found.