Mikeaagesen

Well I just got my car back and its leaking oil, which I told the guy to fix, so I'll be taking it back to him it looks like. It seems that the oil is leaking right in front of the cat. It appears right above but about 8 inches or so ahead of the cat. Any Ideas on what might be leaking here? When the trans was out and everything, he said the real seal was the culprit for the leaks. I had a new real seal put in while they were in there. I hope they didn't mess that up.... Anyone have any ideas on what it could be?

hosrom_951

Yikes, sorry to hear that.

Well, i have experience a leaky rear crank seal (or flywheel seal) when the central rubber damper was replaced on my 88 NA. I was pissed as hell, and if i didn't let the shop get the seal themselves, i would have paid for the job all over again.

I also had a leak from teh rear cam tower gasket, that leaked on the exhaust and causing smoke. Could that be another problem in your case?

The CAT is pretty much 'far' from the engine, but when it leaks, do you see smoke? while driving (when warm and/or cold)?

Mikeaagesen

I think I did see a little smoke actually when I was looking under it.

boosted951

The oil may be dripping down onto the downpipe or crossover pipe and exhaust system....it may just look like it is coming from right in front of the cat...When driving...the wind also blows the oil rearward.....yet it may be closer to the engine where the real problem lies..... Good luck.....

PorscheDoc

First check your upper rear balance shaft seal and oil/air seperator seals. When they leak, they will leak down the side of the engine to the back, and seep beneath the bellhousing and come out like a rear main seal leak. If those look good and you can't see a puddle of oil pooling up on the side of the engine, then go to either the oil pan gasket or the rear main seal.

hosrom_951

Karl:I was going to mention the oil pan gasket. My gasket it 'slightly wet', but the exhaust isn't quite so close for the oil to leak on, or maybe i didn't see it. Anyway, basically my question is could it be the oil pan

PorscheDoc

If the leak is at the rear or the pan, oil can leak out the back, and run down the bellhousing and starter, and then drip onto the crossover pipe. It probably couldnt get onto the exhaust pipe running out the rear though, just the crossover pipe. I guess if you have a leak bad enough (i did) it can literally coat the whole underside of your car with oil. To get oil on the exhaust pipe by the cat, i would think you would need to have a pretty substantial leak coming out. I spent hours just cleaning the oil off the underside of my car when i did the balance shaft cover and rear main seal which in combination leaked oil like niagra falls...there was oil all the way back to the tranny

hosrom_951

Did i read this right or did you just say that the engine leaked so bad that oil went all the way to the tranny?

PorscheDoc

Lol, yea, it was coming out fast. The rear balance shaft cover was very very loose and spewed oil out along with a bad rear main. I would sit at a stoplight and smoke would billow from under the car, and of course out on the interstate, the airflow threw the oil far back on the underside of the car. Look at how black mine was (the one that is standing)

Mikeaagesen

Well after shutdown, ill see a pool of oil thats has a diameter of about 3-4 inches. I consider that to be bad. Can someone direct me as to the general location of that upper rear balance shaft and the air/oil seperator seal?

PorscheDoc

Well you need to pull the intake to see them, but you might be able to take a flash light and peer down on the drivers side of the intake and look at the side of hte block (it is slanted, so a small amount of oil can pool up on the side of the block), but i dont know for sure if you and see enough like that to find out. If you see a large puddle of oil, it is time to pull the intake. Otherwise you might be able to crawl underneath and reach up and feel on the side of the block for oil. I was dropping about a 3-4 inch puddle as well when the car was parked. The rear balance shaft seal can be cleaned well with brake cleaner, and then RTV'd in place and that will stop the leak. The OA seals are where the OA (oil fill tube) connects to the block. There are 2, about 12 bucks total from paragon, but usually requires pulling the turbo to replace. That is where i would start, even if you have to pull the intake to get a good look it would be worth it, after all the rear main seal is a clutch job, so you dont want to have to do that if you dont need to.

PorscheDoc

The Red arrow points to the rear balance shaft cover which you can't see from this angle, because it is on the backside of the cover. The yellow arrows point to the where the OA connects to the block and has seals (the duct tape is covering the one hole, and the rag in the other)

hosrom_951

The intake manifold shouldn't take ~30 mins or so to take off. I myself am going to do so (but in October waiting for a venturi delete kit from MySwiss) and take a look at everything else.

I took a flashlight a number of times and looked at EVERY area from above the engine for signs of bad seals/oil leaks. Found none, under the car has a wet oil pan gasket (which is another story).

Damn it Karl, looks like you drove into a shallow puddle of oil rather than an oil leak i can just imagin the blue smoke coming out from under there at traffic stops.......got plenty of people thinking that your car was on fire ? and the smell.......sheeesh!

PorscheDoc

Lol, yea the final straw was sitting there at a stoplight and the smoke would just billow up from under the side of the car...lol, those poor people that had to drive behind me on the interstate...lol

Mikeaagesen

Well I have pulled my intake and swapped turbvos before, but it is a big PITA. I hoping it wouldnt be the main rear seal as it was just fixed. Ill take a look and see if i can see anything. Thanks alot.