Zumbera

Sent my car out for a regular check up and annual service and the mechanic called up with the following. Your timing cover is leaking. Needs the engine to be dropped. I will be going over there tomorrow to check it out to find out the exact problem.

Does a timing cover leak require an engine drop?
How many hours job is it to drop the engine and refix it?
If it is really an engine drop, is there anything else I need to check when this is being done.

Thanks in advance.

BS911

On my third 911 now... I've never had a timing cover that DIDN'T leak. If you are still within specs on oil refills then I'd say don't worry about it and wait until you really need to drop the engine. But if you are adding like 4 or 5 quarts in between oil changes (the 3-5k changes, not the 12-15k changes) then it might be a problem. If your driveway is brown because of oil spills, it might be a problem. If the dealer had to tell you it was there... it might not be a real problem. I'd personally leave it be and monitor consumption for a while.

Sorry, don't know for sure about the dropping requirements, just had to add my $0.01. Didn't quite make .02.

Zumbera

I do a lot of city driving. I need to a fill about a litre say every 600-700 kms. No oil on the ground because I still have the undercover. I am going to check the vehicle on a lift tomorrow. What is it that I need to look for to determine if the drop is really required.

BTW, when do you think you really need to drop the engine.

Thanks

TCR

I dropped my engine when the rear main seal started leaking. While it was out, had the mechanic do a complete re-seal.

993Maineiac

I have the same difficulty with my car. It's not eating oil so it will wait until the fall when I put her up for the winter. I agree with Brian-and also ask for their price-while you sitting down. My guess is that it's in the 2-3000 USD range.

Al

Carrera GT

The seal isn't enough of a reason to drop the engine, but your engine is using (or losing) a little quickly. Again, this is nothing to precipitate major work and it's good to see you're monitoring these things.
When you decide to drop the engine, consider taking advantage of the work to go to a lightweight flywheel, get a new clutch and be sure to thoroughly clean and inspect other wear items and seals.
Of course, this is the only time it's easy to do plugs and a good opportunity to check everything on higher mileage cars.

Zumbera

Thanks for the tip. Is your suggestion that I just keep filling oil (cheaper than dropping engine) and hold on till another seal gives way? Would that be OK as long as the oil level is maintained all right?

BTW what do you think of oil consumption at about 600 kms per liter at mostly city driving.

Cheers

max911

yikes, that's about a US quart every 375 miles!! If the oil loss is confined to the one spot you mention, it would be a bad leak.
Maybe a compression and leak down test is in order to see if some of your oil is being burned by the engine.

good luck,

max

Zumbera

My valve cover gasket is also leaking. Asked the mechanic to fix that. I am going to check out the timing cover leak tomorrow.

Cheers

Edward

Zumbera,

Your oil loss IS significant! I doubt that you're dripping that much as that is a lot of oil that would be on the ground on your garage, car port, driveway, work parking spot, whatever. It would be clear even with the engine tray still in place. Though you should verify this by removing the tray, wiping down what you can under the engine, then monitoring for leaks. But as Brian (BS911) said, lots of timing chain covers "leak," as do valve covers, but they typically just seep or dribble a bit, usually not enough to warrant a costly engine drop/reseal. I think it is safe to say that your engine is consuming the oil. Translation: valve guides! For reference, Porsche says "normal" oil consumption can be as much as 1 quart/800 miles; you've exceeded that by some margin, sorry to say. But if you do end up having to do the valves guides etc., at least you can address any leaks at that time.

Edward

Carrera GT

The seal will not "give way" assuming it is correctly installed and under proper tension, but you run the risk of oil starvation.

I can't translate 1l/600km off the top of my head but if one litre is close enough to one quart (US) and 600km=375miles, I'd say that is more than ordinary and the engine is warning. Still, the engine is a '94 and it's also appropriate to open up the limits and look more at performance rather than "indicators" like oil consumption. How many miles on the odometer? How many owners?

From an "environment" perspective, there's no doubt it's time to get that engine back to spec.

I'd suggest taking the S Class for longer drives and preserving the Cab for the more enjoyable driving top down.

I'll have more time later to consider your car. Rennlist has such a wealth of people with similar age 993's, I'm sure the "been there, done that" posts will arrive. In the mean time, you could search and generally acquaint yourself with the subject from previous threads on the 993 forum.

Cheers,