two left feet

Hi all,

I thought that it couldn't happen to me - but last week I got oiled . This may not be as exciting as almost Xenon lights (or not) but the shop tells me its from the main seal, and the engine has to be dropped to fix it. How do you justify this type expense ? (to wife or acountant or therapist) just for a few lousy drops of oil on the garage floor? or do I pretend that I need a new clutch and light wieght flywheel ? (we have all done this haven't we ?)

I guess I'll wait until the clutch really does need replacing and invest in a oil drip tray in the meantime.

This is really depressing...any words from the wise ?

Flying Finn

It sounds like it's just few drops so wait 'til the clutch fails and do it then.

It's just few drips of oil, relax.

Tom W

I just had the displeasure of having an oil leak (flywheel gasket) fixed 1 year after doing the LWF and gears. It's an expensive leak to fix as the transmission must be removed. I din't have a choice of letting the few drops a day keep going as I would not have passed my tech inspection for a DE next weekend.

Kim - you left LSD off the list. Better open it back up and add that too!

Anir

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by Silver Bullet:
<strong>Wait...I thought the oil leak fix WAS a LWT flywheel and clutch and close-ratio gears and steel synchros and billet shifter fork and 3.8L upgrade...and chip...and...mine won't leak now... </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Kim,

My thoughts exactly. I keep hoping for a leak, so I can justify the "repair" to my wife.

two left feet

Dear all,

I suppose i was just looking for some moral support, rather than any more justification stories <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" /> . After the recent "I will just get those stone chips repaired" which justified itself into a complete respray, I am standing on shaky ground in this department..

I can really wait for the clutch to give out - can't I ??

FlyYellow

andrew, i can offer another justification that works well. my wife is an environmental scientist and leaking oil is a great offense! the underside of my car is inspected weekly by her. She is already embarrassed enough that I drive a pcar. having a leaking pcar is probably grounds for the D word. so needless to say i have spent many $ chasing down leaks on my 964. i'm thankful the 993 seems to seal real well.

cheers,
boris

911-TOUR

Andrew,

Do you drive the car often ? Has it been sitting in the garage for several weeks ? If so, DRIVE IT! and see if the leak goes away.

A little story - a while back some ******** decided to let a cushion fly out the back of his trailered boat and destroy my front bumper. While the car was in the shop for 4 weeks, (long, long story about State Farm) it developed what appeared to be a main seal leak. After driving it everyday for a month, the leak disappeared - and has not returned since.

Go drive it, the autobahns aren't all that far away

sean

rkymtn993

Hi Andrew,
When I took my car in for the harness recall I noticed that a few drops of oil had built up on the floor. I have not been driving the car all that frequently lately and it does have 57K. I asked the dealer to check the leak - came back with a rear, main seal that needs to be replaced and as I am sure you can guess the cost is not exactly peanuts. Since I need a 60K tune up I will have both done at the same time (dealer says it should save about $500 in labor costs). What was quoted to you as a cost? Also, my understanding is that a little oil will not hurt but that if/when it develops into a major leak it will have dire implications for the clutch. (if I am in the dark on this someone let me know)

two left feet

Sean,

I have never heard of lack of driving being a culprit, but if this is the case the long winter in the garage may be causal factor....I guess that now that the snow has cleared I should get some daily autobahn miles under my belt. (can anyone else confirm this ??)

rkymtn993 - I was quoted 1200 € for the repair only (no new clutch or flywheel), but you are right, if the leak stays small (though annoying) and doesnot deveop into anything more - I should probably invest in a drip tray and wait

911-TOUR

Andrew,

I'm told that the rear main seal is lubricated from the inside, if the car isn't driven, this seal will dry out slightly and seep oil. If you're just droping a few drops, this is probably the case. In normal operation, the back of the crankcase should be damp with oil, not wet - all 993/964s are like this. And it shouldn't be dripping more than a few tiny drops.

A failed rear main seal will leave a fist size or larger puddle of oil on your floor overnight.

A trusted mechanic informed me that this is a popular sham that shops pull on newbie porsche owners - they do no work to actually replace the seal, the just lubricate it with a syringe and charge the labor to you!

I'd go drive it hard for a month and reevaluate. The most it'll cost you is a quart of oil - you won't do any damage to anything.

cheers,

sean

two left feet

Sean,

thanks for the advise, I am currently in the "couple of drops" area - no major puddles. I will take your advise and drive it a little more often and see what happens.

kind regards from Germany