Oil leak on newly bought car (second hand from dealer)

[Beans]

Hi all, I need your advice on what to do.

I bought my car (2006 A3 TDI 140 S line) at the start of April from a trader, and at the time it was apparent a new turbo was fitted. Not a problem, as things do go wrong so this didn't bother me too much. Anyhow, it had an oil leak which was quite bad so I took it back who then got their local garage to fix it - the problem was in the top half of the engine on the rocker cover, this was fixed no problem, however they never cleaned the excess oil off the engine (it was covered).

I got my friend who is a mechanic to steam clean the whole engine, and there was still an oil leak. This time it appeared the intercooler was full of oil, and it was leaking from the EGR valve. At the time it looked more serious, however they said it was just this and they tried to get out of fixing it (sort of) - I even got my friend mechanic to talk to the mechanic of the local garage. At the end I thought everything was fixed, so put the underside tray back on.

3weeks later I have started to notice oil dripping over the weekend (by pooling on the underside tray hence I didn't notice the leak earlier - I store it in my garage so the oil spot is in the same spot every time). It today has been up on the ramp (at my mates garage), and its leaking, albeit very slightly, from the turbo pipe (or somewhere above it) - however it can't be seen where exactly it is leaking from.

I'm now in the situation I've got to go back to the garage, and I know they will just fob me off. You can't see the leak from looking under the bonnet, you need it on a ramp which means it needs to be booked in before it can be looked at. The reality is (as I can see how these things work) the garage is told to do the absolute minimum by the trader - so I don't believe it's the garages fault (e.g. why the hell didn't they clean the engine to see if there were any more oil leaks).


Now, if I was a normal customer I would have never noticed the oil leak and the pooling oil would just be blown off when I drive it; and if I'm honest I just don't want the hassle - I've got enough on my plate at the moment as it is.

What do you think? I'll post pics.

 

[Beans]

 

[Beans]

oh ok.

 

[Ash187]

Go back and demand they fix it all properly and that there is no sign of it leaking, tell them that you want visual confirmation of the 'fixed' leak after they say its completed otherwise you refuse to collect it and that the trader will have to compensate!
your well withing your rights to do this

 

[Beans]

Coming back to this, they cleaned the underside and said the sump plug was leaking - which was replaced. Although it does look as though there was a tiny leak there, it doesn't explain the oil on the boost pipe.

Now, I've cleaned the underside of the engine and taken it for a short drive and the leak is back. If you look from the top, the engine is spotless it's only underneath where you can see any oil leak at all. I think it may be a leak in the sump (sump gasket, although I know there isn't a gasket there just sealant).

The second option it could be leaking where the crankshaft comes out the engine (this is on the cambelt side), but I'm not sure if this is possible? I don't believe it is the head gasket, as the car runs fine and I've looked for signs (milky oil, smell etc).

Maybe it is oil inside the turbo which is leaking down in the pipe, but how does it get on the outside nice and equally? I've also unplug the pipe and run the engine to see if oil is spitting out - which it isn't (the car had a brand new turbo prior to purchase).

I'm fed up with this, it's only a tiny leak (teaspoon overnight) and if it were bought privately I would just leave it and it can be fixed when I next have the cambelt done, but I didn't it was from a dealer. Also, I'm itching to get it remapped with bluefin but want to make sure everything is right before I make any changes.

Where do you think the leak is coming from in the pic?

 

[Ash187]

mate honestly go back to the dealer and give them the keys! tell them that if the leak isnt sorted you want all your money back! that just takes the ****

 

[~RS~]

Second what itwasntme says mate, I'd stroll back in there leave keys and tell them to stop being tight and rectify the issue! A sump plug costs them nothing an EGR on the other hand is circa £200+labour.

 

[TDiTom]

Sale of goods act if they get funny with you. Cars leaking oil therefore is faulty and needs fixing at there expense, if they fob you off you have the right to get it fixed elsewhere and persue them through small claims court for the cost.

 

[Brodster]

Get legal on their a55. They will then back down and rectify the problem. Works every time as they dont want their 'good name' being tarnished.....

 

[Lewis90]

I had this same problem mate il poist a pic below to show.

I bought my A3 in august last year and the turbo went in the first month of owning it.

I did a warranty claim and it got knocked back, so i got an independant to fix it, blah blah blah.

The month after that the second turbo went, i had pools of oil on my drive followed by white smoke, 4 weeks on and many photographs later the garage and turbo supplier argued over whos fault it was. It was the garages by not realising that the oil return pipe was kinked and couldnt release oil back into where it needed to go. 3 turbos later the car still makes the exact same noise as it did before.

 

[~RS~]

****** hell mate that sounds horrendous!

 

[Beans]

Well, I've been back for the forth time now.

The oil leak is actually coming from the turbo air pipe. When the car is running the oil is vaporised, and when it's switched off it settles at the lowest point where it is dripping from.

The issue is the turbo went before I bought it (they got it as a trade in) and the previous owner drove it round with a blown turbo so the air system/intercooler was full of oil. When I bought the car, I knew it had a brand new [genuine] turbo (had it on the ramp to confirm). I did take it back and they cleaned as much oil as possible from the system, because they obviously tried to save money by not cleaning out the system.

Now, the question is - is the oil leak (which is less than a teaspoon when switched off) old oil which cannot be cleaned out (which they claim) or new oil leaking from the system somewhere.


A couple of points, I've left the car unused for 3days and the oil leak is exactly the same as if it were left for 6hours. I'm not losing oil, although it is difficult to check such small amounts. The oil leak *seems* to be less than before.


Now, I'm going to do a few tests - I've used my best china bowl to catch the drips (rather than cardboard) so I can see exactly if the drips are lessening. I'll leave it for a week or two monitoring this.

EDIT: To confirm things in my post a few days back, it is not leaking from the sump or crack seal. It is definitely coming from the turbo air pipe.

 

[Lewis90]

It was horrendous mate, a right **** on.

These turbos are more trouble than what they are worth, i never had these probles with my 1.poo corsa

 

[~RS~]

Well to be fair my turbo done 107k before it went pop but it's taken the IC and a few other bits with it. They are indeed chocolate turbo's. I've gone for a hybrid and more oomph for my troubles

 

[Beans]

Update: It's now spitting oil back out of the EGR value, as it was before. I'm not sure if it is to do with the warm weather, although if it is its irrelevant.

Therefore, new oil is getting into the air system somehow. I'll have to call them again, although any technically minded people know why this is? Do you think they never bothered to replace the seals when they installed the new turbo?

 

[hades-]

this is what i would do
take it to a good garage get it looked at with a report
take it back and demand they fix it also the invoice for the report
then dont pick it up till its fixed

 

[Viking]

They've had enough goes at trying to fix it. I'd be asking for my money back please.

 

[CornRattle]

They've had enough goes at trying to fix it. I'd be asking for my money back please.

This

 

[170quattro]

when my turbo failed on my ford van it cost a new engine, the turbo oil seal leaked the engine ran on engine oil, turned off van engine still running at huge revs had to stall to stop it. on stripping down valves had hit piston, bottom end scored due to loss of oil ( this was in intercooler) ended up with new engine, turbo, intercooler and pipes two months in warranty.
can you contact last owner to find out history of the last turbo failure as might have been quick repair and flog it
if it was me i'd be wanting my money back unless you've got plenty of warranty left

 

[Beans]

Well, I've got 18mths warranty. I did look on google maps at the previous owners address, and I don't think I'll be knocking on their door any time soon.

I'm gonna visit my mate who's a mechanic today, to get their views again.

 

[Beans]

I thought I'd update this thread. Anyway, back in April the garage had the car back four times over three months - every time it had to be booked in, as there garage was so busy... blah blah blah it pushed it past the 3months sales of goods act limit.

I've just had my car fully serviced, and gave me car to my mate for a week to see if the leak can be fixed, if not I shall sell it. Anyway, they had it for the first week and did a full service (the car was serviced in Feb this year, full service). Firstly the fuel filter was like this:



Second, they actually found a fuel leak! Like ***. This is why I was having really bad fuel economy, however it was only leaking when under load - and to be honest it would probably evaporate before it dripped (I was loosing about 20-25% of my fuel). That fixed, I'm now getting 50mpg instead of 40mpg.

They fixed two oil leaks too. Basically some work had been done on the car and the garage who did it never replaced any gaskets and just used sealant. Anyway, got my car back... and still oil leaks (albeit less). Gave it back the second week.

The second week they took the cambelt off and it turns out the cam shaft housing was covered in sealant which was there the leak was, this took them about 6hours. I've now got the car back and all is well. The overall cost, which was massively reduced was £500. £200 for service, and £300 for fixing the oil leak. I did see my car every night after work to talk about progress, and if it wasn't mates rates this would have easily been well over £1k.

Overall, I'm happy with the car - so far - and I'm disappointed as I started to hate the car due to the problems.



Now, the other issue I have is the dual mass flywheel. This rattles like a mother trucker. I think part of the issue is because it was revo'd at 185bhp. However my mate thinks the diesel leaking into that area played a part. The good news is the fly wheel is covered under warranty (well on the paperwork) and I've spoken with the garage who I bought the car from to deal with the warranty and I'll be happy. They have said until the flywheel breaks it can't be replaced. And we all know what the warranty company will say... wear and tear.

Now we all know the flywheel rattle will only get worse and worse but not officially break. This is the problem I had with my old golf, and why I sold it. The cost of the dm flywheel and clutch is £768 (the clutch is not covered under warranty, but you may as well replace it if doing the dm flywheel).


Now I'm not sure what to do, I basically bought a lemon, but should I try to re-coop my costs (£300)? I believe the garage has lost massively on the car (repaired four times), but that's not my problem, and it was the cheapest car that I liked.

Anyway, I thought I'd update you all...