JPS

My car has been in storage since December. It has a tender, tires pumped up, all that. I only start it up occasionally and only when I have time to let it run at least 1/2 hour. It has been a particularly brutally cold winter, and my garage is not heated.

I started it up yesterday and backed it out of the garage. The attached pic shows a spot on the floor. It didn't idle there long before I backed it up and let it idle for about 30 min or so. That left the smaller spot also attached in the driveway.

So, how bad? Is this just a winter thing where the seals need to sort of reseat or something simple, or is this a bigger deal?

ilko

First off, why start the car at all? Especially when the weather is really cold and if you're running heavy weight oil, this actually harms the engine. And unless you bring the oil temp close to 200ºF all you're doing is mixing in the condensed water vapor with the oil and making things worse.

I doubt anyone will be able to give you a diagnosis based on oil spots in the driveway, although it looks like a sizable amount. Best thing is to get under the car and see where it's seeping from. But my experience is that oil leaks don't get "better" over time, they get worse. Hopefully it's just a gasket that can be fixed up easily.

JPS

I start it only perhaps 2x in the winter, so it doesn't sit solid for 5 months. I only start it when I have enough time to sit with it and let the oil get fully hot, i.e., at least 30 min or so.

ilko

Not a good idea to just let it sit and idle. There are a lot of parts that don't get to operating temps if you just do that.

What weight oil is currently in the car?

NP993

Only way to diagnose an oil leak is to find out what's leaking. A spot on your garage floor doesn't tell you that.

JPS

Sounds like it isn't a cold winter thing. When it comes out I'll take it in. I took a vid of where, and it doesn't seem to be the valve covers or cam chain covers. I have to pull out the PET to see what it is. Either way I'll take it in in April.

Quadcammer

if you are so concerned with having the motor sit, then take out the dme and crank it every month or so it get the oil moving. With no combustion, you won't get condensation and you'll at least get the oil back out to the heads and stuff.

i personally wouldn't bother, but if its something you see value in...

NYC993

+993 especially if you have engine tray on, as the oil will leak at the tray's end.

Edit, your second spot maybe just more oil spilling off of the tray or whatever other part it accumulated on.

NYC993

Not only that, but would you not risk overheating the engine without good air flow i.e like sitting in traffic.

JPS

I'm not super concerned about overheating at 40 degrees or so I let the oil fan come on once or twice. Guessing the temp is WAAAY lower than after 30 min at The Glen in an NY summer

NP993

Don't worry, Porsche designs its cars to be able to sit in traffic.

NYC993

No doubt about that! But given the two evils, I'd rather not start than idle the car.

Kein_Ersatz

Lots of school of thought on start and idle, crank - DME only , or just let sit on trickle charge.

Though precious to us are our 993s, lots of cars sit over winter, and outside in winter, so not sure there is benefit to the idle for 30-minutes to just warm it up, but the crank - DME relay is a good way to statr a car sitting for a month or more in my mind. Get some oil flowing / coating on a slow crank before ignition and higher RPMs would seem to be a good way to avoid that initial start up wear on a motor sitting for months.

Hope the oil leak is a minor item.

Carrera Cup

My car developed a quite significant leak during its winter lay up last year.

I Agree that it is pretty much impossible to diagnose from spots on the garage floor. Mine ended up being a couple of corroded oil return pipes, which were quickly swapped out for collapsible replacements. A Pretty cheap and easy fix. I hope yours turns out similarly.

Ed Hughes

That does look like a decent amount of oil. I'd take the time to trace that.

I would never let my engine idle for 30 minutes, no matter how cold it is outside. You will not distribute the heat throughout the engine, and can get some very hot spots in that period, that could cause excess wear on the motor.