Oil sweat on engine/parts of engine

[supreme_gti]

talking about engine oil sweat.

Why does it form on the engine or on engine parts? Can it be classified as a leak?

Has anyone replaced a part because they noticed engine oil sweat?

Just curious…

 

[BudgetPhoenix]

Where at on the engine? Theres a few common problem areas on these engines

 

[supreme_gti]

The oil pan.... it looks like something dripped along the oil pan or splashed. I haven't got a chance to rub my fingers against the oil pan to see what it is (feel/smell).
Oil levels I checked, all within spec, same with coolant, no drop in coolant levels or engine oil levels.

I drive without the belly pan plastic cover so something could've splashed onto the oil pan... the reason I drive without the under-carriage cover or the ECS tuning skid plate is so I can monitor for leaks AND it's better air flow in the summer time. These engines heat up.....QUICK! Damn turbocharged engines #GiftAndACurse

 

[BudgetPhoenix]

Really could be from anything due to gravity but most common leak spots are upper timing cover gasket, lower timing cover rtv gasket, oil pan rtv gasket and of course the cam girdle sealant. When I had an upper timing cover gasket leak it coated the entire back of my block in oil and collected down around the oil pan and trans

 

[supreme_gti]

Well the oil pan on my mk6 has a shade of black that wasn't there before. I touched it and it's not engine oil sweat... I'm going to say it's just dirt but it looks like it's only one sided so I don't think it's actually dirt. Not sure what it is. I captured images. See attached.
I did not bother cleaning it yet. I eventually will and see if this shade of black spreads.

Engine oil levels are within spec. I checked the oil pan and no leaks anywhere. I had others check as well (on the hoist).

 

[BudgetPhoenix]

Look at your lower and upper timing covers. You can see where oil has been coming down from above on that side of the engine

 

[supreme_gti]

Look at your lower and upper timing covers. You can see where oil has been coming down from above on that side of the engine

Nothing there. I had the lower and upper timing covers replaced + resealed 2 years ago. This area has no oil leaks at all. I had multiple sets of eyes check the entire engine bay for any leaks. Nothing.
Only thing we noticed is the oil pan color is different on one side (different shade of black), it LOOKS like some sort of fluid streamed down the oil pan but this is not the case. I touched it with my bare hands and I can confirm this black shade is not any sort of fluid. It looks like dirt... black dirt... not sure how this formed.

Also I want to share with you all there's no drips of oil anywhere on the ground where ever I park the car. I've been driving my mk6 almost every day now, just to see if there's any leaks.

 

[BudgetPhoenix]

That's dirt and dust sticking to thin coat of oil

 

[supreme_gti]

Crap... so it's a minor tiny thin oil leak??? FML.... I'm using a toothbrush to clean it up. It rained here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, so not today, but during the weekend, I'm cleaning the oil pan from underneath the car. Spent thousands of dollars fixing oil leaks, I'm not going to watch this happen again.

Thank you for your time and input.

 

[supreme_gti]

I can confirm it's not engine oil, it must be something that splashed onto my engine oil pan while I was driving.
Since the entire engine bay is exposed as I do not have any sort of engine bay undercarriage cover installed.
(removed to monitor for any leaks).

Checked engine oil yesterday after bringing engine to operating temperatures, parked on a flat surface, engine oil level within spec.
Still at the MAX bend.

Will continue to monitor.