# Leaky vacuum pump on 2006 Jetta 2.5



## ueww40 (Apr 4, 2015)

I know this subject has probably been beaten to death already many times, because these pumps are notorious to leak. That's all you hear. So here we go again. First of all, this question comes up all the time. Do I have to remove the transmission? NO. The manual says so and the dealership will move the auto trans out of the way to remove the pump. They know it can be done without messing with the tranny, but in order to do it you must remove the cover plate from the pump. Since the pump is supposed to be a sealed unit, which is not supposed to be repaired but has to be replaced, VW will not do the short cut. It will void the warranty of the pump if you open it. So understand where they are coming from. However the DIYer can remove the pump without touching the tranny. The best utube video that I found showing you exactly how its done is by Humble Mechanic. I did it 2 weeks ago on my Jetta. The whole job took me 5 hours, 2 hours taking the pump out, 1 hour working on the pump (cleaning and resealing) and about 2 hours to put everything back. And you guessed it, my problem is still not fixed. I still have an oil leak about as big as a pancake every morning under the car. I was told that 8 out of 10 times the oil leak was caused by the pump and the other 2 times it could be from somewhere else, like the crankshaft seal where the engine meets the tranny or some other leak. The pump that I resealed seems to be good. Before I jump in to the deep end I want to be absolutely sure I know where the leak comes from. My question is: Will the crankshaft seal always leak (assuming it's the culprit), even when the engine is turned off? When the engine is turned off and the oil sits in the bottom will the oil level actually reach the seal and continue to leak?


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## Humble Mechanic (Jun 16, 2011)

ueww40 said:


> I know this subject has probably been beaten to death already many times, because these pumps are notorious to leak. That's all you hear. So here we go again. First of all, this question comes up all the time. Do I have to remove the transmission? NO. The manual says so and the dealership will move the auto trans out of the way to remove the pump. They know it can be done without messing with the tranny, but in order to do it you must remove the cover plate from the pump. Since the pump is supposed to be a sealed unit, which is not supposed to be repaired but has to be replaced, VW will not do the short cut. It will void the warranty of the pump if you open it. So understand where they are coming from. However the DIYer can remove the pump without touching the tranny. The best utube video that I found showing you exactly how its done is by Humble Mechanic. I did it 2 weeks ago on my Jetta. The whole job took me 5 hours, 2 hours taking the pump out, 1 hour working on the pump (cleaning and resealing) and about 2 hours to put everything back. And you guessed it, my problem is still not fixed. I still have an oil leak about as big as a pancake every morning under the car. I was told that 8 out of 10 times the oil leak was caused by the pump and the other 2 times it could be from somewhere else, like the crankshaft seal where the engine meets the tranny or some other leak. The pump that I resealed seems to be good. Before I jump in to the deep end I want to be absolutely sure I know where the leak comes from. My question is: Will the crankshaft seal always leak (assuming it's the culprit), even when the engine is turned off? When the engine is turned off and the oil sits in the bottom will the oil level actually reach the seal and continue to leak?


Did you replace the pump? I wonder if it still the pump leaking. If you take the belly pan off, you can see the bottom of the pump. 

That seems to be a ton of engine oil. 

You can also add oil dye to trace the source of the leak.


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## rommeldawg (May 25, 2009)

the pump is almost always the oil leak at the bell housing on these cars but if you can clean it up really well using something like brake clean and then run it you should be able to see where the leak is coming from as that significant a leak should not be too hard to isolate. obviously the vacuum pump will be coming from the top and running down along the bell housing... the rear crank seal would normally be found at the bottom of the housing only.. charles also make a good point of using dye but you need some kind of uv light etc to detect


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## ueww40 (Apr 4, 2015)

Several people suggested to get rid of the pump altogether. There is a delete kit available from USP Motorsport in Florida and I decided to give it a try. I ordered the delete kit and installed it. it's been in the car now for over a week and no more leak. The car runs perfect and the brakes as well feel normal. While installing the kit one must really pay attention to space of which there is very little. Everything is very tight. It even matters which way the clamps are turned. The manual, which was not in the box, I down loaded, is very good and self explanatory but misses the torque value for the 3 bolts, which is 10 lbs/ft and a warning not to forget to re-install the bracket, which I did, so I had to go back and re-do some of the work. Before I decided to order the delete kit, I did some research to find the proper seals for the pump, in case I decided to re-use the pump. So for those of you who wish to re-install the pump you need an oil proof O-ring size 75mm X 3.5 mm, which you can get from your local O-ring retailer (there should be one in almost every town) and a new metal gasket, which you can get from several online vendors, like partsgeek.com, part #W0133-1921784.


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## rommeldawg (May 25, 2009)

so the kit then picks up vacuum from the intake?... well i went and looked the kit up and its perfect. for the 2.5 which is NA, this should have been the factory solution as it was all that was needed in the first place. why they choose to go for the vacuum pump is beyond me

http://www.uspmotorsports.com/Spulen-2.5L-Brake-Vacuum-Pump-Delete-Kit.html


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