Oil leaking and misting

[NAS23]

Hmmm....just spotted a dinnerplate-size patch of oil drips on my driveway and it’s coming from underneath the Golf. It’s normally where I park so this part of the driveway is rarely visible (and I never thought necessary to check for oil leaks on a 2.5 year old car).

Drove it up on blocks to have a better look. The oil pan is bone dry and likewise the sump plug but the back & underside of the engine block and nearby edge of the subframe are misted with oil to the point of collecting into drips on the 2 large nuts in one of the photos (I’ve wiped these first). It’s not easy grovelling around under the car with a phone and flashlight so apologies if not 100% clear.

Car is a 2019 manual with 15,000 miles. The dipstick registers as full so it’s not an extensive leak but appears to have been ongoing for a while judging by the mess. Nothing was highlighted when I bought the car in February when it was also last serviced.
 
Any ideas before I go back to the dealer? This is another concern because I bought from the Skoda branch forecourt of a VAG main dealer group and not their VW branch (the latter is 80 miles away). Would any main VW dealer look at this under warranty? There’s one 7 miles from here but a different group from the one I purchased the car from.

Thanks for listening.

[madstaff]

Smell it, then compare the smell to engine oil.

It may be Transmission fluid which smells very different to engine oil.

It could be a driveshaft seal or could also be grease thrown out from the inner cv joint if the gaiter is split.

Worse still it could be the rear main seal which unfortunately is a gearbox out job.

[SRGTD]

This is another concern because I bought from the Skoda branch forecourt of a VAG main dealer group and not their VW branch (the latter is 80 miles away). Would any main VW dealer look at this under warranty? There’s one 7 miles from here but a different group from the one I purchased the car from.

Thanks for listening.

As your car still has the benefit of the original three year new car factory warranty, you can take it to any VW dealer for warranty work.

[NAS23]

Thanks to both for the feedback. I asked a friendly local garage to have a look on their ramp and they identified gearbox fluid rather than engine oil. Obviously they've not touched anything but inspecting with a torch they advised it's either driveshaft or main seal. Booked in with local VW dealer in 2 weeks time for formal diagnosis and (hopefully) warranty repair but they didn't seem too concerned about me still driving the vehicle in the meantime.

I'll put a drip tray on the driveway to monitor leakage in any case but having this fault on a low mileage, gently-driven GTi does not inspire long-term confidence. I've not had to monitor oil leaks on a car since the dark days of owning an E46 BMW.

[Yusee]

I'll put a drip tray on the driveway to monitor leakage in any case but having this fault on a low mileage, gently-driven GTi does not inspire long-term confidence. I've not had to monitor oil leaks on a car since the dark days of owning an E46 BMW.

Must be a fair amount of luck in all this.
I ran an E46 330 sport for 9 years, put on over 100k miles, and I don’t remember a single fault on that car.

[NAS23]

I've now had this resolved under warranty from the local VW dealer. They had the car for in initial diagnosis and then 2 days to carry out the repair works. Despite some Googling I cannot find another mk7 GTi PP that's had the same repair as per the job sheet description so if anyone can elaborate or clarify purely for my curiosity that would be great:

"Leaking seal identified on the differential; L/H seal leaking and replaced; R/H seal also replaced as precautionary measure; gear box oil topped up; differential oil topped up; car road-tested and re-checked; fault cured."

Before anyone asks I was unable to talk to the operative who carried out the work and the service receptionist was apparently unable (or unwilling) to give me any more details other than what was recorded on the system. I've only got driveway ramps so other than a now oil-free bell housing there's not a lot to see.

Thanks.

[Watts]

Possibly the two outers in the link?

https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/index.php?threads/vaq-seals-replacement.371034/

[madstaff]

Sounds like they've replaced the oil seals for the inner driveshaft flanges.

Basically the oil seal on the extreme right of the pic Watts posted up, similar seal in the opposite side of the gearbox for the other driveshaft flange.