Head gasket external oil leak

[aamostrom]

I just bought a 86 diesel Jetta about a month ago to replace one I had a couple of years ago that rusted up. I bought the car in poor running condition lots of white smoke and hard to start. I have since replaced the injectors and glow plugs and the car starts and runs great now. It still smokes for about 10 seconds after a cold start and under wot acceleration but that is all. The engine was a dirty mess when I bought the car so I pressure washed it fairly clean. I now see an external oil leak between the head and block. Other than making a mess is it something to worry about or not? It does not overheat and it is not losing any coolant. Or should it be replaced before causing a serious problem? As good as the car runs now is there a chance when I go to replace it I will find the head already cracked? Thanks for any input on this.

Alan

[ctange]

I think that head crack is unrealtede to oil leak along the head gasket.



The only place where there is high oil pressure is in the channel marked
by a red arrow. So the leak is from there?

The large ducts is for return of oil, so here the pressure should be low.

[Caerbannog]

I replaced the HG solely for that reason: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=11353

It made quite a mess, I had to travel with a piece of cardboard for my parking spot, which I had to replace often as I was losing most of a quart per tankful (~ 500 miles). I finally gave in and replaced it, spraying the new HG with the Permatex copper spray. That's the first HG ever that I didn't put on dry.

A year later, so far so good.

BTW, minor head cracks between the valves are "normal" and no cause for concern.

[bscutt]

I also replaced my HG for the same reason and used a Felpro no retorque gasket. That was 53K miles ago and still clean. However the problem it caused was that oil leaked over to the clutch area and ruined my clutch disk so I had to replace the clutch. When I did I sealed the dust shield to the block in case it ever happened again so oil could not seep into the clutch area. If you can find a way to keep the oil from causing other problems and not "marking it's spot" everywhere it might not be a significant issue. I actually put off replacing mine for as long as I could because everything else was perfect on the HG, but the clutch issue finally drove me to replace the gasket.

[aamostrom]

Thanks for all the information. Luckily my leak is not at the high pressure area. I laid a piece of cardboard under the car today and in 6 hours it leaked a 1 inch diameter puddle. I was concerned about the head cracking from a past experience on a Oldsmobile diesel I worked on. One of the head bolts had broke on that car and right where the bolt broke it cracked the head. So I was figuring maybe the oil leak was a sign of the bolts starting to fail. But it seems with the VW this is not a issue. That is good while the weather is nice I want to do body work on the car I will worry about the head gasket later.

Alan

[Fatmobile]

Luckily my leak is not at the high pressure area.
Alan

Where is it leaking?

[aamostrom]

It is leaking between cylinders 2 and 3 in the front. I can take a photo of it tomorrow. I put it up on a lift yesterday and it appears to be leaking in the back at the same area.

[Quantum-man]

A photo will help oodles

I suspect the oil is traveling along the gasket either from the #3-4 area.

Or most likely from a seal at the front behind the inner timing belt cover....