Oil Leak from rear drivers side?

[CanadaA3wales]

Hey
I am taking my car to my guy tomorrow as I think a hose has a crack in it as the leak is not that bad, but seems to be pooling in a pan on the rear drivers side, quite close to the tyre.

I have checked the oil and it was done on my full service and its half way up the dipstick?

I have no warning on my dash.

Anyone know what this could be around this area?

Thanks all, can post pics if need be, but will have to redo them as they wont accept such good quality pics due to size on this site.

 

[CanadaA3wales]

Picture

 

[CanadaA3wales]

Been looking online, it says it could be a broken valve gasket seal as this usually does not bring up any warnings and may not be picked up on a service.
Does this sound right maybe?

 

[steverobertsbbc]

When you say "rear driver's side", do you mean the rear of the car or the rear of the engine bay?

 

[CanadaA3wales]

When you say "rear driver's side", do you mean the rear of the car or the rear of the engine bay?

Sorry rear near the back drivers tyre. It looks like its building up in a pan as the surrounds from my images are a diffident colour. Almost like a wet oil look compared to the top of the pan where its dry and a dull colour.

 

[steverobertsbbc]

If it's at the back of the car, it's more likely to be oil from a leaking shock absorber or the rear diff/Haldex if it's a quattro, I would have thought?

 

[CanadaA3wales]

No its a FWD so no haldex.
I was thinking this, I cannot see how oil would make it so far down the back of the car, but my drive is on a incline so thought it may have run down some hoses. I am not very mechanically inclined so I am unsure.

 

[CanadaA3wales]

If you look past the rusty looking part you can see the oil stain. It's no where near the shock, it's got me stumped.
But that's not hard when it comes to engines lol

 

[Liam Morris]

That's the bottom of the Fuel tank, Could possibly be a bad Fuel Filter at a guess, wouldn't know without getting underneath and looking properly though.

 

[CanadaA3wales]

Its definitely oil as I have had it on my fingers, also the leak was there before my service, but did not think it was from my car, I didnt really pay much attention to it as its only a few dribbles.
I guess your right, we wont know. I hope he can sort it out while I wait, if not do a temp repair and clean until he gets the parts in.

This is all I need as I just paid 600.00 for new brakes, major service, and now owe the wheel refurb guys 300.00 when I pick up my wheels lol.

I guess this is what I get for buying a high mileage car, but hey it was still £3000.00 less than top book and its not a previous write off, so I am still within budget.

 

[CraigM]

Could it possibly be brake fluid? Apart from that or oil from the shock absorbers I can't think of anything else oily at the rear of the car. If it was petrol or diesel it would have an obvious smell to it.

 

[CanadaA3wales]

He did have to drain the brake fluid as he did all my calipers and painted and refurbed all the brakes.
I will keep you guys updated as its got me stumped as to how oil is away from the shocks and so far away from the engine.

 

[Liam Morris]

Its definitely oil as I have had it on my fingers, also the leak was there before my service, but did not think it was from my car, I didnt really pay much attention to it as its only a few dribbles.
I guess your right, we wont know. I hope he can sort it out while I wait, if not do a temp repair and clean until he gets the parts in.

This is all I need as I just paid 600.00 for new brakes, major service, and now owe the wheel refurb guys 300.00 when I pick up my wheels lol.

I guess this is what I get for buying a high mileage car, but hey it was still £3000.00 less than top book and its not a previous write off, so I am still within budget.

Was the major Service done at a dealer and did that include an inspection? if so they should have spotted that and you might be able to wangle them to look at/investigate it at least to save some money there!

 

[CanadaA3wales]

Its a close mate, I text him today and happy to see me tomorrow first thing.
I would trust him even if I had a RSQ8, he is very good.
I wanted work done and he refused saying I would be wasting my money, so he is very honest and have been using him on all my cars for the past 10 years.

Yes I agree he should have noticed it, but I cannot see why he would have been around that area, but he will not charge me if its a dodgy filter or something. If its a seal that broke, then I would probably have to pay for it. He only charges me £30.00 per hour.

 

[CanadaA3wales]

OK
Had it on a ramp and its Diesel not oil.
The tank is fine, he thinks its the sender seal or receiver, forgot what he said lol

He asked me to run it down to quarter tank and clean it off and see if it still leaks, if it does then the tank needs replacing, but he said he cannot remember the last time he did a rubber/plastic tank as they are so strong, he thinks the seal on the top of the tank and bits of diesel is sloshing through the seal leaking down as he said it seems to be coming from the top.

He did not want to take the tank off as I just filled up and he said its perfectly safe, just advised not to put anymore diesel in it.

So it continues lol

 

[S32B]

OK
Had it on a ramp and its Diesel not oil.
The tank is fine, he thinks its the sender seal or receiver, forgot what he said lol

He asked me to run it down to quarter tank and clean it off and see if it still leaks, if it does then the tank needs replacing, but he said he cannot remember the last time he did a rubber/plastic tank as they are so strong, he thinks the seal on the top of the tank and bits of diesel is sloshing through the seal leaking down as he said it seems to be coming from the top.

He did not want to take the tank off as I just filled up and he said its perfectly safe, just advised not to put anymore diesel in it.

So it continues lol

At least you now know what it is and it's easy enough to fix

I had a VX Carlton many years back with a metal fuel tank, we were going on holiday the next day so I filled it up to the top! (Massive tank on those) I came out the next morning to a strong smell of petrol, looked under the car and it was all over the floor, turned the engine on and I had just over 1/2 a tank left...small split on the tank just enough to seep just above the halfway mark....I got it repaired when we came back, but all holiday didnt fill over 1/2 way lol.

 

[CanadaA3wales]

LOL Yeah he said he repaired lots of old metal ones, but he could not even remember when he had to replace a rubber one, and he works a lot, council, work vans and public so he has seen it all.

He said its not that easy as he needs to take the whole tank off as the sender is on the top, the part probably costs a few quid, but labor will probably be at least 2 hours at 30.00 x 2

 

[Mikeso51]

I shudder to think what Audi would charge...............

 

[CanadaA3wales]

I shudder to think what Audi would charge...............

I would say at least 500 and probably tell me I needed a new tank.
When you find a good mechanic, they are worth their weight in gold.

 

[S32B]

I would say at least 500 and probably tell me I needed a new tank.
When you find a good mechanic, they are worth their weight in gold.

I was just about to say the same, they don't fix they just replace! On ramps it's not a hard job, just fiddly.

We recently stopped building cng cars (gas), the tanks on them say do not use after x date, life time use is 10 years. When off the car they look like a bomb!