My mother recently gave me her 2001 VW Cabrio with about 102,000 miles on it. After driving to Florida, I noticed it had a slight oil leak (maybe a 3" diameter spot on the carport over nite). I inspected the vehicle and the oil appeared to be coming from the transaxle (manual transmission) so I thought at first it might be transmission or gear box fluid. However, after chaning engine oil, I noticed the oil spots gradually changed to “clean” (i.e., engine) oil. Since the leak is minor, I have given it lower priority to other projects. Now after driving the car for a little under 2500 miles since the oil change, the oil level is down about 1/2 quart. But the leak appears to have stopped.
I’m using Mobil-1 full synthetic 5-30. Any thoughts as to what might cause this leak to stop at this point?
It’s coming from the rear crankshaft seal. It makes its way down through the clutch housing, between the engine and transmission. At this point it might only leak when the engine has sustained high RPMs, like on the highway.
I would live with it and have it changed when the car needs a clutch. If down the road it gets hard to shift that means the clutch has become oil soaked. Then you’ll need to get a clutch and seal replacement.
Thanks! I was thinking that this might be something that could be done at the same time as a clutch replacement. I’ll pay particular attention to the shifting and keep this in the back of my mind.