Quite leaky on its first start up of the season....

lali · Feb 11, 2012

Woke the boys up this morning from their winter slumber... The 993 was quite drippy after I'd started it...

I know you're supposed to start them up regularly and stuff but work and weather have got in the way.

Anyone else had this? I'm not massively concerned as it'll be going into EMC for a proper checkup and new tyres for the year soon, just didn't expect to see it drip as much as it did.

clyde · Feb 11, 2012

Drippy????

JB 3.2 · Feb 12, 2012

Would that be condensation in the exhaust?

lali · Feb 12, 2012

Nope definitely oily and not from the end of the tailpipes. Rocker cover gasket?

kenwill · Feb 12, 2012

Probably valve covers leaking (2 per side I think), you can sometimes tweak them to get them to seal but usually the gaskets need replacing. This is a very common 993 problem.

Have a look on Jackals web site or over on 911uk its well documented.

Ken

JB 3.2 · Feb 12, 2012

I agree its common, the concern is, does it have anything to do the winter hibernation.

Would the cold weather increase the oil pressure causing the leakage?

szklarek · Feb 12, 2012

Maybe if the engine hasn't been run for a while the gaskets would dry out?

Anton

lali · Feb 12, 2012

The cold weather is the bit I'm thinking about. Also noticed my bonnet and boot struts didn't do their job until
The car was warm.

It's just annoying that the car has been dry as a bone until this weekend and now it's made a mess on the drive

clyde · Feb 13, 2012

I would take a guess at the lower rocker cover gaskets leaking, although they're made of rubber and I wouldn't expect them to "dry out" over the winter. More likely that they've been leaking for a while but over the winter the oil has continued to drip out and what you're seeing now is the oil running off the engine undertray.

As John says, it's very common. It's a straight forward job to replace but made awkward by the lack of direct access to some of the bolts

Best to replace the bolts while you're at it as the heads can get a bit chewed up taking them out

You could always take the undertray off and clean everything up as a stop gap measure.

lali · Feb 13, 2012

Undertray?? I can see my rocker covers??

clyde · Feb 13, 2012

ORIGINAL: lali

Undertray?? I can see my rocker covers??

You can see the lower two rocker covers if you remove the undertray (5 half turn screw fixings)

kenwill · Feb 14, 2012

Undertray?? I can see my rocker covers??

Do you mean you don't have an undertray?

Again quite a lot written about these, whether they should be removed to allow better cooling etc etc. But it seems some have been removed for this reason on some cars. Go onto 911uk or Rennlist and search.

Porker993 · Feb 16, 2012

This is a most bizarre thread. The OP has something (oil?) dripping on his drive, and he has been advised this is leaky cam covers ?

Cam covers gaskets normally leak very slowly onto the heat exchangers and create smoke. They don't usually suddenly let go and drop large quantities of oil.

If the leak has become a drip, that is a worry and should be looked at urgently. It could be anything from oil pipes to return tubes.

I would get it checked out by a competent mechanic before driving anywhere, and check the oil level before you do.

Dosn't sound like cam covers to me.

Porker993 · Feb 16, 2012

This is a most bizarre thread. The OP has something (oil?) dripping on his drive, and he has been advised this is leaky cam covers ?

Cam covers gaskets normally leak very slowly onto the heat exchangers and create smoke. They don't usually suddenly let go and drop large quantities of oil.

If the leak has become a drip, that is a worry and should be looked at urgently. It could be anything from oil pipes to return tubes.

I would get it checked out by a competent mechanic before driving anywhere, and check the oil level before you do.

Dosn't sound like cam covers to me.

clyde · Feb 16, 2012

ORIGINAL: Porker993

This is a most bizarre thread. The OP has something (oil?) dripping on his drive, and he has been advised this is leaky cam covers ?

Cam covers gaskets normally leak very slowly onto the heat exchangers and create smoke. They don't usually suddenly let go and drop large quantities of oil.

If the leak has become a drip, that is a worry and should be looked at urgently. It could be anything from oil pipes to return tubes.

I would get it checked out by a competent mechanic before driving anywhere, and check the oil level before you do.

Dosn't sound like cam covers to me.

Firstly, I didn't take from the OP that we're talking about "large quantities of oil" here, only drips. Secondly, this is a car that's been sitting over the winter period. The oil appeared on first start up after this "lying period". If the cam covers seals are not 100% they leak, this is an accepted fact on the 993 as the covers are not routinely removed to adjust the tappets and then re-fitted with new gaskets. The lower covers are more prone to showing evidence of leaking as the oil sits against the seals after the engine is turned off, slowly leaking out.

Correct me if I'm wrong but the oil can only be burnt off by the heat exchangers if they are hot [

]. In this case, the oil that would normally be burnt by the heat exchangers therefore runs on to the engine under tray then shows as a "drip" when the car is started and moved. If the car has no engine tray (which looking at a later post by the OP it may not have) then it is equally explained by oil slowly weeping from the lower rocker cover(s) but remaining on the cover by virtue of its surface tension until the car moves when it is vibrated off or, if the drive has a slope, gravity takes over.

Nothing bizarre at all, just plain old simple physics.

Yes it might be something else, such as oil lines or even the notorious rusting small oil filter but my money's on the rocker covers gaskets.

John Maddox · Feb 16, 2012

The only time mine dripped oil onto the garage floor was when the small filter loosened somehow. Quarter of a turn on the filter cured it.

clyde · Feb 16, 2012

ORIGINAL: John Maddox

The only time mine dripped oil onto the garage floor was when the small filter loosened somehow. Quarter of a turn on the filter cured it.

The only time mine has actually dripped oil onto the floor was when the small filter rusted through. Only a pin hole but due to the pressure caused a huge leak very quickly. That was the one time that I didn't ensure that both filters had been changed at the annual service, I had the car back by the time I realised and took the view that it would be OK because it was only 12 months old and Porsche don't actually specify a filter change at the 12k service - never again [8|]

lali · Feb 17, 2012

Cheers guys, I'll take a pic of the leaky bit....

pse_SC · Mar 13, 2012

The only time mine has actually dripped oil onto the floor was when the small filter rusted through. Only a pin hole but due to the pressure caused a huge leak very quickly. That was the one time that I didn't ensure that both filters had been changed at the annual service, I had the car back by the time I realised and took the view that it would be OK because it was only 12 months old and Porsche don't actually specify a filter change at the 12k service - never again

Good practice to replace both oil filters every oil service, although why OPCs don't do this is amazing - the filter is only a few quid (to them of course).

clyde · Mar 13, 2012

I find that fact that it's not in the service schedule to replace either filter at the 12k service, only the oil, amazing. Why would put new oil through old filters?

As I said Paul, that was the only time I didn't ensure that both filters were replaced but even at that you would expect the body of a filter to last more than 18 months.