oil leak (intercooler)

[130TDI]

hi people, woke up today several small drops of oil on the drive more or less underneath the drivers side headlight, ive contacted a few garages who have informed me that it could be the intercooler and it cant really be fixed the only way is to replace intercooler
1st question is this true?

on the otherhand another garage told me its not too bad and if i give the intercooler a wipe underneath now and again it will be ok.
2nd question is this true

any advice would be appreciated im not sure if to put up with it and give it a wipe now an again, replace it with new part , or go to scrap yard and get 2nd hand one, im really crap with cars and am not even too sure what intercooler does, help me out guys:1zhelp:

[130TDI]

forgot to mention i have recently had a very small water leak on the radiator and solved this with rad weld within a couple of days the water leak stopped and the oil leak started any chance these could be related,cheers

[towcestervag]

they are not related
remove hoses from intercooler and clean seals thoroughly
clean intercooler connections and refit with silicone sealant on the seal only

[kenney]

The oil originates from the turbo,there is alaways a certain amount of oil in the hoses and the intercooler.If you have an oil leak,then you also have a pressure leak.Check the hose at the bottom of the intercooler,it is often the O ring which,swells up, and starts to leak.The best thing to do is remove the hose from the cooler and let the oil run out,this can take several hours.

[130TDI]

hi,thanks for the reply, so would you say that the oil is coming from the seals, could there be any other area it could leak from, and would this be a long term fix,
when you say connection am i right in thinking this is all the pipes and hoses etc that is coming off the intercooler.
thanks again sorry for the dumb questions i have little knowledge but am wanting to learn, so i can look after my car, :beerchug:

[130TDI]

ok kenny thanks for that, if i remove the o ring andlet the oil drip out for several hours and clean the o ring and seals, it should then be ok right ,
will this then be a routine job maybe every couple of months cheers

[kenney]

Just the lower hose.This is oil that has accumulated through time,and a lot depends,on just how much oil,is coming from the turbo,before it needs cleaning again.Usually, we are talking years.I think you would be wise to replace the O ring,as i said they tend to swell up,which makes it difficult to fit again.

[130TDI]

Thanks kenney
i will do as you have said and will go to vw and buy a new o ring and give it a try, thanks again for the help and info