Oil on camshaft magnet connector plugs?

[amsr]

A couple weeks ago I noticed a rattle near the upper timing chain cover on my MK7 GTI SE. It has 120k on it. It seemed to be coming from the camshaft adjuster magnets, so I unplugged them and the sound went away. Plugging them back in made the sound come back. I noticed when unplugging them there was oil in the electrical connector plugs. I cleaned it off, plugged them back in and the noise went away for a couple minutes and then came back. Does anyone know how/why oil would be getting into these electrical connectors? I can replace the cam adjuster magnets, but I want to make sure I understand how oil is getting into the connectors/plugs.

 

[seanmcd1]

Well there are seals around the adjuster magnet... got a leak?

 

[amsr]

The upper timing chain cover and timing chain was replaced/re-sealed a few months ago. Would those seals have been replaced then? Or is that a different seal?

 

[seanmcd1]

If it was me (and most likely an actual mechanic would agree) I would have changed those seals if I was changing the timing chain cover. You'd see an obvious leak around the area if it was bad. Is it the one just below the oil cap? Could have been someone being super sloppy pouring oil in the engine...

 

[amsr]

Its both connectors. You have to disconnect them both to get the noise to go away and it comes back a couple minutes later after you clean them so I am assuming a leak. No recent oil service.

I looked in the repair manual and under the section that says:

Camshaft Adjustment Valve 1 - N205- and Exhaust Camshaft Adjustment Valve 1 - N318- , Removing and Installing

Mandatory Replacement Parts
Bolts - Camshaft Adjustment Valve
O-ring - Camshaft Adjustment Valve
Seal - Camshaft Adjustment Valve

Replace seals and O-rings.

Note:
Lubricate seals on the Camshaft Adjustment Valve 1 - N205- / Exhaust Camshaft Adjustment Valve 1 - N318- sealing surfaces with engine oil.

I am assuming they are referring to 3 and 9 in the diagram. Is it possible to replace these seals and o-rings without removing and re-sealing the whole upper timing chain cover?

 

[The Fed]

I don't see how, but it's been a long time since I did a cover. Can you remove the seals with a pick tool?

 

[BudgetPhoenix]

You should be able to pull those o-rings out without removing the timing cover with a pick once you remove the magnets. You can on a gen 1 ea888 at least.

 

[BudgetPhoenix]

Hopefully your cam isn't trashed by now though if you have the noise. Any codes? The spool valves fail and then will cause camshaft damage over time. See:

 

[bcastine1]

I've noticed the same thing with my magnet connectors. Much more oil on the intake adjuster connector. My cam doesn't make noise though, no codes, logging shows they are working as they should. I recently replaced the upper timing cover and all the seals, seems to be leaking through the pintle, into the inside of the encasement.

 

[amsr]

Not sure. Tech confirmed both seals were replaced when the timing chain cover was done. Maybe one pre-maturely failed? Or is there an internal seal in the magnet itself that can cause oil incursion in the electrical connector? My guess is its either that or seal 9 from above that failed, but idk. Going to have them look at it again soon.

 

[Diggs24]

Did they actually replace the cover? It's plastic. Lots of heat cycles and once you remove it isn't going to go back on the same way as originally and will leak. It should have been quite obvious once you had it done if it was new or not.

 

[amsr]

Did they actually replace the cover? It's plastic. Lots of heat cycles and once you remove it isn't going to go back on the same way as originally and will leak. It should have been quite obvious once you had it done if it was new or not.

Yeah they did. It looked new.

 

[BudgetPhoenix]

Did they actually replace the cover? It's plastic. Lots of heat cycles and once you remove it isn't going to go back on the same way as originally and will leak. It should have been quite obvious once you had it done if it was new or not.

Huge problem spot with my gen 1. Even after replacing the cover one time I got a leak again. Eventually I just bought one of those all aluminum covers from AliExpress and that stopped the leaks. Havent looked to see if they are available for gen 3 motors yet.

 

[amsr]

So I had both camshaft adjuster magnets replaced with the seals. Still making a rattling noise from the upper timing chain cover. No more oil in the connectors. Looks like I may be headed down the spool valve or new cam path... meh.

 

[amsr]

The mechanic thinks it’s the camshaft itself as in the DAP video. Although in this case it’s on the exhaust side. The video and most posts talk mainly about the intake side. Has anyone had the exhaust camshaft go bad? Also, how much is reasonable for this repair?