jamesjedi

Looking at a car with a small oil leak between the engine and transmission. Car is a base Cayman 2.7. Car has 50,000 miles on it.

Common? Major concern?

Thanks for any and all input.

jscott82

Most likely rear main seal. Not uncommon.. And usually not worth fixing until something else needs work. It's a $20 part and takes 2 min to install, but you have to drop the trans to get to it.

Have you looked on top of the motor to make sure its not something clinging down the side?

jamesjedi

I have not looked up top. It was an inspection done by a Porsche dealer.

Low mileage cars are not always the best. Also, very limited history. Nothing on Carfax about the oil change intervals. Frustrating that owners do not record oil changes and service history better.

Thanks for the reply.

rk15000

Don't be too discouraged - is there any record on the Carfax of the car being serviced at Porsche dealerships? If so, you can telephone the dealership and ask for the detailed records (with the prior owner's info blanked out of course) - I did this when shopping for mine and it proved invaluable, as I could "build" the provenance of the car back from scratch.

Also, is this car a manual or a Tip? If it is a manual + RMS leak, let it go too long and you get oil splatter on the clutch, which creates excess slip/wear, which adds lots more $$$ than the seal itself.

jamesjedi

Thanks for the reply. Interesting idea concerning history. Thanks again.