Hoyt

Hello -

As the title states, I'm a new to the whole air cooled world. I've been enjoying the new to me '90 C2 that I recently purchased off BaT. She's been well used (from what the paint shows) but from what I can see she was taken care of pretty good mechanically.

Now, onto the fun....

I put the 964 up on my lift last night to see how things looked underneath since I've been seeing oil leaks on the floor. I knew I was going to find some "normal" oil leaks, but not like this. I took some photos that hopefully will lead to next steps on what I can do to get this engine a little more leak free. Below are the photos I took.

Engine details.... ~147,500 miles with a rebuild at 90k miles.

What does everyone think?

ffc

Lots of those look like normal leak spots. Rocker cover gaskets, chain case lids, Chain adjuster lid etc. These were all covered in a great thread on another forum (http://perelet.com/cars/porsche/leaks_thread/1.html) which appears to be down at the moment. I would clean up as much as you can, make sure your oil levels are good, run the car for a while and see what re-appears. Also take the right rear wheel off and have a look at the pipes from the oil tank and around to the oil filter housing. If you aren't losing oil at too great a rate address seals and pipes as you go along.

Frank 993 C4S

That looks like a lot of oil and it looks like it has been there for a while. Do you know what was done when they rebuilt the engine?

abarthguy

But no trace of rust under there!!
I'd rather have minor oil drips than massive rust!

Goughary

There isn't really anything to worry about there.

If you have a puddle on the ground, it's time to worry. Aka, if it splashes when you step in it, take it off the road and get to work.

Your chain covers are leaking, and looks like the drip on the bottom of the oil plug is either a bad seal on the crush washer or could be coming from the hose behind or or or.

Your chain tensioner seals seem to be weepy.
You may have a leak at the oil pressure sender on top of the motor.

Your valve covers weep.

My suggestion is the following...if you have good oil pressure, leave the car as is and drive it. At some point, maybe you will install a reinforced engine carrier, well, the chain covers will be right there and ready to be resealed, as will the chain tensioner.

Maybe someday you do plugs and wires, or a valve adjustment - valve covers are there and will be resealed.

Oil pressure sender can be done when ever in an hour going slowly.

Oil hoses are another animal. If your headers ever come off for some reason, that's the time to do the one that goes from the motor to the oil filter housing. Outside that, winter will come, and if the car will be off the road for a bit, you can dive into oil lines.

But nothing is imminent. There is no danger from a few weeps. To most people who own these cars, they likely chuckled looking at the pics and hearing the word "leaking"...cuz that's nothing. The motor is a little wet, yes. Drive it. A lot. Enjoy it. And hit the weeps as you go through maintenance and upgrades.

What i suggest to not do- become that guy that needs to own a perfect 964 that doesn't weep. Your all in cost on the car will double in the first year, and you will have gotten no value out of it other than you don't have a little oil on the floor.

Long story short, if someone told me they would pay me 20k to allow them to drip a little oil on my garage floor every day- I'd say yes please drip your oil. So why would i pay 20k resealing my Motor and opening the cans of worms???

You'll spend less - way less- just hitting them as you go over time. That said...a few of the low hangin fruits are easy to get to, feel free to pm me and I'm happy to chat and help you figure out which to prioritize.

cjoenck

Absolutely, this does not look all that bad. The link above is the ultimate oil leak remediation guide. I would start simple and don't assume the worst:
Valve cover gaskets
You can buy a kit from Pelicanparts and others with everything you need. The upper covers are easy. For the lower covers the cat and secondary muffler need to come off. While you are in there, change the spark plugs as well. Under no circumstances over tighten the nuts - the gaskets will leak if you do
Chain Tensioner Housing
These are easy. Use some sealing paste as the gaskets warp over time and make sure you keep the left and right tensioner apart. They are not interchangeable. You will lose a little oil when you take the lower cover on the passenger side off. While you are in there, change the o-rings for the oil bridges on both sides.
Chain Cover Gaskets
A bit more involved as the primary muffler and engine carrier has to come off. If you have an unmodified ac bracket, the harmonic balancer needs to come off and you need two special Porsche tools for that. Again, don't overtighten the nuts.
Oil pressure sensor gasket
This one sits on top of the engine behind the intake. You need to partially remove the intake manifold to get the. A few hours of work for a $5 part.
Looks like a couple of the oil hoses are leaking. I would steam clean and the see were the leaks really are. A lot of oil gets blows around back in there.
Said it before bug for oil leaks, make sure your torque values are accurate. Often less is more, ask me how I know.
Search is your friend here. And you can always come back with questions. Plenty of folks more than happy to help.

Sorry, looks like we were typing at the same time.

Hoyt

Thanks to everyone....lots of good info here!!

I kind of figured most of the weeping/leaks were “normal”. I guess I wanted to hear it from others to ease my mind.

I wish that website link was still active. I saw it on another forum and asked there if anyone had a copy of the site or something.

Ive started the cleaning by using a little degrease then water rising. So far it’s cleaning up the newer easy stuff, but the cakes on oil/dirt needs a little effort. I’m gonna try my power washer this weekend and see if that helps more.

Thanks again for all the info so far....much appreciated!

Goughary

Scrub it with wd40 . That will break up the old oil. Then dawn dishwashing liquid and water.

Let that all dry before running the car. You'll notice white smoke coming from all over the bottom of the car as the broken oil deposits and the wd40 that you hadn't cleaned away will burn off. If it gets too Smokey, turn the car off and let it cool. Then do it again. The smoking will stop after a few starts.

Or - leave it oily and just go drive the car. That old oil is actually good protection from the elements. It's not hurting anything sitting there. And by cleaning it, you'll just want to spend money to fix everything. Lol.

Hoyt

^^^^ good idea with the WD40 and Dawn. And even better point on getting things too clean

ffc

The original thread is here http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...es-thread.html without the pictures as the picture hosting site changed its policies. The text may help some.

victorltd

Looks just like my car. When I asked my mechanic about fixing he said “that’s nothing and a piece of cardboard for the floor is cheap, engine repair - not so cheap”

nowata

To add to this I had a reputable shop tell me to drive slowly over a dusty gravel road and enjoy the car

i have a couple nickel sized drops after every drive from the case bolts on my 993

Yes very annoying but whatever

cobalt

Thought I answered this on Pelican? Although with a rebuild only 50k miles young I am surprised to see the leaks you have.

Goughary

Can't be a reputable shop if he told you to drive slowly. Just sayin.

That gravel road is where you get on it hard. It's a 911. We don't own these cars to baby them.

Go have fun.

Hoyt

You did.... I posted the thread a short time apart on both forums. Figured I get as many tips as possible between the two forums.