Looking for advice with leaking engine oil

[rezadu]

I've got a 2012 mk6 with about 85,000 miles. At my last oil change they said my cylinder head cover needed to be resealed and quoted me $1,200 to fix. Was a little much at the time so I declined. Now here is where I am seeking advice.

I'm pretty sure my timing chain tensioner is the one with the issue and has not been replaced yet. And the 1200 quote was because resealing the cylinder head requires them to do something with the timing chain (forgive my ignorance on engine repairs). Should I continue driving with this leak and see if my timing chain tensioner fails to have it replaced under the extended warranty?

 

[brat_burner]

Man that sounds like quite a bit for a head cover reseal. Did you have a complaint of it leaking oil, or was that an upsale?

 

[rezadu]

Nope no complaint. But I am now noticing oil on the ground. Assuming its the same issue.

 

[ben_m]

Have them check your water pump too. I had this issue last year and it turns out the oil was leaking down onto the Water pump and destroyed the seals causing the pump to fail. Luckily I had an extended warranty to cover most of the costs. I'd def do a Carbon cleaning since at that point it will just be labor for them.

 

[brat_burner]

I don't think you would want to be driving around to see if the tensioner fails. What shop quoted it? Have you tried anyone else in DFW?

 

[BudgetPhoenix]

By cyl head reseal they mean the cam girdle cover which is is the top bearings for the cams + timing cover, it uses a special sealant opposed to a gasket and need to open timing cover/s to lock cams in place so timing doesnt jump. It can get costly in labor. If the leak gets bad it can leak oil everywhere. Also another major source for leaks is the upper timing cover gasket and the cam adjusting gasket on the cover. These can cause bad oil leaks down the sides and back of the engine.

 

[gdub09]

Cam cradle is leaking, happens on all CCT's. Its not like a normal valve cover seal/gasket, it holds the cams in place and is labor intensive to fix, hence the price. With this leaking, the oil runs down the front of the motor onto to water pump and destroys the seals for the water pump. I would just replace the water pump, do a carbon cleaning while the manifold is off, and reseal the the cam cradle.

 

[MrFancypants]

In my case the engine was leaking over the turbo, so I let it go for years because it wasn't bothering anything. I only bothered to have it fixed because it was finally leaking enough to hit the ground under the car after I parked it and I saved a few hundred bucks on labor as I had a new timing chain installed at the same time.

The shop that did the work told me that they believed the reason these start to leak are bad PCVs. I guess on some engines bad PCVs blow out the rear main seal, on others the cam cradle seal goes. Sucks either way, but at least if the transmission had to come out I could finally upgrade the clutch.

 

[1ashchuckton]

With a bad PCV that crankcase pressure finds the weakest spot. Seems that many times its the rear crank seal, but I'm sure it finds other places to vent.

My thought is on these cars the PCV should be changed out as a precaution. I'll do mine at 70k, if it hasn't failed by then.

 

[brat_burner]

With a bad PCV that crankcase pressure finds the weakest spot. Seems that many times its the rear crank seal, but I'm sure it finds other places to vent.

My thought is on these cars the PCV should be changed out as a precaution. I'll do mine at 70k, if it hasn't failed by then.

How often do these fail? Worth doing the catch can setup with new plate that replaces the factory pcv?

 

[bertha]

Loving this thread, I think this is a very interesting discussion

 

[alpha3]

I replaced mine at 88k. It wasn't leaking or anything.......but I began to notice the car didn't seem right; not its usual self. ( I know, I know, what the hell does THAT mean). At speed, the only thing I could really put my finger on was this sense of surging, a bit of hesitation, but even that wasn't super noticeable. Just here and there, and I noticed it more with the cruise on. I hooked the car up to my VCDS cable; no codes. So I did some web surfing on the forums, here and the Vortex. The PCV valve seemed a possible culprit. It wasn't that expensive, so I ordered one and replaced it. That did it. Symptoms gone, car happy again, and probably saved myself a blown gasket somewhere.

 

[funkymcbain]

Christ these cars... So I'm just learning about the PCV, just ordered a new one plus the main hose for it. I've been dealing with major oil leak issues; lower timing cover, cyl head and, according to the garage, rear main. I did my lower cover and cyl head already. If I hadn't stumbled upon these threads I would have changed the RMS at some point and had it blow out again. Effin ridiculous. Now it's winter up here and I can't work on the car in the driveway so I gotta eat it for a while. Will be replacing the PCV as soon as it arrives and see if that reduces the RMS leak. I've also been dealing with exhaust fumes in the cabin, which is REALLY annoying. The shop I took it to told me there weren't any exhaust leaks so we thought maybe it was just the smell of the oil or something. I'm really hoping it's just this stupid PCV POS.

 

[Allchokedup]

If you are in the DFW send me a PM. I have a great mechanic that works at am indy shop

 

[Allchokedup]

You dont have to buy the complete PCV. You can buy the diaphragm kit at local parts store for about $15. Very easy to do