OIL LEAK COMING CLOSE TO THE OIL FILTER - 2000 Volkswagen Beetle

The PCV valve is under the intake on the left (drivers side) above the block. It looks like this.
Its hard to give a proper diagnosis without photos of the leak. The best thing to do is to clean up the area as much as possible and run it till it leaks. Then you should be able to see where its coming from.

valve cover gasket leak

If it is leaking at the oil filter the previous rubber gasket may have stuck to the block. When the new oil filter was installed then the gasket was doubled and will leak.

What makes you think the valve cover was leaking,was oil coming from there.Exactly where is it leaking from.If the oil filter is tighten too tight,then it will leak,also by the oil filter is the oil pressure switch,it's screwed into block,it can leak.The rear oil seal can leak,where engine and transmission meet.If valve cover is not installed correctly,it will leak and loose compression.

Assume this is a 4.3-first, make sure the filter is on tight (it happens)-not knowing how bad the leak is, I would check to see if the oil pressure sender unit is there (that is usually close to where they locate them, and they do leak). If it seems to be coming from where the filter is spun onto the block, remove the filter and make sure the old gasket from the last filter did not get stuck onto the block, then the new filter got installed over top of it (it happens too). If these do not pan out, the oil filter adapter (housing that holds the oil filter) may need to be removed and the gasket replaced.

It could be either but it is impossible to say without inspecting the car. If the leak is around the filter housing I suspect it is more likely from the oil filter. The oil filter gasket may have failed or the filter may not be screwed on firmly enough. However filters do not have to be screwed on very tightly to prevent a leak. If over tightened they can be difficult to remove and the rubber gasket can even be damaged.

I suggest you have the oil changed in the car and have the oil filter changed at the same time. This is very cheap to do and a new decent quality brand oil filter (such as MOTORCRAFT which meets Original Equipment specs for your car)) is only about $10 - if that. Whilst the oil and filter are being changed from beneath the car, with the vehicle on the hoist, it should be possible to examine the likely source of the leak.

Sean

I would check to see if the oil cap is on the motor. Also if the shop spilled oil close to the exhaust manifold it would cause it to smoke. I would take it back and have them perform another oil change for free epically if the smoke is that bad. Hope that helps!

The switch for the oil light is just above the oil filter.

yes it is,,its called oil filter housing..

ok who ever installed the oil filter didnt put oil on the seal and tighted oil filter down properly this lead to seal on oil filter burning up and cracking replace oil filter and put oil on the seal all the way around