Hi, just joined today after looking for help with a leak on my new car. I can't even drive it yet, age 37 but my test is very soon though.

I have a Polo CL 1.6 '95 model and I am like a new mother over it. I love it! It passed it's MOT last week, on has 73k on the clock and apart from a few minor chips and scatches it's in a good way.

One problem though, it looks like it's leaking from the gear box, found little patches on my drive and there is a slow leakage of golden, oily fluid from the front middle. I'm hoping this is easy enough to rectify. Not being experienced yet, I did panic! Also discovered the passenger wing mirror was roughly glued on, caught it earlier and it came straight off. Grr!

Hope everyone's loving the summer. Any tips welcome.

Looks like it will be a good little car once you sort the oil leak.

Could this be selector shaft oil seal leaking. Not sure if it has a rod change or cable change I'm sure some one will be along to confirm it.

Put some sealant on it!

Thank you! It's a great little car for £300, new exhaust and tyres too. Will get a mechanic friend to get underneath it and tell me whats what.

Could this be selector shaft oil seal leaking. Not sure if it has a rod change or cable change I'm sure some one will be along to confirm it.

If it's on a "M" plate it will be a rod change, but the seal is the same for both types http://www.clubpolo.co.uk/forum/index.php?...p;#entry2037723 Part number 085301227

radial shaft seal 24X7 /

Best of luck with the test, I'm in same boat, got me a 98 polo but still learning, test ready soon enough been getting loads of practice in my little polo though :) Hope you get it sorted soon

Likely to be selector shaft seal but not definitely,

They're the same between rod & cable change boxes though and arnt too bad or time consuming to change (if you have a garage do it)

Good luck with your test

What Yaris-Racing said - The selector shaft is the same on all 085 boxes for all it matters when changing the seal, and it's a very easy job for a mechanic.

That one is a rod change btw, i can see the stabiliser rod fitted to the casting to the right.

It has to be done urgently, though. Topping up gear oil is a pain in the neck compared to engine oil, and it's essential it's kept full or you'll kill the gearbox.

I think we're right to presume the remote seal is actually the problem. An honest mechanic will confirm or otherwise. The other possibilities for gear oil there would be the sealant from the two halfs of the casing, which would be a big job, or simply a plug not screwed in tight enough (although they shouldn't be tight).

It could actually be engine oil, but it's not likely. If it is, it'll be leaking from the top of the engine on the right hand side, either from the seal for the cam cover (thing with the oil cap on it) or the distributor where cables plug into an orange cap. But you'd see plenty of oil underneath those if it was leaking from up there and working it's way down.

What Yaris-Racing said - The selector shaft is the same on all 085 boxes for all it matters when changing the seal, and it's a very easy job for a mechanic.

That one is a rod change btw, i can see the stabiliser rod fitted to the casting to the right.

It has to be done urgently, though. Topping up gear oil is a pain in the neck compared to engine oil, and it's essential it's kept full or you'll kill the gearbox.

I think we're right to presume the remote seal is actually the problem. An honest mechanic will confirm or otherwise. The other possibilities for gear oil there would be the sealant from the two halfs of the casing, which would be a big job, or simply a plug not screwed in tight enough (although they shouldn't be tight).

It could actually be engine oil, but it's not likely. If it is, it'll be leaking from the top of the engine on the right hand side, either from the seal for the cam cover (thing with the oil cap on it) or the distributor where cables plug into an orange cap. But you'd see plenty of oil underneath those if it was leaking from up there and working it's way down.

Thank you so much for that, I have a mechanic friend coming round tomorrow. I'm hoping as the patches are quite small that I have caught it early enough. I did notice a thump under the gearstick on starting, I hope that is not connected or anything massive to worry about.

I'll check the cam cover and distributor to see if there's any oil there aswell.

Thanks again! :)

Best of luck with the test, I'm in same boat, got me a 98 polo but still learning, test ready soon enough been getting loads of practice in my little polo though :) Hope you get it sorted soon

And to you, I was hoping to get some lessons in mine but worried about taking it anywhere now!