TRWright

Well, when I bought the car, the PO told me that the car needed a rear cam gasket. OK. Never noticed any smell or oil leak, except for when the car would sit for a week or so. If it sat for a week or more, when you would start it, you would see a little smoke come from under the engine, and you would be able to smell it. I just ordered the rear cam gasket, the cork one. However, I now think that it is something else. It has gotten a lot worse in the last few days. I took it for a ride today, and it smelled pretty bad. I checked the oil and it was pretty low. I thought maybe it had something to do with the turbo install, but I have put over 1k miles on it without problems. I used the rubber ring AND the paper gasket, just like the instructions said. I took a few pics, and the oil is on the crossover pipe just behind the oil pan. There has always been a few drops on the bottom of the oil pan, but there seems to be a bit more now. Any ideas? It needs to be fixed before 944fest!!

KuHL 951

Hope it isn't the rear main seal. It's really leaving a trail. Does it leak only when driving or does it leak parked at night too?

TRWright

Steve, I didn't notice a *puddle* under the car. It has always left a drop where I park it, but nothing noticeable like this. For the rear main would the engine have to come out?

PorscheDoc

Best place to start is upper rear balance shaft cover (the round one) and oil air seperators (You will have to pull the intake to get to them, and the turbo to replace the OA seperator seals), they can dump huge amounts of oil on the crossover pipe. If the side of the engine appears to be dry up there, then look at the oil pan gasket, then the rear main.

PorscheDoc

And for the rear main, you would basically be looking at a clutch job, since it is 10 minutes further than replacing the clutch.

TRWright

Is it possible that it is leaking from the turbo mount? Maybe I didn't torque those down enough. . . . It seems to be on the oil pan, and when I drive the oil rolls back onto the crossover. I thought maybe it was that cork cam gasket, and it was leaking down onto the oil pan, but not I don't know. I am hoping maybe I didn't torque the turbo mount bolts enough, and that is where the oil is coming from. Problem is, I need to drive nearly 3 hours before I can get the car on jackstands. I *really* hope it is not the oil pan gasket or rear main.

The OAS had oil crusted all over the top of and sides of it, BTW. I noticed that all 3 times I have had the IM off. . . I heard they were all like that, so I didn't investigate.

PorscheDoc

I dont think the turbo mount will get oil down on the crossover. my crossover looked a lot like that, and the rear balance shaft cover was spewing oil, along with the OA seperator, but that wasnt as bad.

Tom M'Guinn

You have to clean it up and then drive it until the source reveals itself. When I had oil on the cross over, I narrowed it down to either the rear main seal, or the oil pan gasket under the seal. There is almost no room to see which one it is. To my surprise, I have all but fixed the leak by draining out the Mobil 1 and replacing it with MaxLife dino oil. Did you switch to Mobil 1 lately by any chance? Did you upgrade the turbo? More power makes more blow-by, which makes more oil leaks (unless the case is vented well).

TRWright

Yes, upgraded turbo just a few weeks ago (1k miles). I WAS using mobil 1, but most recently I put a quart of that valvoline oil, the one for cars with over 75k miles. I am pretty sure it is not synthetic.

pcarphanatik

I was also experiencing a small oil leak...probably a dime sized spot/week

Switched to Valvoline 10w40 High Mileage and that problem is history!

Same thing was happening with my transaxle from the main shaft seal..also had the clutch pop out of gear in third a few times.

Drained and and replaced with Swepco and have had ZERO problems since. My shifts are also nice and smooth.

TRWright

I just drove the car to the gas station and back, and then around town a little. It seems to be the worst after I sit at a stop light for a while. Doesn't seem to be load dependant or anything. I'm guessing that when you are driving, most of the oil rolls off the crossover, but when you are sitting it burns the excess. I really need to fix this before 944fest. Do you think it's possible that it is the rear cam tower gasket? Seems to be a lot of oil down low, so I am almost tempted to rule that out.

TRWright

The thing that I don't get is that it really started like this all of the sudden. Is that a clue for something?

TRWright

The leak seems to be getting worse by the day. The bottom of the oil pan is covered in oil, and it is rolling back all over the bottom of the car, and over almost the whole exhaust, not just the crossover. I am about to put the car up on jackstands and get under it. Question 1: What should I look for?

Question 2: Also, are there any temporary fixes? I have heard about this stuff you put in your oil and its supposed to condition the gaskets and help slow leaks, kinda like the stuff you put in your PS fluid. Probably it's BS, but I figured I would ask.

dand86951

You need to get it up on a rack where you can look at the oil trail. Get a good light on it and you will probably be able to see if it is coming from the cam seal or the balance shaft or the clutch housing. Other than that it is just a good guess as to where it is coming from.

PorscheDoc

Check the drivers side of the engine for oil, try and reach up on the side of it and feel for puddles of oil pooling on that side.