chris87944

I've been a longtime owner of an '87 944 but am looking into purchasing a 987 Boxster. I took a look at a '07 today with 32k miles on it. The car looked and ran great... not fluid leaks under the car that I could see. I normally would take a look at the dipstick to check for oil dicoloration, but this car doesn't have a dipstick (apparently). Therefore, I opened up the oil filler cap, and looked at the underside of it: there was a slight film of frothy greenish goo. The dealer indicated this was normal and due to solidification of the synthetic oil over time. However, I'm a bit concerned it might indicate that coolant is mixing with the oil (i.e. via a leaky head gasket). Has anyone seen this, and is it expected?

Also, from looking at the underside of the front of the car, it was clear it had been bottomed out and scuffed up a few times. Am I going to be able to find one that hasn't been?

Thanks!


Chris

Macster

A car used for short trips or used in cool/wet weather can accumulate a bit of gunk under the cap. That's about the coolest place in which the crankcase fumes reside and water vapor that boils out of the hot oil condenses and mixes with oil vapor and what you saw is the result.

However, with the engine hot if you smell the opening and the cap do you get an antifreeze smell? If the engine is idling do you get a whiff of anti-freeze from the exhaust? If so, walk away from the car.

As for the scuffing under the car you'll likely find even new cars have this a bit if they've been driven. The cars are low and have a long nose and the underside gets scraped up some.

What you want to not see when the car is in the air is no big scrapes on any under body panels or metal pieces, no gouges in the inner edges of the wheels, and no signs of anything contacting the engine oil pan or exhaust headers, converters, etc.

chris87944

Yesterday was fairly cool, and I think the car has basically just been sitting at the dealership for a few weeks, so what you've described is definitely possible. I didn't smell antifreeze, but will check again when I take another look at the car.

Glad to hear that underside nose scuffing is common.

Thanks for the help!


Chris