Hi, my '99 Passat is burning oil! When stopped, you can see a small bit of smoke coming out from under the hood on the passenger side, close to the windshield. If the AC is not on recirculate, the smoke smell comes into the car once you start moving again (then you have to open the windows to air out)! This does not occur again until you stop, then go again. But the oil level is not dropping! I have brought it to my local mechanic twice and he thinks it is a tiny leak somewhere, but can’t tell where it’s coming from. Any advice??
If you are seeing smoke coming from under the hood and that is oil (blue) smoke, then you have some sort of leak in the engine compartment. You just need to find it. If the engine is clean you should be able to spot it or start looking over various covers. If the engine is dirty, then you may need to clean it first to be able to find the leak. In fact you may have spilled oil that after cleaning will not be there any more. Be careful when cleaning. You can have a auto detailer do it for you. If you do it yourself remember there are some sensitive parts in there and high pressure water can damage them or wet them which could cause problems.
Agree that oil is likely leaking on the exhaust manifold or pipe. You need to find and fix the leak; if it gets worse you will ave an underhood fire.
The V6 engine in these cars are notorious for leaky valve cover gaskets.
Make sure they’re replaced by someone who is familiar with these cars or the leak will return.