Vidyashankara

I started seeing a few drops of oil on my pavement. Its coming from the driver side of the car, about 1.5 feet in front of the back tires, directly below the driver seat. Does anyone know what this could be? I tried taking some pics and it came out really dark. I will get some pics soon.

steved0x

I would check the spark plug tubes on that side, if you can lift the left rear of the car, remove the wheel, and remove the front fender liner (2 or 3 plastic nuts) you can peek in there and see if oil is seeping down from where your coil packs bolt to the spark plug wells. If so it is a relatively inexpensive repair to replace the tubes and associated o-rings.

steved0x

You said directly under the driver seat? The power steering fluid runs there as well. The spark plug tubes, if leaking, would be a little further back, just ahead of the rear wheel.

Vidyashankara

Here is where it is leaking from. I check the coils. It is oily around the coils. but not too wet...

Vidyashankara

Its about 1-2ft in front of the rear wheel. It feels and smells like oil, but i am not really sure, does power steering fluid also smell the same?

Macster

Power steering fluid is Pentosin and I think water soluble. Get some "oil" on your fingers and the stick your fingers under a faucet.

If the stuff washes away it is Pentosin (or maybe coolant/anti-freeze). If it doesn't wash away probably engine oil.

At that location if engine oil could be a camshaft cover leaking or more likely one or more spark plug tubes leaking.

Vidyashankara

Ok, I took it to the shop today and its leaking from the power steering line. Its leaking from between the connectors shown in the red box below. Think this is a DIY? I was quoted $500 to fix this.

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1438145896.jpg

Macster

One or both lines/hoses (with new fittings) will probably be needed. If I'm right these are probably more than a few bucks each.

The power steering system will need to be drained -- at least the tank and the hoses/lines -- and the new hoses/lines fitted and connected then the system will need to be refilled with ideally fresh Pentosin.

A tech told me this can be done by removing the serpentine belt -- but not before taking a pic or drawing a sketch to show its proper routing and noting its direction of rotation so it can be installed correctly and running in the same direction -- and turning the power steering pump pulley in the correct direction to hand pump fluid through the system until the level remains stable.

Then with the power steering cap on the tank install the serpentine belt and start the engine and run the engine a bit and watch the level in the tank. If it drops shut off the engine and add some fluid then repeat until the fluid level is stable with the engine running. You can turn the steering wheel lock to lock and back to center again and check the fluid.

Be sure to put the cap back on so there is no chance any fluid will splash out. Pentosin I think is flammable and you don't want that stuff splashing out and possible catching fire.

Oh and check your handiwork under the car for any leak sign.

Thus $500 is "about" right.

Vidyashankara

Thanks. I will get it replaced asap. Do you think the leak may be fixed by replacing the O-ring in the quick connects/disconnects?

Schnell Gelb

Those O rings are hard to find. They harden with age/heat.Then they leak if the reservoir is close to full.You do not need Pentosin according to LN Redline is better they say - and more readily available.Ask LN about flushing?
You need Viton O rings ideally. Silicone or Buna O rings may be adequate. The other issue is the overflow nipple on the p/s reservoir. It really should have a 5.5mm hose attached and run below the engine.Otherwise, if you overfill, it will leak through the nipple onto the engine and cause much confusion & concern.

Macster

If those connections are truly the quick connect/disconnect type what has likely happened is someone has been at them that doesn't know the proper way to separate the connection and has damaged the connector.

The connection does pry apart -- there is even a special blade type pry "bar" tool for this --- but IIRC the trick is the connectors have be pushed together before they can be separated without damage. Often someone just uses a big screwdriver to force the connection apart and this damages the connector and it leaks.

'course, you can try replacing the o-rings if you want. You want to be sure you get the right size of o-ring of course and made from a material that is not affected by exposure to Pentosin. This stuff is not nice to rubber so some synthetic o-ring material I guess -- Schnell Gelb covered this in his reply -- would be the material of choice but beyond that I have no idea.

Schnell Gelb

IF we are discussing the line connection I think you mean, there are 2 tools required
1.http://www.centurytool.net/MVW2050F_...smmvw2050f.htm
These depress the 'button' on the connector but be careful -if you squeeze too hard ,you'll break the button.
2.https://www.amazon.com/Lisle-37300-F.../dp/B00CEX5C9K
These spread the connector halves once the button is fully depressed. Yes, you need to operate both tools simultaneously. Brut force will quickly destroy the connector.It is easy to dislodge any O ring when that happens or damage it.It requires a little finesse.
I bought a set of variations of both and used them recently on the fuel line

Macster

The hydraulic connectors I am thinking of are those on the power steering lines at the power steering pump -- at least on my Turbo -- and I assumed these were the same style of the ones in the pic the OP posted. Guess the ones in the pic the OP posted are a different style/type of connectors.

Vidyashankara

I went to replace the PS hose today and the indy's quote went up to $900. He said my boxster was a "different configuration". Anyway, I am going to attempt to do this myself.

I looked up how to remove the serpentine belt, remove the PS pulley to remove the pressure hose. Do you know if I need to remove the AC compressor to remove the high pressure lines? Also, Do I need to empty the PS fluid for this task?

Schnell Gelb

The connection you showed in the photo of your post #7 is different from what we were discussing.
That is a simple threaded connection with ,iirc 1 "o" ring. Have you tried just tightening it?
The wrench size for both hex parts is 19mm. It is brass so make sure the wrenches are the correct size and use 2 wrenches, not 1 wrench !Do not force it ! If it is tight and you decide to undo it, try to use 2, 19mm line / flare wrenches.
The fluid will always drip from the lowest point.That probably is not where the leak is.It will be higher up.Lots of cleaning first and then tracing to the source of the leak.This has nothing to do with the serpentine belt nor the a/c compressor- yet.