help! big oil leak!!

Guest · Jul 4, 2006

Hi,

i parked my car on the drive about an hour ago. went out and when i have returned it has leaked loads of oil. it is coming from the offside (drivers side) just in front of the back wheel and there is another point where it is leaking which is about level with the centre of the wheel but this is not as harsh.

can anyone tell me what it may be?

is this RMS?

thanks

carl

Black80XSA · Jul 4, 2006

RMS is dead centre line of the car, just forward of the rear axle so not RMS.

You might have lost an oil core blanking plug - a few people have lost these and all their oil within a few hundred yards.

Hope its not as serious as this thread http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=205990&mpage=1&key=plugð²’±

Guest · Jul 4, 2006

thanks for the reply. i was having a look on the forum and was relieved to find it isn't RMS although i hope it isn't the same as the link you provided !!

it is dripping rather than pouring out so i will keep my fingers crossed that it isn't anything serious and that it may be a blanking plug or something else that is hopefully ease to sort out.

is this position where the oil filter is situated ?? just in front of the rear offside wheel area.

i am getting it looked at on a ramp tomorrow so hopefully i will find out. Just a sleepless night to look forward to

mossy

Black80XSA · Jul 4, 2006

Hope its soemthing as simple as a loose oil filter.

Check oil level with dipstik and gauge before starting the engine. If it is a core plug you could lose all you oil very quickly so extra precautions, whilst a bit OTT, could save the engine is it is something more serious.

Fingers crossed for you !

Ivor · Jul 5, 2006

ORIGINAL: Black80XSA

RMS is dead centre line of the car, just forward of the rear axle so not RMS.

You might have lost an oil core blanking plug - a few people have lost these and all their oil within a few hundred yards.

Hope its not as serious as this thread http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=205990&mpage=1&key=plug??

As the starter of this thread and the one who experienced the sudden loss of oil, I hope that this is not serious and easily sorted. Do check the level before starting the engine though and listen for any strange noises.

Good luck!

Guest · Jul 5, 2006

i appreciate all of your support although i think i may have jumped the gun with the title of my thread.

when feeling the 'substance' on my drive it felt like oil although i could not distinguish any smell. i left a container to catch the drips overnight and this morning found that it has a green tinge and did not have the viscosity of oil.

i think it may be coolant.

i have lifted the carpet from the boot area and it was soaking wet. a mechanic has took it away to have a look at it ths afternoon. he initially thought it may be a seal on the coolant lid and changed it. i contacted him just before closing time and unfortunately it is still leaking.

it appears that because my drive is on a slope the fluid has dripped out of a gromat in the boot area giving an initial misconception that it was dripping from something just above and in front of the wheel arch.

has anyone any idea what it could possibly be??

thanks,

carl.

Black80XSA · Jul 5, 2006

Should have guessed from your description of the leak, just inside the drivers side rear wheel.

This is normally the sign of a split header tank, pretty common unfortunately. There have been various versions of the coolant cap too but i wouldn't expect this much fluid loss for a poorly sealed cap

JCB.. · Jul 5, 2006

ORIGINAL: mossy

i appreciate all of your support although i think i may have jumped the gun with the title of my thread.

when feeling the 'substance' on my drive it felt like oil although i could not distinguish any smell. i left a container to catch the drips overnight and this morning found that it has a green tinge and did not have the viscosity of oil.

i think it may be coolant.

i have lifted the carpet from the boot area and it was soaking wet. a mechanic has took it away to have a look at it ths afternoon. he initially thought it may be a seal on the coolant lid and changed it. i contacted him just before closing time and unfortunately it is still leaking.

it appears that because my drive is on a slope the fluid has dripped out of a gromat in the boot area giving an initial misconception that it was dripping from something just above and in front of the wheel arch.

has anyone any idea what it could possibly be??

thanks,

carl.

Yes it's a split tank - if it's not under warranty get an independant to do it and save £250.

JCB..

Guest · Jul 5, 2006

thanks again black80xsa, you certainly know your way round one.

i will let the lad know this in the morning. i presume it will be a new header tank needed. any idea how much these are? and where it may be worth trying to get one? (north east)

i shall let you know the outcome tomorrow.

carl.

JCB.. · Jul 6, 2006

ORIGINAL: mossy

thanks again black80xsa, you certainly know your way round one.

i will let the lad know this in the morning. i presume it will be a new header tank needed. any idea how much these are? and where it may be worth trying to get one? (north east)

i shall let you know the outcome tomorrow.

carl.

An OPC will charge around £550 - £600 for the job. An independant around half that.

marcusLondon · Jul 6, 2006

This split header tank - I knew it's a problem in the 996 but didn't know it cropped up on the boxster as well. Is it made more likely by hot running? My race car was running at over 100 degrees on Sunday in the race - not ideal but it stayed steady enough. Clearly at this temperature the pressure will be substantially higher than at the 80-85 it runs at when not under race conditions.

If this fault is likely to occur I think I should add a spare header to my race-day list of back-ups. Any thoughts? Anyone know the part cost? Is it changeable at a circuit? I checked the RennTech description of the 996 change and it seemed simple enough - the biggest grief seemed to be the buggeration factor of bleeding the system. Perhaps why OPCs charge £500+ as they have to mess around for a couple of hours once the actual unit is installed.

Cheers and as always thanks for any advice,
Marcus

JCB.. · Jul 6, 2006

ORIGINAL: marcusLondon

This split header tank - I knew it's a problem in the 996 but didn't know it cropped up on the boxster as well. Is it made more likely by hot running? My race car was running at over 100 degrees on Sunday in the race - not ideal but it stayed steady enough. Clearly at this temperature the pressure will be substantially higher than at the 80-85 it runs at when not under race conditions.

If this fault is likely to occur I think I should add a spare header to my race-day list of back-ups. Any thoughts? Anyone know the part cost? Is it changeable at a circuit? I checked the RennTech description of the 996 change and it seemed simple enough - the biggest grief seemed to be the buggeration factor of bleeding the system. Perhaps why OPCs charge £500+ as they have to mess around for a couple of hours once the actual unit is installed.

Cheers and as always thanks for any advice,
Marcus

They re-designed the unit as it was an issue with early cars. It is indeed the time factor that whacks up the OPC price for the reasons you mentioned.

Tank cost about £120 about two years ago POA on PorscheShop.