oil leak (boschmann???)

[blazingintellect]

I've noticed that my 2000 VW Golf is leaking oil at about the rate of .5 qt./week. any ideas as to how to find the source of the leak. im broke and i want to avoid having to take it in, im mechanically adept; although, im not too familiar with my car. any suggestions would be awesome...

-Jon

p.s. i also have a suspected vaccuum leak, because my engine light code is..in the mechanics words: running lean. this isnt an urgent concern but if i can kill two birds with one stone that would be awesome too.

[blazingintellect]

2000 vw golf
2.0 GLS
79.000 mi.

[boschmann]

What engine?

[boschmann]

Sorry, didn't see that second post. The most common place for the 2.0 to leak oil is through the crankcase breater system. On the valve cover there is a round plastic valve. Commonly the grommet that holds it in can deteriorate. Also the rubber hose that runs down by the timing belt cover will deteriorate. The hard plastic pipe that completes the connection to the front of the engine block will also crack. This could possibly cause the lean condition. Most often a lean condition on a 2000 is caused by a out of calibration (bad) mass air flow sensor (it has a 70K mile extended warranty).

[veedubmechanic]

Theres alot of problems with oil leaking from aftermarket oil filters, but not that much. Also the oil pan drain plug can be stripped out easily and oil will usually leak from those (because its aluminum). There are ALOT of problems with the valve cover gasket leaking on 2.0's also.