A driveway oil spot that started at the top of the engine

The owner of this 2009 Volkswagen Eos, a 2.0L with 128,000 km, noticed fluid leaking onto his driveway and brought the car in to find out where it was coming from.

Upper timing cover and cam magnet gasket: The timing cover gasket and the cam magnet gasket, which is built into the timing cover, had gone brittle and deformed (photo 2). Oil was seeping out here, running down the engine mount (photo 4), onto the turbocharger pipe, down the back of the engine and finally onto the ground. A slow leak like this lowers the oil level over time, and oil sitting on rubber parts like the engine mount and hoses softens them and shortens their life. Oil near hot engine parts can also cause a burning smell.

Oil drain plug: The drain plug had been rounded off, so it couldn't be removed with normal tools. A damaged plug makes every oil change a struggle and may not seal properly, so it had to be dealt with before we could go any further.

• Removed the rounded drain plug with an extractor and installed a new one
• Changed the engine oil
• Removed the lower splash shield and degreased the engine to find the leak
• Replaced the upper timing cover, with its built-in cam magnet gasket, with an original Volkswagen part
• Replaced the oil separator (PCV valve) as preventive maintenance
• Ran the engine on the hoist for 30 minutes and checked for leaks

After 30 minutes of running on the hoist, there was no sign of oil leaking. The leak is fixed.

We replaced the oil separator (PCV valve) even though it hadn't failed yet. On these engines it is known to fail, and when it does, pressure builds inside the engine and pushes oil past other seals, like the oil pan gasket and the rear main (crank) seal. Changing it now helps protect the new timing cover and the rest of the engine's seals.

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