MK6 GTI / Octy vRS /Tiguan (EA888 engine) Cam Position Sensor oil leak DIY fix

[Lucas_R]

Is your EA888 engine leaking oil out of its cam position sensor? Odd's are that it will be.

I’ve noticed a small amount of oil weeping from the front of my engine onto my cam cover the past few months and assumed at first that I would need to change the gasket/seal for my cam cover….but after looking a little closer and seeing the following video and threads from USA it appears that this is quite a common spot for oil to leak.

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I have just been cleaning the oil off each week with some degreaser and a rag but I must admit this had been annoying me as I don’t want the car to be leaking oil at all.

The leak is due to oil getting past the o-ring on the camshaft position sensor at the front of the cam cover. The o-ring doesn’t seal well enough and oil works its way past it and then leaks out the front.

You can get a new sensor from places like ECS Tuning 403 Forbidden , but seeing as the sensor itself is still working fine, and it’s just the o-ring im having issues with – I started looking into a DIY solution.

Possible solution #1
Finding a new o-ring that’s is ever so slightly larger/fatter to help provide a better seal in the cam cover. I tried several aftermarket o-rings that I had at home, but none of them would allow the sensor to fit back into position.

Possible solution #2
Using some gasket sealant where the sensor base meets with the alloy cam cover. I already had some of this at home so I decided to use this.

Possible solution #3
Combining solution 1 and 2 listed above.


Pics: (note that the oil leak isnt very noticeable on my car in the pics below because i only cleaned it off last weekend and the car has only been driven about 60km since then)


So this is the sensor in question:




You can see some oil residue from where it is leaking (remember i cleaned it only a few days ago so it doesn't look that bad in my photos).







So how do you fix it?

Step 1) I would suggest cleaning the oil up before removing the sensor but this is up to you

Step 2) Get a T-30 Torx and remove the bolt holding the sensor in place.

Step 3) Clean up the sensor (use degreaser) and also the surface on the cam cover where the sensor mounts to. Make sure all oil is gone.

Step 4) Apply some black (or silver) gasket sealant to the cam cover area as shown in my pics below.

Step 5) Re-mount the sensor and fit the bolt to secure it in place.


This is what the sensor looks like once it has been removed




Here you can see i have applied some black gasket sealant to the cam cover area where the sensor bolts to the engine.




And this is the finished result. Clean off any mess with a rag and you are good to go. No more oil leaks.

[Passat R36]

Love your work as always!

[MGV]

Interesting...

The first issue i had with my car was probably this. Diagnosed leaking cam cover sealant was repaired under warranty & the job completely botched. Then they seemed to get it right the 2nd time, but not long after, i got the 'cam position correlation error' fault code. Then my engine was no more...

Not saying this leak made my engine go bang, but the botched attempt at fixing something that wasn't even broken certainly could have been the cause...

Thanks Lucas, will certainly scrutinize this on my new engine.