While in Ocean City, Maryland for H2Oi I thought it would be a great idea to drive onto the beach behind where we were staying and take a few pictures of the car. Although the pictures came out great my car became stuck and needed the assistance of a bobcat to get it out. Once we got the car onto the pavement I realized that my belly pan was ripped off. I went to retrieve what was left of it and noticed that there was dried up oil all over, which caused a lot of dirt to get stuck to the pan. I realized I had an oil leak…
The tricky part with oil leaks is actually finding it. The B7 is quickly approaching its 10th year on the road and although I try to keep the engine bay as pristine as possible there’s only so much one can do. Once back in Jersey I put the car on a lift and slowly started tracing the leak. The drops were coming from the oil pan area so I started tracing it higher and noticed it was leaking onto the very top of the oil pan from above. I started feeling around and realized that the wiring harness behind the vacuum pump and high pressure fuel pump was oily. I had a leaking vacuum pump.
I noticed that the oil was leaking out of the back of the vacuum pump, running down the wiring harness and dripping on the top of the oil pan. It would then run down the entire oil pan to the very bottom and drip onto the floor since I no longer had a belly pan. After doing some research I realized that it was a common issue and that changing the o-ring would not work. The pump does not leak from the o-ring, it leaks from the rear plate on the pump.
This part has been revised to version H (06D145100H) which moves the o-ring lower and is supposed to have fixed the rear plate issue that causes the leak. I pulled the part off of our shelves and decided to have a go at it.
The DIY is pretty straight forward. There are 3 T30 bolts which hold the pump in place. You can get an idea for where the bolts are by looking at your new pump. I found that moving the wiring harness behind the pump makes getting to the third bolt a lot easier. Once you take the 3 bolts off you will need to remove the 90 degree elbow that is connected to the pump. Be VERY careful when doing this as that elbow is connected to the hose which runs to the brake booster. Right under where the hose runs through the firewall is a 1 inch nipple with a hose on it which makes it impossible to see. If you pull the 90 degree elbow off you will most snap the nipple like I did… which was a costly mistake. If you find yourself in this situation you will need 8E0611931FQ.
Reinstalling the pump is as simple as taking it off. You might have a hard time getting the pump to sit properly however that is because you need to line it up correctly for it to slide in. Feel around to see exactly how it fits in and you should have no problem.
My vacuum pump was toast. It leaked profusely and actually caused a vacuum leak when it was really cold outside. The car would feel like it was going to shut off when coming to a stop. Once I changed the pump this completely went away. I also think that a lot of people who complain of oil consumption issues should check their pump. You might be leaking without even knowing as this seems to be a very common problem that is never addressed.
I have this same problem and I replaced my old vacuum pump with the revised one, just like you did. Unfortunately, it’s still leaking. I’ve tried reseating it twice but it still trickles when the car is running. Is there a trick to seating the o-ring properly? Should I use RTV?
were you able to get it to sit?
Wow, this is simple but fantastically helpful. Thanks so much!
Did this help with any vibrations while the car was at idle?
My car vibrates when I come to a stop or when I put it in reverse or park? Could this be related to the vaccum pump
same here, did you find out what it was?