Problem Reports

 Rookie

Notified by Miramar San Diego VW dealer that oil is leaking from the back of my engine cylinder head onto the exhaust. Seems like the same issue.

Leaking from camshaft chain tensioner and valve cover gasket due to clogged PSV system.

 Enthusiast

very common problem, i replaced mine and replaced/cleaned the entire pcv system as a blocked pcv system can cause blown gaskets.
when i replaced my valve cover gasket i didnt put ant gasket sealer in the corners etc and its now leaking again less than 15000 miles later, time to do it right by following the write up on www.passatworld.com

 Rookie

i think i have a similar issue, at least i know she burns thru oil rather quickly

 Rookie

I can smell the oil thru the vents till car fully warmed up
seems to loose 1/2 quart every two weeks very little leaks and reaches the ground under the car or when im driving and engine is fully wared up

Engine Oil Leak causing Oil Pressure light come on. Changed Valve Cover Gasket, switched to full senthetic oil - idling never went away. After a short period engine would not start again.

dealer estimate is $318. I will have local mechanic handle it.

I just bought this car in october from a dealer as is. Car drove great and had no flaws. After the second day I started to notice a burning smell almost like transmission fluid. I took it back and they said it was the oil pan gaskets so they fixed it. Five days later the smell was back. I wasn't getting oil in my driveway so I figured it was nothing much. I am now getting check engine lights and another shop light. Low oil so I will add some until i can get it looked at. I hope it's not a major job.

My car was losing oil. The European car mechanics I was taking it to couldn't figure out how I was losing the oil. The interior of the car started to smell of burning oil. The mechanics were still unable to tell me what was wrong, but were willing to charge me $2000 to try and fix it. I decided not to go back to that garage ever again, and instead, fix the car myself, even though I have no background in car repair.

After searching the web for "burning oil smell Passat 2003 V6", I saw that the valve cover gasket and cam tensioner seals were the prime candidate for the cause of the problem. It took me 10 minutes of investigation, to see that my engine was leaking oil, from those locations. I plan to buy the valve cover gasket & cam tensioner seal kit from BlauParts.com, and tackle the job myself.

 Rookie

Develop small leak around cam shaft tensioner. Could smell burning oil after car first started and was warmed up, then smell went away. Used a stop leak additive to oil and it fixed it self after 6 weeks or so.