Oil leak from water pump bolt holes
 

Hi. i recently changed the water pump on my 2011 Audi Q7 3.0 tdi. When i did this i notice that one of the bolt holes had small amount of oil coming from it. After 3 months of the change i’ve notice a small leak of oil from the side of the pump. The pump was OEM and torqued new aluminium bolts bolts to spec. Any thoughts i can address this?

Like this? I've just removed the pump on my A8.

the pump was the original, so is this normal?

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...19d9b4a05.jpeg

Hey there,
Have you figured out this issues? I changed my water pump about 6 months ago. Everything was fine till about a week ago, when i noticed coolant on the floor.
Looks like it drips from right side of the Water pump. After i cleaned up and dried the area to check again where it leaks from, took it for a 10 min ride and came back to see that there is some oil drips as well.

Any ideeas?

Be sure to look very closely as to origination point of any coolant dribbles; I've read a number of threads where even dealers had mistaken a little dribble next to the water pump as being a bad water pump, when the source was actually the EGR Cooler leaking. No expert on Q7 coolant leaks myself, but Wolfgang, our '10 TDI's EGR Cooler sprung a leak last Spring, and I just dropped off Amadeus, our '15 TDI, today for the same type of coolant leak, so here's hoping;)...$$$$...Amadeus needs a new EGR Cooler (while in warranty), yup!

Did anyone figure out?
 

Was anyone ever able to figure out if oil coming from that bolt hole is normal? I’m replacing the water pump on my 2014 Q7 and noticed the same thing.

I have a small leak on the front of my 2012 TDI. I thought it was oil at first but smelled it and it doesn't have any scent plus it isn't black like typical TDI oil. I believe that this is coolant that has the appearance of oil. Are you sure this is oil leaking out and not coolant concentrate?

Also curious, did you reuse your water pump bolts? They appear to be aluminum and I was concerned about snapping them when torqueing back to 3nm.

TDI vs. Gas Engines
 

To be clear; water pumps are engineered with a 'weep-hole' built into them at the bottom, so if the impeller seal fails internally, then coolant will begin to appear as coming from the weep-hole at base of the pump as an indicator of failure. It will be coolant.

If you suspect oil is leaking; first be sure it is actually oil since coolant often looks like oil drips or splash dispersion when viewed from topside, etc. You need to get a sample of it, smell and feel the sample to verify if it actually oil vs. coolant. Coolant will also evaporate and disappear over time, whereas oil won't.

On the TDI, oil will be black and smells like diesel, so super easy to discern if it is oil. Also, the TDI is known to experience coolant leaking into the engine valley on both Gen1 and Gen2 TDI engines, which eventually fills up the valley, and can take out the oil cooler's seals, as well. The oil cooler does have both oil and coolant running through it, etc., so if those seals fail you will get a combo of oil and coolant This is a common, age-related repair on a TDI, V6 engine, and if any work is done in the engine valley related to leaks, the oil cooler/mounting plate is generally is getting new seals, but the root cause is often elsewhere depending on the engine generation. After the engine valley fills up with coolant, the coolant will then find the paths of least resistance to run down the front of the engine, which can look like an oil leak if you just eyeball it and forget that TDI motor oil turns black and smelly shortly after changing it.

Back to the gas engine; trace the source of the oil leak, as there are oil-fed bearings on one or more pulleys on the front of the gas engine, as well as other known sources of oil leaks, so read up on your particular engine about where it typically leaks oil from, etc. If in doubt about the source, you can always get a dye/leak tracer kit with UV lamp and CSI glasses, etc. Do your research and it should be pretty simple to figure out.

Swap for new.

yes it was def oil. It was black and felt like oil. Kind of odd it would come out of a bolt hole. I have noticed it uses a little oil. I have to add a quart about every 3-4 months. So who knows.