Walorus

I took two pictures: http://imgur.com/a/NyXGJ and am going to try to get some better ones. But it looks like almost a pipe that oil is just dripping down from. It's hard to get good photos under it as the porsche is so low and I'm taking it to a friend later who has a jack. It looks to be leaking from the backish right side.

Walorus

I took some pictures from the top of the engine and I'm wondering what it could possibly be. It's a 986 porsche boxster.

Here is an overall view, the red is where it looks wet and the purple is where it's dry. https://i.imgur.com/Q86Vlwp.jpg

It seems to be mostly wet on the driver side, but there is a small part on the passenger side which is a tiny bit wet. The far passenger side is dry though.

[This is the passenger side of the engine](https://i.imgur.com/FcshPJX.jpg) It's hard to tell but it is dry.

[This is the driver side of the engine](https://i.imgur.com/wudSFsd.jpg) which you can compare and see it's quite wet. [Another view of the driver side](https://i.imgur.com/1Mz4wDa.jpg)

And this is the tubing that looks like it connects to the power steering where a [part of it looks a bit wet](https://i.imgur.com/uHvKGPX.jpg) compared to the rest of the tube

Any idea as to what could be the problem?

KyleK

I'd suggest cleaning everything and rechecking. The oil fill tube is a common problem.

Macster

It is difficult to know where the oil is coming from. At this state about all one can do is list the usual leak sources and hope one gets lucky.

Is the leaking fluid engine oil or power steering fluid, or brake fluid?

Assuming it is engine oil the more common sources of an oil leak are the oil filler tube but often this is accompanied by the symptoms of an intake air leak; AOS; camshaft cover; spark plug tubes/o-rings.

The only "external" oil lines -- so to speak -- I'm aware of is the oil filler tube and the line that runs from the AOS over to the intake manifold and connects -- at least in the case of my 2002 Boxster -- directly downstream of the throttle body.

A problem with oil leaks is after a while the oil gets all over and it is hard to tell from where the leak originates, unless the leak is severe enough the oil washes the dust/grime away at the leak site.

So as KyleK suggested cleaning the engine -- as much as I dislike doing this -- and then with the oil topped up -- but not overfilled -- and all the other vital fluid level checked and confirmed they are good -- running the engine some and rechecking.

You want to run the engine anyhow as you don't want to let the engine sit wet. The one time I washed the Boxster's engine I got the the engine plenty warm and kept it warm for a good while to thoroughly dry the engine and engine compartment. There was no leak just a very dusty engine.