abg123

Just bought this 87 Carrera cabriolet..2 days later...a oil leak! Some pics!

ab1752

It's more typical that 12l of oil will present a weepy motor than to say leaks of that size are normal. After the top end rebuild on my 89 it lasted 25,000 kms then needed a few gaskets replaced. It looks like they cleaned the engine up for sale so it shouldn't be too difficult to determine where the leaks are. Tackle these yourself or get to know a local air cooled specialist. Did you have this car inspected before purchase?

TheTorch

Hard to see where the oil is coming from in those pictures. Clean up, drive a little, then look where the leaks are originating. Common areas are:

1. triangle of death: oil breather hose (replace hose from oil tank to engine, replace oil breather gasket), oil pressure sensor fitting (replace crush washer), oil valve (replace o-ring). None of these is difficult. Do not need to drain oil.
2. valve covers: full set of gaskets, nyloc nuts and aluminum crush washers is about $60 for top and bottom. Not difficult. Do not overtighten! Check the covers for flatness, if not flat, sand flat using 2 sheets of 220 grit followed by 320 grit paper on a RELIABLY flat surface (granite, thick glass, verified flat table saw, etc.) Have to drain the oil.
3. oil return tubes: more difficult but there are decent youtube videos out there for this. Have to drain the oil.
4. leaking oil tank: easy to see if this is the case. Sometimes hard to know where though (seam, level sender gasket fail, or for me: a hole developed up high by the rear mounting fitting). Some folks have removed and had the tank refurbished, but there are also nightmares of rust chunks dislodging after a refurb and making a mess in the engine. I just sucked it up and bought a new one. Installation was tricky but do-able. Highly recommend proper 36mm flare nut wrench AND long 30mm open ended wrench for the hard oil line (some need 32mm flare nut wrench) -- depends on your engine / car setup. The 32mm and 36mm flare nut wrenches cost me like $150 but 100% worth it to not round off the oil compression fittings. Available at KC Tool online.

Some old timers say if the leak is hard to locate, spray the suspected area with athletes foot spray powder (has to be powder not clear), and you'll see where the oil is coming from. Or tape a paper towel near the area and check frequently to see where it originates.

TheTorch

PS: check around Timing chain covers. Might need new gaskets. Someone else has a thread going on this now as well. Good luck.

sithot

Back the camera out a bit. Having a heck of time with orientation.

abg123

Hard to do...have camera on the ground looking up! No jack stands. You can see the cross pipe in majority of pics . Drip can be seen..it drops just about a inch behind cross pipe towards back of car