Ive developed an Oil Leak

[Guest]

Just noticed the dreaded oil stain on the drive floor yesterday, nothing horrendous but an obvious two or three drips, noticed a little more this morning. Nothing was picked up at my recent service last week on my 996 so a little surprised, im assuming the worst and thinking its the dreaded rms issue.

What i was wondering was how urgent is this, what would be the consequences if i left it a few weeks/months to get it sorted (assuming i kept checking the oil levels and kept it topped up). Having just forked out £1100 for a 48k service im not that keen to get it sorted until at least the end of october.......an no....I dont have an OPC warranty that will cover it...sniff sniff

 

[Geoff_Fields]

I shouldn't worry about it. Provided it doesn't start gushing out, wait until a clutch change is required.

 

[John Ware]

I thought I had the dreaded RMS last year. It turned out to be a timing chain tensioner gasket (20p part). If you start your car and look under the left (or right) rear towards the rear axle, you'll see a part which looks as if it could fit a spanner (sorry, can't describe it any better). If the drip is coming from there, it can be fixed in about an hour. If the leak is central, then it's probably the RMS.

 

[NIL98]

The plug tubes are common leak points and not expensive to fix. I've just had 2 leaks fixed (1 plug tube and one concertina tube that ventilates the crankcase) and neither were RMS. FWIW I dont have the OPC warranty either but I do have an independent warranty with RAC which has just coughed £300 for a water pump.
Regards
Neil

 

[THX911]

Oil leak a week after a full service + some work worth at least £500; I would be at the OPC asking questions as the car was fine before it went in, wasn't it? Though it would be good to know if it is RMS beforehand as then you need to be ready to ask for getting it replaced under goodwill...

 

[philippe]

If it has been serviced then it is a must to take it back, it could be somthing they have done, or just somthing silly like oil that was spilt and not cleaned up, which should not be the case but it happens, i would go back without a doubt, let us know how you get on.

Phil

 

[Ian W]

ORIGINAL: lcoverdale38

Just noticed the dreaded oil stain on the drive floor yesterday, nothing horrendous but an obvious two or three drips, noticed a little more this morning. Nothing was picked up at my recent service last week on my 996 so a little surprised, im assuming the worst and thinking its the dreaded rms issue.

What i was wondering was how urgent is this, what would be the consequences if i left it a few weeks/months to get it sorted (assuming i kept checking the oil levels and kept it topped up). Having just forked out £1100 for a 48k service im not that keen to get it sorted until at least the end of october.......an no....I dont have an OPC warranty that will cover it...sniff sniff

I'd certainly take the car back to the stealer if they've just serviced it, if only to confirm that it's nothing they've done. If it is an RMS leak, they should have at least noticed it and informed you (!) Maybe it is something else? (Or maybe they just have an unwritten policy of ignoring a minor RMS leak so they don't have to take up workshop time fixing it - nah, that would be far too cynical)!!

In answer to your original question, an RMS leak is, in and of itself, totally harmless. It does not need to be fixed unless it really starts to leak in a big way (they usually don't) and can be safely ignored until some other reason for removing the gearbox comes along. The amount of oil loss is so minor (how many drops are there in a litre?!) that you'd never notice it on the dipstick.

Ian W