Sound of dripping & small oil (?) leak - paranoia?

[Linus Van Pelt 0]

Hey peeps,

 

When I got home from work on Friday, after switching the car off I swear I could here the sound of something dripping. I think it came from the front of the car, but I can't really be sure. I've not noticed it before so I wondered if this sounds like something I should be concerned about?

 

I just went out to the car and it dripped again, but this time it sounded like it was coming from where the fuel pump is, so now I'm really confused...

 

I had a look under the car and couldn't see anything obvious leaking, except for a little bit of what looks like oil. (I don't think this is connected btw).

 

I've taken a quick piccy, but since at least two people have worked underneath my car recently, I'm assuming it's nothing to be worried about.

 

The drip is coming off a bolt under some metal barrel-esqe bit under the engine (shown by the red arrow pointing down). The two short arrows point to areas where there's quite a bit of oily build-up...

 

Hoping this is all normal & I'm just having a 'Marvin' moment... :shock:

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Looks like you have a gearbox flange seal out. Does the oil smell of peanuts?

 

Kev

[Henny 0]

Arrow pointing down is from your sump bung, The middle arrow points up to the rear of the sub-frame, and the right most arrow points up to the anti-roll bar.

 

I'd guess from that that the part you describe as the "metal barrel-esqe bit under the engine" is your sump.

 

If your sump has developed a leak, then I'd expect both of the right most arrows to be oily as this is where any leaked oil will splash onto while you are driving! :?

 

The things that you need to check are that the sump bung (bolt in the bottom of the "barrel-esqe bit") is tight, and that whoever did the last oil change replaced the copper washer on the sump bung... A small amount of oil around these areas is nothing to be too alarmed about, especially after 200K miles like mine's got! :lol:

 

Sounds to me like it may well be a nice simple sump bung leak...

[Rossco 0]

henny is spot on, my golf was the exact same, nothin too drastic to worry about.

 

ross

[Linus Van Pelt 0]

Thanks for the assistance guys, very much appreciated!

 

I'm going to get some of those wheel ramps, I think, so I can get under there to check these things out properly and clean all that cr@p up... :shock:

 

Regards,

 

DtM.

[sc16v 0]

could look trying to get a carrado on those ramps mate. just be carfeul with them, you better buying axle stands and jack. alot safer and easier :D

[Linus Van Pelt 0]

could look trying to get a carrado on those ramps mate. just be carfeul with them, you better buying axle stands and jack. alot safer and easier :D

 

Is there a problem with using ramps then? I'll have some assistance to make sure I'm straight etc... (and I got some advice from my dad)

 

Also, in the piccy you should just be able to see the CAT (just a bog standard aftermarket, not VAG or anything)...

 

If I said that it only went on in March last year... it's looking a but fubar'd already... (you can't see it in the pic, but there's a right royal dent in it too). I lost the heat shield when the old one was taken off... given I have an s/s milltek, is this a case of the CAT not good enough to handle the exhaust, or just what you get for fitting cheap parts... :oops:

[sc16v 0]

ducanthemad wrote

Is there a problem with using ramps then? I'll have some assistance to make sure I'm straight etc... (and I got some advice from my dad

 

Because many of these ramps are steep, getting a C without it hitting the spoiler can be a problem.

The ramps need to be held in place whilst driving onto them as they can skid across the floor and jump too.

And just becareful that there balanced befor you go underneath, as it has been known for the car to shift forward on the ramps, thus causing back of the ramps to rise and smack the sills and topple to the ground.

 

Just be careful of these things mate. :)

[Linus Van Pelt 0]

Because many of these ramps are steep, getting a C without it hitting the spoiler can be a problem.

The ramps need to be held in place whilst driving onto them as they can skid across the floor and jump too.

And just becareful that there balanced befor you go underneath, as it has been known for the car to shift forward on the ramps, thus causing back of the ramps to rise and smack the sills and topple to the ground.

 

Just be careful of these things mate. :)

 

:shock: I see...

 

Well, I do have the shorter of the spoliers (standard wheels & suspension), and I can hold them in place so here's hoping!

 

I'm picking them up tommorow, so if they look too steep I'll go for the axle stands option instead...

 

Thanks for the top tips!

 

DtM.

[Linus Van Pelt 0]

Decided against the ramps in the end... but after a major service by AmD, they've diagnosed the oil leak, or rather the oil leaks :shock:

 

Both my distributor and my cam cover are leaking oil...

 

Ho Hum...

 

DtM.