Valve Cover has Oil in Vacuum Reservoir. Normal?

[BMWHoochie]

Hey Guys,

I took my vacuum line off the other day and noticed there was some oil inside the bottom of the valve cover vacuum reservoir. Is this normal? I know some residual oil in the charge pipe line is normal but didn't think anything like oil was supposed to be in the vacuum reservoir.

Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

[nodemgr]

No, normally that indicates your vacuum pump needs to be replaced.

[tomjonesBT33]

^^ this

There’s a small rubber valve that keeps oil from entering the vacuum lines. It probably failed. The rubber seal is probably a $0.50 part but you can’t buy it separately from the vacuum pump. I’ve seen where one guy bought a vacuum pump from a junk yard and swapped in the rubber seal and fixed the leak.