I am investigating on oil leak on my new 993. Actually it appears as if oil may be leaking from two different locations (one on the passenger side and the other on the driver's side). The oil is dripping from the absolute rear of the car, within inches of the exhaust.

To my untrained eye, the driver's side leak appears to be coming from the valve cover, the passenger's side may as well, but frankly I am not smart enough to figure it out right now.

Thoughts? Oh, let me add the the car is only driven 50-100 miles a month and that the leak is a drip or two every 24 hours.

Driver's Side:



Passenger's Side:

 

Both of those pictures seem to indicate timing chain cover leaks. Tough to tell without really getting in there and examining it though. My drivers side timing chain cover is doing the same thing. Just ordered the gasket and grommets from Sunset. Not looking forward to the job but at least from what I can tell the drivers side can be done with the engine in the car.

 

Looks like the timing chain covers. Common leak, & not that bad to fix.

 

Drive the car more!

Anyways, looks like chain covers which is a common problem. The rubber seal will age over time and leak. You have to drop most of the exhaust, sheet metal and the engine mount to get to the covers. Its not too bad but a bit harder for the first DIY. Replace both the donuts and the rubber seal on cover. Tightening the nuts all the same in a consistent manner is required to be assured of no leaks. I use a small torque wrench that can do the 7 ft-lbs reasonably well.

Cheers,

Mike

 

Shampoo the engine with a water based degreaser.

Once is it clean and dry, you'll easily be able to see where the leaks are.

 

Thanks all for the suggestions. What a great resource these forums are. So the appropriate torque for these nuts is 7lbs?

Anyone venture to guess what a reasonable indy would charge to replace this gasket?

 

Change the grommets first. They are a very easy DIY (all except one that's a major pain, so don't do that one) and sometimes, it does the trick. If the grommets don't take care of the problem, then you can tackle the gaskets (or have an indie do it)

 

They can be changed without droping the engine, but there is a lot to remove, including the engine tin around it, AC bracket, etc, to gain access to the covers.

This could be a 5-6 hour job. At current $100-$120/hour Indy rates, you may be looking at +/- $500 labor cost alone.

 

For the AC bracket don't you have to remove the crank pulley? That in itself would be a PIA with the engine in.

 

I had leaks in almost exactly the same places. Being the lazy buggar that I am I just bought some grommets and replaced all that I could get to without ripping my hands to bits.
My leak stopped but I was probably just lucky. Be carefull not to over tighten the nuts.
Good luck.

 

I take it you've changed the timing chain cover gaskets with the engine in place?

I ask because some other reports that I've read on here mentioned that the engine needs to be removed. Of course engine removal would make the job easier, but does it actually need to be removed, and if not, can the job be done in a professional manner without bending tin and scraping frame members in order to remove parts?

Any input from those that have done the job themselves appreciated.

 

Unless the sucker is really dripping good, I'd wait till you need a clutch.

My car weeps from a few locations, and I'm totally ok with that.

 

Yes, many parts need to come off before you get access to it.

I attempted it at first as a DYI and realized that it would have taken me 8-10 hours or so to do it myself. So, I took it to an Indy since I had other stuff on my list. He quoted me 5 hours and that's what we agreed and that's what he charged me. He later told me it really took him more like 7 hours and that it was a pain to get it done. He said he probably wouldn't offer the service to anyone else unless the engine needed to come out.

So, the answer is yes, it can be done, the question is, is your leak bad enough to go through it, or wait for when the engine needs to come out for something else and do it then.

 

They're not that bad, in fact they don't even drip, but I don't like leaks or even weeping, period, so I'll probably replace the TC cover seals this winter.

I replaced the seals on all four valve covers last winter and they're still bone dry, just the way I like them.

 

Agree with above.
Just change the grommets first.
Order them from Sunset porsche.
This is an easy DIY.
I bet it takes care of this tiny leak.

Kevin