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Yesterday I took my 14 BASE CAYMAN to get groceries and I only have a single car garage so I park it in the driveway to unload. Walked into the Cayman-less garage and notice a couple pretty big streaks of oil (see pic).
Just changed the oil so thought maybe it was coming from plug or oil filter but both seem dry. And it looks like it’s coming from the front of the engine.
Would rather get it on my lift at work than go higher on jack stands so I couldn’t really see where it was coming from, but there was some oil on the cross brace just behind oil pan, and what seems to be in front of oil pan as well.
Clean up the drops and place some fresh cardboard down overnight, warm up the car this morning, move it forward a bit and the cardboard is completely dry.
Is there a common weak point when it comes to oil leaks somewhere on the front of the motor? If so, what? I know this is a complete shot in the dark, just wondering for certain areas to look for when I get it on the lift later today.
Don’t discount the drain plug until you get a closer look. After the last oil change at the dealer I noticed oil on the floor. Put the Boxster on the lift and after close inspection with a light I could see a small amount of oil in the cavity around the drain plug. The oil ran along the oil pan and dripped from the front. Dealer replaced the crush washer and all was fine. The washer didn’t crush properly.
My son has a 987 and parked it in my driveway last fall. When we went outside, we noticed a large oil stain under it. He never had any oil dripping before. It turned out to be a cam plug that popped out. It was hard to see exactly where it was coming from since the secondary oil pump was just below it. After some research, we discovered that this can happen on cars with cam plugs. The engine has four plugs, one on each end of each head. They are two different sizes so be careful when ordering (we got the wrong size the first time). When the car is just sitting, there is no oil that is in that location, it will just drip out when the engine is running and splashing the oil around inside the head. He drove his on the highway to get to our house when this happened, so he had oil all over everything in the back underside of his car.
That is my first guess based on my experience.
My son has a 987 and parked it in my driveway last fall. When we went outside, we noticed a large oil stain under it. He never had any oil dripping before. It turned out to be a cam plug that popped out. It was hard to see exactly where it was coming from since the secondary oil pump was just below it. After some research, we discovered that this can happen on cars with cam plugs. The engine has four plugs, one on each end of each head. They are two different sizes so be careful when ordering (we got the wrong size the first time). When the car is just sitting, there is no oil that is in that location, it will just drip out when the engine is running and splashing the oil around inside the head. He drove his on the highway to get to our house when this happened, so he had oil all over everything in the back underside of his car.
That is my first guess based on my experience.
Whats the best way to get a look at the cam plugs? My oil level hasn't changed since changing my oil and Ive driven at least 60 miles on the car. I dont know how much would come out of those plugs but Id imagine a decent amount if it were one of them?
I got it on the lift last night and couldnt see any dripping anywhere, wasn't looking specifically for those cam plugs tho. Not entirely sure what they look like and where they are.
Got the car on the lift last night and couldnt find a drip or drop anywhere...
The spot was dry yesterday before taking the car to work. This morning I started the car and moved it to see if there was any oil leaking, and there was this spot (pictured). Not happy. Might take the front cover (behind front seats) to maybe gain a better visual on the motor to see if I can see any leaking. As you can see it's not just a drop or two, seems like quite a bit.
Don’t discount the drain plug until you get a closer look. After the last oil change at the dealer I noticed oil on the floor. Put the Boxster on the lift and after close inspection with a light I could see a small amount of oil in the cavity around the drain plug. The oil ran along the oil pan and dripped from the front. Dealer replaced the crush washer and all was fine. The washer didn’t crush properly.
Yeah I dont even see anything on the pan or around the drain plug and I would think I would see something given the puddle (pictured in previous post) I woke up to this morning
When it was the cam plug, I could turn the car on and let it idle. After a few seconds it would start dripping. It would drip about every 5 seconds.
It is very hard to see the plugs from anywhere because it is such a tight clearance in the front and back of the engine. I stuck my phone up there and took a bunch of photos to try to see anything. Ours happened to be the front cam plug, so you could see it by removing the firewall, but I couldn't reach it from above, so the work was done from below. This photo is from below sticking my phone where my head doesn't fit to take a photo.
This photo is from below with the secondary oil pump removed.
This photo is looking down with the firewall removed.
With the plugs not there, you can see the hex head on the end of the cam shaft. The plugs are like putting a frisbee upside down in the hole. Smooth, but recessed.
If you can get it back on the lift, I would put it up and let it idle while looking for the leak.
[QUOTE=NJR1986;19326295]Yesterday I took my 14 BASE CAYMAN to get groceries and I only have a single car garage so I park it in the driveway to unload. Walked into the Cayman-less garage and notice a couple pretty big streaks of oil (see pic).
Just changed the oil so thought maybe it was coming from plug or oil filter but both seem dry. And it looks like it’s coming from the front of the engine.
Would rather get it on my lift at work than go higher on jack stands so I couldn’t really see where it was coming from, but there was some oil on the cross brace just behind oil pan, and what seems to be in front of oil pan as well.
Clean up the drops and place some fresh cardboard down overnight, warm up the car this morning, move it forward a bit and the cardboard is completely dry.
Is there a common weak point when it comes to oil leaks somewhere on the front of the motor? If so, what? I know this is a complete shot in the dark, just wondering for certain areas to look for when I get it on the lift later today.
It's very difficult to avoid oil collecting in the cavities of the cross brace when you change the oil filter. Since you reported that there was no oil on the floor the following morning, I would attribute the original oil on the floor to oil was that pooled in the cross member and drained.
Yesterday I took my 14 BASE CAYMAN to get groceries and I only have a single car garage so I park it in the driveway to unload. Walked into the Cayman-less garage and notice a couple pretty big streaks of oil (see pic).
Just changed the oil so thought maybe it was coming from plug or oil filter but both seem dry. And it looks like it’s coming from the front of the engine.
Would rather get it on my lift at work than go higher on jack stands so I couldn’t really see where it was coming from, but there was some oil on the cross brace just behind oil pan, and what seems to be in front of oil pan as well.
Clean up the drops and place some fresh cardboard down overnight, warm up the car this morning, move it forward a bit and the cardboard is completely dry.
Is there a common weak point when it comes to oil leaks somewhere on the front of the motor? If so, what? I know this is a complete shot in the dark, just wondering for certain areas to look for when I get it on the lift later today.
It's very difficult to avoid oil collecting in the cavities of the cross brace when you change the oil filter. Since you reported that there was no oil on the floor the following morning, I would attribute the original oil on the floor to oil was that pooled in the cross member and drained.
Yes, no oil the next day, but then oil collected this morning after parking it from a drive last night
@boxdriver I also, for the life of me, can't find a part number for these plugs for the 981 2.7L variant. Are they different? Happen to have a link or part no. ?
After looking at photos of the 981 2.7, it looks like they changed the design of the heads so they no longer have the cam plugs in them. I thought they were close enough to the same engines as the 987, but I guess not.
My suggestion would be to put it on a lift and stick your phone up in every spot you can't see and take photos and hope that you can find it. If not, clean everything off really well and watch to see if the oil leak continues. Maybe you will be lucky and it turns out to be spilt oil on the brace from the oil change like slivel referenced.
Did you do the oil change yourself or take it somewhere?
After looking at photos of the 981 2.7, it looks like they changed the design of the heads so they no longer have the cam plugs in them. I thought they were close enough to the same engines as the 987, but I guess not.
My suggestion would be to put it on a lift and stick your phone up in every spot you can't see and take photos and hope that you can find it. If not, clean everything off really well and watch to see if the oil leak continues. Maybe you will be lucky and it turns out to be spilt oil on the brace from the oil change like slivel referenced.
Did you do the oil change yourself or take it somewhere?
Did the change myself with the car on the lift. Drain plug was clean but like others and yourself have stated, its impossible to remove the filter in a clean way. Heres to hoping.
I have had something similar on my 2015 Cayman S - started seeing oil after an oil change but intermittent, only leaked when sitting for days and days or cold weather - not a hot engine. At the next change it happened again and the next day I took it back to be checked - it turned out to be a crushed washer. Leaked a little (probably residual) the next day, and then stopped and has not returned. It never leaked often enough to change the level (we have a LOT of oil in there) but still concerning of course. Seems to have been a poorly tightened crush washer in my case.
03-11-2024, 01:27 PM
Oil Leak
