Oil Leak Filter area

[Guest]

Hello everyone,
I am trying to track down the source of an oil leak on my 86 Lux. It looks like it is coming from the Oil Filter housing sort of area, but I just can't seem to see where it is coming from. I appears to be engine oil, not power steering fluid. I am going to try to get hold of a Haynes manual, if such a thing exists, which will hopefully show me the seperate parts in that area, but in the meantime, has anyone any info on what the common places for leaks in that area are please.

Thanks
Simon

 

[richthomas]

If it's coming from that area and not from the filter itself it could be a number of things. Is the front of the engine oily or are you just going by drips on the floor? It is common for the area under the filter to be more than a little oily, as when a filter change is carried out some of the oil left in the filter spills out and is rarely cleaned off. A new filter is then screwed on and it can look like a leak but it's just old oil. Try giving the front of the engine a bit of a clean, that way it will help pin-point it, and you can see if it's comming from the filter or not. One common leak is from the cam and balance shaft seals. These can shrink a little and weep, or worse, and in the worst case can leak onto the belts causing them to slip and that will be very expensive!!! Usually though you just get a drip from the bottom of the casings, if you get under the car and look behind the plastic covers you can see if there is oil there or not. Oil can leak out from the botom balance shaft casing too, there are long bolts that hold each side together and it can leak down these bolts. An easy fix is to remove the bolts, coat in threadlock and reassemble, making a nice seal.

Hope thats some help[]

Rich

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your suggestions Rich, I will check these out, after getting the Gunk out and cleaning the area up.
The front of the engine (plastic cover) is not oily, its the corner of the engine that is oily. I thought it may be the cam cover gasket or the gasket between the distributor housing and the cam cover.

By the way, there is a small hole in the distibutor housing which shows the belt, anyone know if there is supposed to be a grommet in it?

Simon

 

[richthomas]

There is supposed to be a grommet in there, not sure of the part number tho. Try Porsche apart, of even a new one shouldn't "ahem" be that expensive!

 

[Guest]

I will raid the stores at work and find a grommet that fits.

Just had a nasty thought, I suppose the oil leak could be the forward edge of the head gasket. Are head gasket failures common on these cars? I've not heard of too many problems though.