Problem:  My car is leaking oil from every opening!

Solution Difficulty:  Moderate

  Volkswagens are notorious for consuming oil over the span of a regular oil change. I've talked with many VW owners who have to periodically add oil just to get by for 3000 miles. Rumor has it that the rate of oil consumption is related to the break in period of the new engine and if it is done "incorrectly" will result in an oil burning motor for the remainder of it's service life. Minor oil consumption is not a bad thing as long as there is no carbonization in the engine.

  However if you find that your car is consuming more than a quart per 3000 miles and there is no noticeable smoke from the tailpipe then you may have an oil leak. The problem is often masked by the noise insulation beneath the car as it tends to catch small droplets before they can accumulate on the concrete. Typically you will first notice an oil leak either by visually seeing the oil or more frequently smelling a slight burning smell. Depending on location and heat of the component this smell can range anywhere from burning plastic to a slight petroleum stench. Regardless of the smell an oil leak is often a warning sign of other trouble.

  In my case it was a sign that the PCV valve on the breather hose was going bad. The PCV valve relieves the pressure inside the motor's lubrication system which builds up due to blow by in the cylinders. As an engine ages this blow by increases and can often push the internal pressure to a point where oil will begin to leak from every gasket and seal if the PCV valve becomes clogged.

  My trouble began approximately six months prior when I began smelling an oily smell and noticing a small puff of blue smoke while stopped after a bit of hard driving. The engine went from consuming 1/2 quart of oil per 3000 miles to nearly 1 1/2 quarts. I removed the plastic engine covers and noticed small drops of oil around the camshaft sensor and along the top of the exhaust manifold. After several months the problem became worse and eventually the car would smoke all the time.

  I decided to change the valve cover gaskets since this was apparent leaky area. The procedure is fairly straight forward and requires only the removal of the valve cover, plug wires and breather hose. The breather hose was quite brittle and cracked during removal. As a temporary work around we patched the broken piece of hose with a PVC tube which would allow the valve covers to vent properly. we applied RTV sealant to the joint between the cam position sensor and the valve cover.

  Everything seemed fine until two or three days later when the car began smoking ferociously. I had not yet replaced the breather hose so I checked to make sure it was not kinked, which it was not. We attached a second piece of hose to the dipstick funnel and placed the opposite end into a cup of water while the car was running. Immediately we noticed bubbles which indicated that there was positive pressure on the crankcase and that this was the reason for oil pouring out everywhere.

  Since the PCV valve was obviously not working I had to order a replacement. In the meantime I still needed to drive my car so we devised an ingenious solution to the problem. By attaching a piece of pvc tubing to the dipstick funnel and placing the other end inside of a 16oz soda bottle we were able to relieve the crankcase pressure while also preventing oil from soaking the engine compartment. The fix worked for several days until the new part arrived. Still it required considerable effort to clean the lower part of the engine where oil had accumulated on virtually every horizontal space.

  The final chapter of this story involves replacing the breather hose. After several years these become frail and break easily so it's best to be gentle with them unless you have a spare on hand. On a Passat V6 engine the breather hose attaches in two place on top of the engine and an additional two places on the backside. The latter are the hardest to deal with since you can neither see what you are doing nor have ample space to grasp the tabs on the clamp. Others have adequately documented the replacement so I will spare you the gory details.

  So the moral of the story is that if you are experiencing a minor oil leak it's best to go ahead and check for positive crank case pressure and replace the PCV valve and breather hose if necessary. It can be a pain in the butt but it will save you from a time consuming clean up effort if the valve becomes completely clogged and oil sprays everywhere under the hood.

  This article contributed by ERSWeb
Read more by this author at http://ElectronicRealitySolutions.com