Golf 1.6 FSI oil in spark plug recesses in camshaft housing

[Jooshti]

Hi all, hoping for some advice. Just been servicing my new (to me!) 2006 1.6 petrol FSI Mk5 Golf engine BLF (94k miles) and found a small amount of oil in the spark plug recesses in the camshaft housing/valve cover, mainly in the openings for plugs 2 & 3. I'd guess about 1/2 teaspoon or so of oil in 2 & 3. Looks like the oil is coming from the join with the cylinder head. There is no oil leaking from anywhere else I can find and the car doesn't seem to be using oil so far. The car is running great with good fuel economy and there are no error codes on my handheld scanner.
I'm wondering if the PCV valve might be faulty? With the engine running I can easily remove the oil filler cap with there being some vacuum and the engine starts to run badly, improving as soon as the cap is replaced, so the PCV should be ok??? I'd be grateful for any ideas - especially if they don't involve removing the camshaft housing!
Many thanks
J

[niall campbell]

you need to clean the area and start by looking at the highest point for leaks

that means & probally the easiest and cheapest option is to reseal the rocker cover

then monitor

[Jooshti]

Thanks Niall, I'll clean it up and keep an eye on it. It doesn't look like resealing the rocker cover is an easy job though on these engines as the camshafts are part of the housing, so the chain has to come off etc. I'm tempted to try a new PCV valve in case it is faulty and causing positive pressure in the cover - looks like the cheapest thing to try so far. Cheers