Hi I have an 02 1.8T quattro with a manual transmission. Recently my car has started to consume a quart of oil around every 250-300 miles. I'm aware of a leak from the top back side of the engine but not sure what it is exactly. I was driving around this morning and i heard a wierd whining from the engine/turbo? And my car seems very delayed now. Any ideas on what it might be? I know I need a t-belt but not for at least another 10k. Also white smoke coming from tail pipes only when let idle for more than 3 minute without moving but goes away almost instantly after I start driving again. Any ideas on this? Could all these things be related or what? Car has 151k and the t-belt was done at 94k by the previous owner.

 

the oil leak is most likely the valve cover gasket. if thats the original one on the car then its served you quite well! from what i heard they have a life expectancy of about 80k.

theres some DIYs on it,and it seems to be a pretty straight forward job if you're in to doing your own work.

 

see i thought that it was too and replaced it about 3 months ago, it seems to be coming from a back metal piece near the timing chain...

 

hmm thats odd. it could be it didnt seal right when you put it together? i dont really know.maybe a pic could help a little bit to narrow it down.

i thought you said the leak was in the back though, but the timing belt is in the front of the engine? just trying to clarify

 

its your cam tensioner seal..... metal gasket with a half moon rubber insert. They tend to leak every 50,000 miles or so.

Its a 30.00 seal and 4.5 hours labor on the books from your dealer if you should choose that route.

And from the symptoms you supplied.... It does sound like you turbo is failing

 

can the cam tensioner leaks be seen on the outside of the valve cover? i thought that would just burn internally.

 

Yes and No...

I think your confused to the cam tensioner's purpose and position.

It sits on the back of the engine and seals the intake camshaft.

The valve cover seals the back of the engine and the exhaust camshaft.

It will leak down the back of the engine is land on the exhaust and burn up.

Maybe not purpose cause its name is what it does, but it sits inside the head and can no way contributed to burning oil thru combustion

 

thanks to everyone who posted something on here no one was saying anything for a while. first off yes im 99% sure that the leak is coming from the timing chain tensioner, it can be seen on the back of the engine and you can see a lot of oil on the exhaust. but something new just happened! i had to add some oil so i pulled into a gas station cause it was a terrible rain storm that just hit us in CT and when i was trying to add oil the rain and wind were hitting very very hard and everything was getting soaked so i tried to cover the hole where you put the oil in but its very possible some sort of water/condensation entered my engine, now i was driving my sister and cousin home from school yesterday and the check engine light came on, so i parked my car in my garage and havent driven it since, i go to start the engine this morning but it doesnt crank to 1200 rpm for the cold start up, its barely making it past the normal 800 rpm idle when first turned on and sounds to be running a tad rough, there is a distinct but very muted tick from the engine every few seconds. i just turned my car back off and took my moms jeep, but ive really been wondering about what could be going on with my car...

 

cam tensioner seal* not timing chain sorry i got them mixed up while typing this