CHRIS C..

HELP !
i HAVE DEVELOPED AN OIL LEAK IN THE FRONT OF MY 993. THE LEAK IN OCCURING IN THE FRONT OF THE CAR ROUGHLY BETWEEN THE TWO FRONT WHEELS. IT APPEARS TO BE ENGINE OIL AND IT IS LEAKING CONSIDERABLY. mY INITIAL THOUGHT IS THAT THERE IS A OIL COOLER UPFRONT AND ONE THE LINES IS LEAKING. ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED
THANKS

Jeff 993TT

Your initial diagnosis sounds about right.

The oil cooler is on the passengar side, so it seems a bit strange what it is leaking in the middle of the car. Unless you have an aux oil cooler installed ( which would be installed on the driver side.)

If you are handy, I would take off the front bumper cover and have a look see. If not, I would just take it to your mechanic and have them do it.

Jeff

Randall G.

Chris,

Sorry to say, but sounds like a power steering rack leak (the fluid looks a bit like oil when it's dirty). Have you checked the level on your power steering reservoir?

Kim .... you may have the same problem.

Randall G.

>I'm not sure where it came from as it is on each rear corner of the pan and none in the middle.

.... that really does sound like the rack, with the fluid leaking out of the gaiters (or bellows) on each side of the rack. That would be really bad luck, meaning the seals have failed on both the left and right side.

Randall G.

I've got my fingers crossed for you, Kim. Us 964 owners are fortunate, as a rebuilt rack can be purchased for as "little" as $300. As I understand it, 993 owners are looking at either used or a factory refurbished unit (at least $820, steeply discounted).

Randall G.

>If this is the problem, what are my chances of getting it fixed before next weekend?

If it's a slow leak, I wouldn't worry about it. Just get it fixed when it best fits your schedule. Depending on how many miles are on your car, this is also a good time to replace your tie-rods. Maybe even ball-joints, as the car has to be re-aligned when the rack is replaced.

Randall G.

[quote]Originally posted by Silver Bullet:
<strong>Randall - Thanks for the well wishes. Other than the fluid level, how can I further diagnose this? Any cover/tray that I can take off to get a better view. My car is up on stand right now as I was doing some other work on the front end.

Right now, cost isn't an issue, time would be. I'm supposed to go to my first DE next weekend and would be severely bummed if this prevented it from happening, severely bummed. </strong><hr></blockquote>

Besides checking the reservoir, look to see if there's fluid coming out of the steering rack gaiters. In a gross case, you'll hear a nauseating squishing sound when you sqeeze the full of fluid gaiters.

Here's a photo of a gaiter:

Kevin

Kim;

I just had to replace the return power steering line that bolts to the steering rack and has a hose clamp at the other end. The crimp connector opposite from the banjo style fitting was leaking and running down the line. At first I thought it was the hose clamp, it was the line. Part number is 993 347 449 01. I just got the new line and will be putting it on sometimes this week.

STLPCA

I agree w/Randall - steering fluid is the most likely. The lines to the oil cooler in the right front fender run along the outer right side, bend up just forward of the firewall & then go through the fender to the cooler. I believe they are metal tubing most of the way, so leaks would probably be at the junctions in the fender making it highly unlikely you'd have an oil spill only (if at all) under the middle of the car. Steering fluid & M1 have a different feel & smell. Maybe even taste different, but I haven't tried them both

STLPCA

[quote]Originally posted by Silver Bullet:
<strong>So...which one have you tried?</strong><hr></blockquote>

A very fine '00 M1 15/50 - a short story, but too stupid to repeat <img src="graemlins/c.gif" border="0" alt="[ouch]" />

Randall G.

Hey Kim,

Is it just the pic, or does that oil (fluid?) look old? Can you see any "fresh" looking drops or drips?

The level sounds encouraging. If you had a gross leak, you surely would have found it below the min. line. Besides having it looked at on Tuesday, looks like you can just keep an eye on your reservoir level. With any luck, it won't change.

E. J. - 993 Alumni

You know it's funny, but I have a leaky steering rack, and I don't really need to add that much fluid. I check it every two weeks or so and usually only have to add a drop or two. But the leak is pronounced enough to leave fluid on the garage floor.

I have done research on costs etc... A used one from a car with 10k miles from LA Porsche is $400. Olympic Auto Parts wants $600 for a rebuilt one. Phil at Suncoast wants ~$850 for a new one.

Kim, I wouldn't worry about it. Just check the reservoir every once in a while.

E. J.

Mike J

I just had to do this..it was not something I wanted to do though ;-(.

Priced the rack around...it turns out that the cheapest place was up here in Vancouver. Weissach in Vancouver had my original rack rebuilt for $800 CDN, or about $500 US. Much cheaper than any price I could find in the US!

So one idea is to phone up Andrew at Weissach (www.weissach.com) and see if you can ship the rack up, get it rebuilt and then have it sent down again. I am not associated with them, just a satisfied customer. Not sure about the logisitics at the border.

I did the rack myself. Difficulty about 6 out of 10. If you have any questions I can try to answer.

Cheers,

Mike

Randall G.

A <img src="graemlins/cussing.gif" border="0" alt="[grrrrrrr]" /> <img src="graemlins/cussing.gif" border="0" alt="[grrrrrrr]" /> <img src="graemlins/cussing.gif" border="0" alt="[grrrrrrr]" /> leaking rack soaked gaiter:

Mike J

BTW, what is it with these racks anyways? On most cars the racks just work the life of the car and don't leak...it seems that on cars in these price range that simple things like steering racks should not fail. It gets me mad to drop $$$ on the car for maintenance when I could be putting the $$ towards some PSS-9's!

Design problem or wrong fluids? (ie Pentosin vs ATF)