Driver side:



pass side, not leaking as much as the other side:



My car is a 95 and has around 75K miles. This looks like a major fix???

 

Not that big of a deal. Most 993s leak a little oil. Just monitor how much you are having to add and be careful not to add too much oil. My first 993 had leaks worse than that...it checked out fine by my mechanic/Porsche driving instructor...and ran GREAT on the track.

My advice - don't freak about it...

 

It's not a big deal. It looks like the cam timing chain cover gaskets. It's about $50 in parts to replace the whole shebang...However, you either need to remove the engine or everything behind the chain covers all the way up to and including the rear bumper. So it's around 4 hours labor if you're going to pay someone else...
I'd live with it until the next time you need to R&R the engine.

 

Hard to tell, but looks like the oil is coming from the joint between the cylinder and the case. If so, you are looking at a through bolt oil leak.

You could clean the whole area really good and take the car for a drive. You could then see 1) at what rate the oil is leaking, and 2) better judge where it is coming from.

 

I don't agree with this-the oil is much further forward on the motor, and around the cylinders.

Those are possiblities, or oil from up high travelling down.

I'd say that evidence of a leak is somewhat abnormal and is worth chasing down.

 

Look behind the distributor with a flashlight and a mirror. You will see the chain tensioner cover (two nuts with aluminum washers), there is a cutout in the engine shroud for clearance. If the oil leaks from the tensioner cover gasket it will drip through the shroud and then be blown down the #1 cylinder and look like yours. Mine had a little bit of oil and I figured the worst that it was a cylinder leak.

When I changed the T/C cover gaskets I found that the tensioner cover was where the oil was coming from. If this is where most of the oil is coming from than technically you could just pull the distributor and clean it all up and just replace that cover gasket for a few bucks if you want, but the timing chain cover gasket probably needs replacement also.

Good Luck, let us know what you find.

 

took it to an indy and it was a crankbolt leak. he would have to pull the engine, separate the clyinders to fix leak...a $4k job...

 

Looks like the timing chain housing has a leak (2 big bolts), not just at the cover. Major engine drop, cam out, engine retime to fix this one.

Also looks looks like the thru-bolt o-rings (little one all the way back next to the cylinder) is leaking also. To replace this $2 o-ring, you need to take the engine apart.

Cost of fix is pretty much the cost of an engine rebuild. Bummer.