really bad mystery oil leak

[driver42484]

ok so i have an oil leak. Not the normal drip kind. The kind that blows oil all over the engine and drops a few quarts if i am on boost hard. I removed the oil pan and the turbo drain line and put new gaskets on there. The valve cover gasket was replaced a week or so ago and was leaking..... Dont ask me why. So I took it off and cleaned it and tried to reuse it. It is brand new. Well the valve cover still leaks. Im having trouble tracing the leak. I have cleaned the engine down and replaced a ton of gaskets. Most of the oil seams to collect on the cross member where the front engine mount is located. Any thought?

 

[talontsi1225]

Did you check all the oil lines for the turbo? Check around the oil filter housing.

 

[dsmornothing]

Check your Oil Feed and return, its obviously a pressure leak, and those are really the only 2 spots that have pressure that are exposed

 

[GRAVEDIGGER]

Did you take off the oil return line and look at it really good? If not, you may want to do that. They like to crack in the flex section area and can be hard to see unless you wiggle it and look at it really well. If it checks out ok you need to clean up the area and take a short drive, maybe even stopping along a back road and crawling underneath to see if you can pinpoint the leak. YOU are going to have to find the leak b/c you have the car in front of you. Keep looking and you'll find it. Good luck!

 

[And_44]

When I got my 90 TSi and finally got it running there was a narly oil leak that was spewing from a hole in my exhaust, turned out the previous owner stripped out the bolt between the 2nd and 3rd cylinder on bottom and that is a oil galley. When ever the car ran at an idle the oil would sputter out but under any rpm upwards where oil pressure increase the splatter turned to a stream of oil.

 

[luv2rallye]

If you cant find the leak after that, go to you local auto supply and get some ultraviolet oil dye. Pour it into the crankcase and use a blacklight to locate the leak.

 

[driver42484]

The return line is new on the turbo. And i put new rings on the feed line. Even polished it.... I got bored haha. Theres a puddle on the intake, and im thinking the cam sensor is leaking. The intake puddle is from the valve cover which im planning on gluing in place. The sensor i think i have a gasket for it. Ill take some pics when i get some time. I went through 3 quarts today.... fun fun

 

[MJBean420]

Check the valve cover really good too. I had a similar problem and couldnt figure out where it was coming from. Then I noticed a small hairline crack in my valve cover where it was squirting all over the engine under high boost.

 

[driver42484]

Im going to do just that. It does leak from the valve cover...