2003 Jetta 1.8T odd oil leak question

**Hi guys! I have a 2003 Jetta GLS 1.8T (5-speed and almost 18K).
Today, on the way back from Wendys the car threw its first CEL.
Since it wasn't blinking (and I had gassed it up this morning), I
figured that I would let it go for several days to see if several cold
starts would shut it off.

When I left work, there was a line of dark fluid running along the
edge of the car on the ground. It was only on the driver's side. So I
got down there and it looked like (and had the consistency of) motor
oil. It was fairly drippy and sprayed everywhere! All over the
driver's-side front and rear wheel wells even on the side of the car.
My car has the OEM sport suspension with 17s so I really could not
trace back where it was coming from or even get under there for a good
look. It seemed to also be on some of front tire's 'mechanicals' so to
speak, places that wouldn't be hit if it was just off-of-the-road-type
spray.

I checked the oil and it was a bit low (half way up the
crosshatching). It shouldn't be low, it's synthetic with 3000 miles on
it since the last oil change. Is it possible that there is a leak
somewhere on the engine and it worked its way out the front tire area?
My service guy told me that it was kinda odd. There was no oil drips
anywhere else but from the front tire to the back tire area. And, no,
I'm almost completely positive that I didn't run through a massive oil
puddle My cousin, a Jetta TDi owner, suggested a weird oil burp
back through the engine having to do with the air intake and such.

My car is at the dealer and I'm pretty sure I won't have to pay for
anything, but I'm nervous because my car is my baby. I just
wondered if anyone has experienced this weird oil leak or has any
ideas as to the cause.

Thanks everyone!

kaboomie

My friend smashed his oil pan on his Golf TDI.... not actually a difficult
feat of accomplishment, it's mounted pretty low apparantly (tho I drive over
way worse roads then he does, and i've been fine).

His car was leaking oil by the time it got to his mechanic. Hopefully you
didn't do the same thing.
"kaboom" > wrote in message
...
>
> **Hi guys! I have a 2003 Jetta GLS 1.8T (5-speed and almost 18K).
> Today, on the way back from Wendys the car threw its first CEL.
> Since it wasn't blinking (and I had gassed it up this morning), I
> figured that I would let it go for several days to see if several cold
> starts would shut it off.
>
> When I left work, there was a line of dark fluid running along the
> edge of the car on the ground. It was only on the driver's side. So I
> got down there and it looked like (and had the consistency of) motor
> oil. It was fairly drippy and sprayed everywhere! All over the
> driver's-side front and rear wheel wells even on the side of the car.
> My car has the OEM sport suspension with 17s so I really could not
> trace back where it was coming from or even get under there for a good
> look. It seemed to also be on some of front tire's 'mechanicals' so to
> speak, places that wouldn't be hit if it was just off-of-the-road-type
> spray.
>
> I checked the oil and it was a bit low (half way up the
> crosshatching). It shouldn't be low, it's synthetic with 3000 miles on
> it since the last oil change. Is it possible that there is a leak
> somewhere on the engine and it worked its way out the front tire area?
> My service guy told me that it was kinda odd. There was no oil drips
> anywhere else but from the front tire to the back tire area. And, no,
> I'm almost completely positive that I didn't run through a massive oil
> puddle My cousin, a Jetta TDi owner, suggested a weird oil burp
> back through the engine having to do with the air intake and such.
>
> My car is at the dealer and I'm pretty sure I won't have to pay for
> anything, but I'm nervous because my car is my baby. I just
> wondered if anyone has experienced this weird oil leak or has any
> ideas as to the cause.
>
> Thanks everyone!
>
> kaboomie

On Mon, 16 May 2005 22:32:36 -0400, "Rob Guenther"
> wrote:

>My friend smashed his oil pan on his Golf TDI.... not actually a difficult
>feat of accomplishment, it's mounted pretty low apparantly (tho I drive over
>way worse roads then he does, and i've been fine).
>
>His car was leaking oil by the time it got to his mechanic. Hopefully you
>didn't do the same thing.

**Hi Rob. I hope there's no hole in the oil pan. They might try to
blame me I know I haven't hit anything.

kaboomie

Yah, he didn't even know he hit anything either, just pulled out of a
parking lot, manhole was jutting out (tho nothing out of place around here,
lots of roads are missing their top layer of ashphalt) of the road and he
heard a light scrape... got home and his brother told him his car was
leaking oil.... Dealer didn't warranty his, but it was only around $130
bucks.
"kaboom" > wrote in message
...
> On Mon, 16 May 2005 22:32:36 -0400, "Rob Guenther"
> > wrote:
>
>>My friend smashed his oil pan on his Golf TDI.... not actually a difficult
>>feat of accomplishment, it's mounted pretty low apparantly (tho I drive
>>over
>>way worse roads then he does, and i've been fine).
>>
>>His car was leaking oil by the time it got to his mechanic. Hopefully you
>>didn't do the same thing.
>
> **Hi Rob. I hope there's no hole in the oil pan. They might try to
> blame me I know I haven't hit anything.
>
> kaboomie

On Tue, 17 May 2005 18:12:56 -0400, "Rob Guenther"
> wrote:

>Yah, he didn't even know he hit anything either, just pulled out of a
>parking lot, manhole was jutting out (tho nothing out of place around here,
>lots of roads are missing their top layer of ashphalt) of the road and he
>heard a light scrape... got home and his brother told him his car was
>leaking oil.... Dealer didn't warranty his, but it was only around $130
>bucks.

**Well, I got the car back this afternoon. They washed the car down
and watched for an oil leak and couldn't locate a source. They think I
did run through something on the roadway. It had to be a big
something, they said there was oil everywhere. They also said that my
oil was on the low side and they put more in. That makes me wary, I
didn't think that 1.8Ts burned oil (especially synthetic). I only have
3K on it since the last oil change. I'll just keep an eye on it. Also,
I didn't have to pay anything Hurray!

The CEL on the other hand was a problem, so they replaced the coolant
sensor and seal (O-ring?). I think it was that green-topped one that I
alway see mentioned here and in vw forums. Since my car was a wee
Jetta, it's had a very minor erratic idle. You might be sitting at a
light and you'd feel the engine stumble and see the rpms dip a bit and
rise and then level out. I noticed on the way home today, the car
didn't do it. That's not to say the problem is gone though, I just
need to spend more time in the car.

Is your friend's Golf lowered at all? There have been some manhole
covers and bumps that I hold my breath and go over with fingers
crossed.

kaboomie

The 1.8T's aren't known to burn oil... Same friend has a buddy with around
300hp in his 1.8T GTI and apparantly not even that thing uses oil, big turbo
and all.

His Golf was a bone stock Golf TDI 5-spd manual with 17" alloy wheels and
the correct profile tire (99% correct in height) to be the same diameter as
his old 15" wheels, the 17" alloys were VW brand... His new car is a Jetta
TDI Sport (Canadian limited edition) - which featured lowered suspension and
sport shocks (GLI - TDI kind of... has nice heavily bolstered cloth seats -
no body kit tho, just badging).

As I said I take my car on some bad roads, and have heard my mudflaps scrape
tons of stuff.... but my plastic underbody guard is in decent shape (no
scrapes to indicate impact)... I avoid the big stuff - thats what the cross
drilled brakes and stiff Koni shocks are for ;-).
"kaboom" > wrote in message
...
> On Tue, 17 May 2005 18:12:56 -0400, "Rob Guenther"
> > wrote:
>
>>Yah, he didn't even know he hit anything either, just pulled out of a
>>parking lot, manhole was jutting out (tho nothing out of place around
>>here,
>>lots of roads are missing their top layer of ashphalt) of the road and he
>>heard a light scrape... got home and his brother told him his car was
>>leaking oil.... Dealer didn't warranty his, but it was only around $130
>>bucks.
>
> **Well, I got the car back this afternoon. They washed the car down
> and watched for an oil leak and couldn't locate a source. They think I
> did run through something on the roadway. It had to be a big
> something, they said there was oil everywhere. They also said that my
> oil was on the low side and they put more in. That makes me wary, I
> didn't think that 1.8Ts burned oil (especially synthetic). I only have
> 3K on it since the last oil change. I'll just keep an eye on it. Also,
> I didn't have to pay anything Hurray!
>
> The CEL on the other hand was a problem, so they replaced the coolant
> sensor and seal (O-ring?). I think it was that green-topped one that I
> alway see mentioned here and in vw forums. Since my car was a wee
> Jetta, it's had a very minor erratic idle. You might be sitting at a
> light and you'd feel the engine stumble and see the rpms dip a bit and
> rise and then level out. I noticed on the way home today, the car
> didn't do it. That's not to say the problem is gone though, I just
> need to spend more time in the car.
>
> Is your friend's Golf lowered at all? There have been some manhole
> covers and bumps that I hold my breath and go over with fingers
> crossed.
>
> kaboomie

On Tue, 17 May 2005 22:01:19 -0400, "Rob Guenther"
> wrote:

>The 1.8T's aren't known to burn oil... Same friend has a buddy with around
>300hp in his 1.8T GTI and apparantly not even that thing uses oil, big turbo
>and all.

**Dang. Well, I think something else is now messed up with the car.
When they VAG'd it, I think it did something. I'm finding that now
when I start the car after being parked for 4 hours or more, the
tripometer resets itself to zero. Is this fixable? What's wrong? Any
ideas? Hey, a question barrage!

>His Golf was a bone stock Golf TDI 5-spd manual with 17" alloy wheels and
>the correct profile tire (99% correct in height) to be the same diameter as
>his old 15" wheels, the 17" alloys were VW brand... His new car is a Jetta
>TDI Sport (Canadian limited edition) - which featured lowered suspension and
>sport shocks (GLI - TDI kind of... has nice heavily bolstered cloth seats -
>no body kit tho, just badging).

**Wow, that's cool that they did that to a TDI. I just recently
returned from vacation in CT (I'm in MI). I usually drive through
Ontario (from Niagara to Detroit) and I see tons of VWs. What a change
from southeastern Michigan Many, if not most, are TDIs. On the way
to CT, I spotted two SMART cars in Canada, also. Are those sold there?

>As I said I take my car on some bad roads, and have heard my mudflaps scrape
>tons of stuff.... but my plastic underbody guard is in decent shape (no
>scrapes to indicate impact)... I avoid the big stuff - thats what the cross
>drilled brakes and stiff Koni shocks are for ;-).

**I live on a maintained gravel road myself. It doesn't get plowed in
a timely manner in the winter so I end up having the prettiest tornado
red snowshovel on the block.

kaboomie

Trip odometer goes to zero after ~4 hours... well... it's electrical, in the
electronics shop at work a problem like this would likely happen if the
pull-down resistor (connected to ground, so the input on a chip doesn't
"float") going to the input of a chip which would normally receive a +5V
signal when the pushbutton for reset happens, disconnected itself, and now
when the button isn't being pushed the input is "floating" at an unknown
voltage... if the chip sees a higher voltage then maybe 2-3V on that line,
then it could think you are pressing your switch and it's resetting....
How's that for complicated, unless you understand electronics... Though I am
not sure this is how the VW trip odometer reset functions - so this might
not apply (though most switches that are tied into electronics work like
this).

Yes the limited edition TDI Sport are NICE cars... 5000 allotment to Canada
and all seem to be sold out. TDI models account for over 40% of Canada's VW
sales, in my area I would say they sell over 60% of Jetta's with a diesel,
and 50/50 2.0L/TDI on the Golfs, have seen a good number for Passat TDI's
consdering they are pretty new... no Touaregs yet you.

Yes they sell the SMART car here! I see one every day on the way to work,
and one of my father's apprentices has just recently traded in his 1997 Golf
for one. I got passed by one on the highway a month or so ago.... and I
speed, he must have been doing a solid 130-140 (and I must have been slowing
down for something ;-) ).
"kaboom" > wrote in message
...
> On Tue, 17 May 2005 22:01:19 -0400, "Rob Guenther"
> > wrote:
>
>>The 1.8T's aren't known to burn oil... Same friend has a buddy with around
>>300hp in his 1.8T GTI and apparantly not even that thing uses oil, big
>>turbo
>>and all.
>
> **Dang. Well, I think something else is now messed up with the car.
> When they VAG'd it, I think it did something. I'm finding that now
> when I start the car after being parked for 4 hours or more, the
> tripometer resets itself to zero. Is this fixable? What's wrong? Any
> ideas? Hey, a question barrage!
>
>>His Golf was a bone stock Golf TDI 5-spd manual with 17" alloy wheels and
>>the correct profile tire (99% correct in height) to be the same diameter
>>as
>>his old 15" wheels, the 17" alloys were VW brand... His new car is a Jetta
>>TDI Sport (Canadian limited edition) - which featured lowered suspension
>>and
>>sport shocks (GLI - TDI kind of... has nice heavily bolstered cloth
>>seats -
>>no body kit tho, just badging).
>
> **Wow, that's cool that they did that to a TDI. I just recently
> returned from vacation in CT (I'm in MI). I usually drive through
> Ontario (from Niagara to Detroit) and I see tons of VWs. What a change
> from southeastern Michigan Many, if not most, are TDIs. On the way
> to CT, I spotted two SMART cars in Canada, also. Are those sold there?
>
>>As I said I take my car on some bad roads, and have heard my mudflaps
>>scrape
>>tons of stuff.... but my plastic underbody guard is in decent shape (no
>>scrapes to indicate impact)... I avoid the big stuff - thats what the
>>cross
>>drilled brakes and stiff Koni shocks are for ;-).
>
> **I live on a maintained gravel road myself. It doesn't get plowed in
> a timely manner in the winter so I end up having the prettiest tornado
> red snowshovel on the block.
>
> kaboomie
>

On Thu, 19 May 2005 19:50:45 -0400, "Rob Guenther"
> wrote:

>Trip odometer goes to zero after ~4 hours... well... it's electrical, in the
>electronics shop at work a problem like this would likely happen if the
>pull-down resistor (connected to ground, so the input on a chip doesn't
>"float") going to the input of a chip which would normally receive a +5V
>signal when the pushbutton for reset happens, disconnected itself, and now
>when the button isn't being pushed the input is "floating" at an unknown
>voltage... if the chip sees a higher voltage then maybe 2-3V on that line,
>then it could think you are pressing your switch and it's resetting....
>How's that for complicated, unless you understand electronics...

**I...uh... :::BOOM::: Look what you did! There's my cranium rolling
around the floor like an errant hubcap. Actually, I kind of
understand, however, it hasn't happened again (so far, at any rate).
Is it possible to have a one-off glitch like that? Or perhaps one that
will rear its head occasionally?

>Though I am
>not sure this is how the VW trip odometer reset functions - so this might
>not apply (though most switches that are tied into electronics work like
>this).

**When I look under the hood of my 2003 Jetta and then under the hood
of my Dad's 66 El Camino...........I still would rather have the
Jetta! However, I'm stunned by how simple engines were then
compared to now.

>Yes the limited edition TDI Sport are NICE cars... 5000 allotment to Canada
>and all seem to be sold out. TDI models account for over 40% of Canada's VW
>sales, in my area I would say they sell over 60% of Jetta's with a diesel,
>and 50/50 2.0L/TDI on the Golfs, have seen a good number for Passat TDI's
>consdering they are pretty new... no Touaregs yet you.

**I've seen some of the Touaregs around but they don't really do
anything for me. They're nice, of course. I think getting the diesel
one would be cool. Today, my sister got a new BMW X5. Her hubby talked
her into the biggest engine so 'he' could tow his M3 to places like
Watkins Glen. She thinks the engine is cool but she's really cheesed
that it doesn't come with a manual transmission. Is it normal for some
of the really big-engined SUVs and whatnot to only come as an
automatic? She really loved the X5 with the 3-liter and manual tranny.
Mucho fun! I wouldn't mind getting one of those.

>Yes they sell the SMART car here! I see one every day on the way to work,
>and one of my father's apprentices has just recently traded in his 1997 Golf
>for one. I got passed by one on the highway a month or so ago.... and I
>speed, he must have been doing a solid 130-140 (and I must have been slowing
>down for something ;-) ).

**You mean 130-140 kph right? I'm not a slow driver either. I find
that people are fairly decent on the 401 (death highway) and the
403 is okay but I find some Ontarians (?) are just plain nuts on the
QEW. I'm not dissing the Canadians at all! Driving through Detroit is
a horror and that doesn't even include the ****ty drivers!


kaboomie

Sorry about the electronics jargon... but it's as simple as I could get it -
and is the only explanation I could think of... basically the switch shows
position 1 or position 2... your cars + battery voltage (well... about half)
or the cars chassis ground... If it's somewhere in between things get messy.

Auto's in big SUV's - pretty much the norm... maybe not in Europe, but even
there most big engines get the automatic... People would be frying clutches
all the time is the logic according to most car magazines I read. - That and
their consumer groups indicate there would be only marginal sales.

I am Canadian so, yes 130-140 would be kph.... Canada is a weird place, we
use metric for speeds, fuel at the pump, and official documents, but we
still buy a lot of food at smaller stores in Imperial units, I measure
everything in feet and inches unless I can find a metric measuring tape (I
prefer metric here, as everything divides by ten making it much easier then
pesky fractional numbers), and I only know my weight in pounds.

I enjoy driving on the 401 as well... The 2 lane stretches are nicer... some
of the 3 lane parts outside of Toronto are great too... it's only bad when
you are in the city, then the idiots come out.... I like the high average
speeds - most people find 130 to be comfortable, and on clear
evenings/nights the traffic might flow with a solid 150-160 in the fast
lane.... You mentioned the QEW - that is a pure commuter road from
Niagra/Hamilton to Toronto.... It's the worst road ever, I suggest using an
alternate... the 403 is essentially the same road, but yes it is better for
some reason.


"kaboom" > wrote in message
news
> On Thu, 19 May 2005 19:50:45 -0400, "Rob Guenther"
> > wrote:
>
>>Trip odometer goes to zero after ~4 hours... well... it's electrical, in
>>the
>>electronics shop at work a problem like this would likely happen if the
>>pull-down resistor (connected to ground, so the input on a chip doesn't
>>"float") going to the input of a chip which would normally receive a +5V
>>signal when the pushbutton for reset happens, disconnected itself, and now
>>when the button isn't being pushed the input is "floating" at an unknown
>>voltage... if the chip sees a higher voltage then maybe 2-3V on that line,
>>then it could think you are pressing your switch and it's resetting....
>>How's that for complicated, unless you understand electronics...
>
> **I...uh... :::BOOM::: Look what you did! There's my cranium rolling
> around the floor like an errant hubcap. Actually, I kind of
> understand, however, it hasn't happened again (so far, at any rate).
> Is it possible to have a one-off glitch like that? Or perhaps one that
> will rear its head occasionally?
>
>>Though I am
>>not sure this is how the VW trip odometer reset functions - so this might
>>not apply (though most switches that are tied into electronics work like
>>this).
>
> **When I look under the hood of my 2003 Jetta and then under the hood
> of my Dad's 66 El Camino...........I still would rather have the
> Jetta! However, I'm stunned by how simple engines were then
> compared to now.
>
>>Yes the limited edition TDI Sport are NICE cars... 5000 allotment to
>>Canada
>>and all seem to be sold out. TDI models account for over 40% of Canada's
>>VW
>>sales, in my area I would say they sell over 60% of Jetta's with a diesel,
>>and 50/50 2.0L/TDI on the Golfs, have seen a good number for Passat TDI's
>>consdering they are pretty new... no Touaregs yet you.
>
> **I've seen some of the Touaregs around but they don't really do
> anything for me. They're nice, of course. I think getting the diesel
> one would be cool. Today, my sister got a new BMW X5. Her hubby talked
> her into the biggest engine so 'he' could tow his M3 to places like
> Watkins Glen. She thinks the engine is cool but she's really cheesed
> that it doesn't come with a manual transmission. Is it normal for some
> of the really big-engined SUVs and whatnot to only come as an
> automatic? She really loved the X5 with the 3-liter and manual tranny.
> Mucho fun! I wouldn't mind getting one of those.
>
>>Yes they sell the SMART car here! I see one every day on the way to work,
>>and one of my father's apprentices has just recently traded in his 1997
>>Golf
>>for one. I got passed by one on the highway a month or so ago.... and I
>>speed, he must have been doing a solid 130-140 (and I must have been
>>slowing
>>down for something ;-) ).
>
> **You mean 130-140 kph right? I'm not a slow driver either. I find
> that people are fairly decent on the 401 (death highway) and the
> 403 is okay but I find some Ontarians (?) are just plain nuts on the
> QEW. I'm not dissing the Canadians at all! Driving through Detroit is
> a horror and that doesn't even include the ****ty drivers!
>
>
> kaboomie
>