Oil Leakage Alert
13-06-2013; 11,350kms
So my brother had taken the Superb to Yamunanagar from Meerut. Now en-route he encountered one of the worst stretch of roads ever seen on Indian roads. 5~6 km stretch between
Deoband and Saharanpur (SH 59) and and even worse 10~15 km stretch between
Saharanpur and Yamunanagar (Jagadhari) (NH 73). So my dear friends kindly AVOID these routes at all costs. On reaching Jagadhari, he noticed next day that few drops of oil was leaking. He was pretty sure he did not hit the vehicle anywhere on the underbelly, but I feared the
worst. Could a stone have pierced the oil sump?? That's a 20k expense! Any Engine damage will run in lacs! The engine protection plates looked intact to him on inspection. He watched till today morning and the leakage was not very severe, just 20 or so drops in a 8 hour period. I asked him to check the oil level and top up, which he did with about 200ml of oil left in the 1L OE can I always keep in the car. He also bought a 1L pack locally of the Castrol Edge Professional oil from a VW dealership locally in Jagadhari (Rs. 970/-) for emergency. There was however no Skoda dealership there. I told him to say '
Jai Bajrang Bali' and start his journey back to Meerut.
This time he took the
Jagadhari-Karnal-Murthal-Baghpat-Meerut route via the GT Road. There was a Skoda dealership at Karnal, outside which I told him to check the oil levels. The levels were just fine, so breathed a sigh of relief. Finally he reached Meerut at 2pm without incidence. Immediately called up my service advisor at C&T Skoda, Meerut and briefed him about the situation. Appointment for 4 pm was fixed. Fingers crossed.
The car was raised and the engine protection plate were intact but dripping with oil. So a stone impact was nearly ruled out as there was no visible sign of any damage to the plates at all. The engine protection plate was removed and the oil leakage was clearly from the
Oil Drain Nut!! Then I remembered that the 'washer' of the oil drain nut was NOT changed at the previous service and I had brought it to the notice of the service advisor at that time, and he had brushed it aside as a small oversight which according to him was NOT necessary (even though Skoda Service Schedule clearly specifies it to be) as it was brass washer which could be changed on the next service, as now the engine oil would again have to be drained. So I had gone along with his explanation at that time.
Now on seeing this, I hieved a great sigh of relief that it was nothing major and also blew a fuse at the SA as it was clearly due to his oversight that this had happened. He apologised profusely, told me not to report this to Skoda (because they all knew my reputation to go straight to the top), and immediately replaced this with a fresh washer. Little oil was drained in a clean can and washer replaced. Oil was refilled and engine started and checked for leakages. NONE. The protection plate was washed and re-attached. A little screw on the rear protection plate was also tightened which had come loose. The rear parcel tray holders were greased as they were producing a little irritating squeak. Total job took less than half and hour. The SA was so terrified that he did not charge me anything and again requested not to raise the issue with Skoda HQ.
All in all very satisfied that nothing major happened. These 'rough road package' protection plates on the Superb really work! Like they say "
Khoda Pahaad aur nikli CHUHIYA!!".
The culprit washer -
All's well that ends well! And remember friends,
"Ek chotta sa washer, aapki car ki kismat badal sakta hai!"