Oil leak's
 

Hi folks, My engine has a lot of oil everywhere and looking at past mot's this has been mentioned and previous owners haven't bothered to tackle the problem.

I was going to have the engine bay and underside of the car steam cleaned and then ascertain were the hell its coming from. Are there any areas I should be checking first and there looks to be a leak from the automatic gearbox also.

I should mention there was no service history with the car a few bills for brake work but thats all. Cheers Ryan

2002 2.8 quattro

The 2.8 leaks everywhere. Start with the cam covers, cam oil seals, and replace all the breather hoses as they disintegrate easily. Meyle aftermarket versions are available.

Chances are its also leaking from the valley pan gasket, but thats a big job since the inlet manifold has to come off - not a pleasant job with the engine in the car.

Once you've stopped the top leaking, next is the oil cooler in between the oil filter and the sump - that has two o-rings which disintegrate. Then, on to the oil sump pan itself, and the crank sprocket oil seal next time the cam belt is done.

The gearbox will likely be leaking from all three output shafts. I've done a write-up on the front shafts which is on here somewhere. The rear output shaft is pretty well documented. Note that gear oil goes in these, not ATF! Castrol Syntrans Transaxle is good stuff and cheaper than OE.

The gearbox may also be leaking from its sump, which is rarer but more serious. Worth having a good look once you've cleaned it all to make sure its gear oil and not ATF that is leaking.

This is a good reference thread for the 2.8 as I took it out and re-sealed everything.

Thanks Mikkijayne