Drinking oil
 

I reset the mileage counter when I last put a litre of oil in and she has drunk it in 390 miles!!!! Warning came on again during this mornings commute.

Power delivery is down and she has been very 'lumpy' but I have also noticed a smell of oil in the heating system, I think some kind of breather or feeder pipe must be split somewhere, possibly putting oil into the air intake plenum and fumes are getting through to the heater matrix? Is that even a thing? Manifold flaps have been deleted and at the time the garage told me there are known cases of (litres) of oil getting into the manifold?

I topped up the power steering yesterday and there is no oil in either of the thick black air intake pipes.

Fault code for oil pressure and oil temp sensor is also showing on my code reader. I think it is the same sensor? Could it be showing a phantom level? I will check in a mo when the oil has settled.

Anyway going to book her in to my garage today but wondered if anyone had any predictions.

Sounds quite similar to what I had some time ago and it turned out to be a tiny washer underneath the intake manifold nearest the bulkhead, rather than the rocker covers or something major.

Have you had any oil dripping from beneath the car? Might be worth just dropping the undertray down a bit on one corner to see if it's pooling on top of the undertray.

So I have just had the garage call me.

It sounds very similar your description.
The oil is leaking 'from somewhere' at the top of the engine under the intake manifold, in the V, and running down and sitting on/saturating the engine tray.

Any ideas and is it a possible DIY solution rather than the booked 6 hours/front of car off job that is now planned for 11th Dec!

Yep that sounds like it. Within the V and running forwards then dripping down on the undertray is how mine was described. I'll try and find the invoice at home later and find a part number or description of the washer so you have a better understanding of it.

I'm not exactly Edd China so used an excellent indipendent VAG specialist near me (www.vwauditec.co.uk) and they removed the manifold so they could get to within the V of the engine to locate the washer at the back.

They checked to see whether the oil running forward had dripped on to the belt at the front but couldn't see any evidence of that, but I had that changed as well since the belt is only a £25 part and access was improved a little more than under normal circumstances if you were to change that belt.

What are their labour charge?+++

I've got £78/hour in my head but give them a call to be sure, as I can't confirm.

They've had plenty of D2s and D3s in there so know what they are doing. They're honest, nice guys and have a good reputation - the polar opposite of the local main dealer who I have proven to be deceitful and incompetent.