Any idea what might be causing these oily deposits? (pic)

[MustardGTI]

Not sure what this pipe attaches to, about a foot down (in the direction as indicated by the arrow) - but when sticking my hand down there, as you do, I noticed quite a lot of oily deposits around it.

I suppose my fear is that it's being caused by a leakage of boost pressure from somewhere in the vicinity, or maybe it's vapors from an engine breather system. Seems a bit much for that through.

Any thought gratefully received.

[mike.]

Might be some related info in THIS thread.

[RocketRossUK]

Yep, something has deffo failed. Usually PCV, DV, or the seals on the pipe. The odd time its the turbo but usually one of the first three.

All pretty cheap fixes. Have you checked your DV?

[Snoopy]

The seals on the inlet pipe have failed leaking when the crankcase ventilation system dumps oil vapour into the inlet pipe to be burned by the turbo. As shown by my thread linked to by Mike.

[MustardGTI]

Might be some related info in THIS thread.

Thanks for the link, seems like the likely explanation. I haven't checked the DV valve, but luckily it's still under warranty so I'll leave it in their hands.

Will undate when fixed.

[Snoopy]

Good luck as my local dealers were changing turbos until I explained the true cause. 
I think the TSB has been updates since.

[pryda]

had exactly the same problem a few months ago. was picked up at the service (done at Awesome GTi). oil was found on the DV, but when I inspected closer it originated from the air feed pipe...

 



20130819_193752 by Pryda_VDub, on Flickr

 



20130819_193810 by Pryda_VDub, on Flickr

 

the issue is with the cold air flow pipe failing under heavy boost. I presume the ECU is mapped?

 

replaced mine with a stock pipe a couple of months back and ithasn't been an issue since. Part number is 1K0 129 654 AP - costing £74 (which I thought was pretty pricey considering APR do an upgrade for £90!)

[MustardGTI]

the issue is with the cold air flow pipe failing under heavy boost. I presume the ECU is mapped?

 

If my car is mapped then it came that way from the VW dealer when I bought it 3 months ago. I thought it was suspiciously quick above 4000 revs but don't have experience of driving others to really know.

[pryda]

I'd be surprised if it wasn't, these parts don't tend to fail on a stock engine...

[Snoopy]

Yes they do seen loads now including mine.