Engine Oil Leak Advice Needed!!

[dpalmer_220992]

Evening all!

I was wondering if the MK5 GTI suffers from common areas where engine oil tends to leak out before I start the tedious task of a strip down to try and find it.

Basically I finalllllly got around to changing my diverter valve today (HUGE difference I might add) and noticed a sizeable oil leak down the back/side of the engine, hard to tell how high, maybe a little bit above the turbo perhaps? But it's around the turbo area. If you're standing in front of the car the leak is back left of the engine.

I do have several pictures but I'm not too sure how to upload them, it's been a while since I posted any, when I figure it out I'll upload them.

As I say I'm not asking for people to diagnose something they can't see, but if there are common failures that'd be a good place for me to start looking.

Cheers!

[pudding]

The most common engine oil leak is from the vacuum pump.  The O ring isn't the tightest of seals but a fresh one from VW usually sorts it.  Oil leaking from that can wick itself around the gearbox side and rear of the engine block, making you think it's coming from somewhere else.

Underneath they're usually pretty dry.  Front and rear crank seals are pretty good on these engines. 

Other areas to consider are over spills from oil changes/top ups and weeping/split oil supply hoses (to the turbo).

[coolhandluke]

I'd guess the vacuum pump to. You can try a new seal first but if it doesn't fix it your looking around £200 for a new pump. You should be able to see if it's leaking.