rocketman4321

I had a valve cover leak for a while. On the right side, front, it dripped on the smaller hose that leads from the thermostat housing to a horizontal pipe at the lower front of the engine bay. Swapped it today and the old one's definitely damaged--hot oil's bad for hoses.

So if you've had the common valve cover leak, you may want to check. Hard to find by lookup--use the part number which is 078 121 096 AC on 2.7T's (not sure about others). Available at all the usual places for <$20. Note that this is NOT the "lower radiator hose".

It can be replaced without putting the nose in the "service position", but it is a little tight in there. I took out the lower intercooler hose to get access to the upper clamp with a long needle-nose pliers.