Oil Puddle - A problem?

B'gad · Feb 27, 2016

Hard on the heels of my last '98 Turbo issue, my car has left a small puddle of oil 8cm x 8cm on the floor of the garage. It has only done 22k miles and i have just acquired it. I have had 996's and 997's before and a small leak like this didn't ever bother me, especially after a service.
My current car has been sat in a showroom for a few months then sat in my garage for the last 6 weeks. The oil is nice and clean!

Anything to worry about?

Many Thanks

T911UK · Feb 27, 2016

If you have oil on the floor there is probably loads in the trays, you need to take them off and see but they can easily hold 3 or 4 litres before they drip on the floor

Hacki · Feb 27, 2016

MoC2S said:
You need to understand where the leak originates, and that may be complicated if it is descending via the undertray .. I would suggest you also need to understand whether it is a pressure leak too.

+1 - an indie specialist did it for me and solved the issue. The OPC was wrong.

I´d have it checked, better safe than sorry!

B'gad · Feb 28, 2016

Thank you. I will have the leak checked out. Would there be any obvious signs that there is a problem on the oil pressure/ temp gauges if there were a big leak that was hidden by the undertray?

Hacki · Feb 28, 2016

B'gad said:
Thank you. I will have the leak checked out. Would there be any obvious signs that there is a problem on the oil pressure/ temp gauges if there were a big leak that was hidden by the undertray?

No, you´ll see nothing on the gauges, I think. The dry sump system makes sure there´s oil pressure, temperature won´t be a problem either as long as the oil level is not extremely low. It´s hard to tell without checking; the usual suspects are the valve covers, but not necessarily. I (and the OPC!) thought so, too. In fact it was a different spot, but could be fixed. And, as mentioned above, the undertray can hold a lot of oil, like diapers.

wilsonny · Feb 28, 2016

I don't think it is an oil leak....it's the car slowly sobbing at its lack of use [

] hope your going to put a few more miles on it under your ownership and not worry too much about residuals. .
Seriously the other more knowledgeable souls have given you the correct advice of course, the only point i would emphasise is that it does these cars no favours not to get some use..seals dry and harden all over the place, oil slowly collects while standing in what should be a mostly dry sump, washing and putting away without fully warming up the car does more harm through brake corrosion and condensation forming in hidden areas, etc etc.

Hope it all turns out to be no more than a leaking valve gasket for you.

Cheers

Andrew

B'gad · Feb 28, 2016

Thank you. I will try and find a local independent specialist. I believe there is one around Calne/Devizes. More problems coming in a few moments!!

Chrissss81 · Mar 23, 2016

It may be one (or more) of the seals.
With age they won't seal the engine completely anymore. If you are using a thin oil such as 0W40 the car may start to lose oil.
Try 10W60, its a thicker oil (it is approved for the 993 by Porsche Classic).
I had a similar problem with my 993 Targa, since I switched to 10W60 the engine is sealed again

B'gad · Mar 23, 2016

Thank you again everyone. The problem is solved. While the car was at an OPC having had an alternator failure, i asked them to take a look underneath. Apparently it was a perished/leaky oil pipe which is now replaced. No more leak!
ADAM