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Hey guys. 2016 Macan S. I cleaned my engine bay up to try and determine where any possible leaks could be coming from. It looks like something is leaking on the pass side, on top of the power steering rack. It's hard to see where it could be coming from, but does anyone who knows the layout of this engine know what could be leaking in that area? Any advice would be appreciated!
My first hunch is a valve cover gasket, but if you can determine if the oil is more toward the front of the engine, then I suspect timing cover.
My original cleaning was to clean the front of the engine to see if there was any seepage. I ordered the bolts from flat 6 just as a good measure.
The leak is way back though, behind the turbos. I figured the TCC couldn't leak THAT far haha. But I can't see if there were like turbo oil lines back there or something, where an O-Ring could leak. I cleaned the side of the engine off and will inspect for leaks today, but I think you're right about it maybe being a valve cover gasket!
Turbo oil lines? Engine block valley oil cooler? Rear main crankshaft seal? You need to put eyes on the leak from above or below.
Yupp, but we all know difficult it is to see anything in a Porsche engine bay haha. This is my 1st front engine Porsche so I figured it'd be easier than a 911. And it is, but barely!
I'd say it's def not a rear main or the turbo lines. I cleaned up the VC and front area so I'm going to wait and see if it returns in a few days. Thanks for those suggestions!
From the photo it looks to have been leaking for a while. Try degreasing with Simple Green or your favorite engine degreaser, so that you can see the fresh stream of oil and trace the origin point.
From the photo it looks to have been leaking for a while. Try degreasing with Simple Green or your favorite engine degreaser, so that you can see the fresh stream of oil and trace the origin point.
Exactly what I did! But it's a bit hard to get all the way to the block since the turbo/shield is in the way and the frame of the car. But I think I got enough to get a good reference point
Been a while since I updated this post -- I was doing body work on the car. Everything in the engine bay was dry, but the oil leak came back in the exact same spot. It really looks isolated to the steering rack, pass side. I know its supposed to be an electric steering unit, but is there a seal behind where the tie rod/boot connects to the rack/unit itself that has fluid that can leak out (see pic w/ red circle)? Theres no oil dripping down from anywhere near the front of the engine, timing cover bolts seem good, its literally only a few drops that pop up (not even enough to hit the ground) in this area (see enlarged pic of problem area). Any help is appreciated!
Did you put positive eyeballs on the source of the leak? Can you post well-lit, clearly focused photos of what you laid your eyes on in your car, that is leaking?
Did you put positive eyeballs on the source of the leak? Can you post well-lit, clearly focused photos of what you laid your eyes on in your car, that is leaking?
Really hard to get exact pictures, but I shot brake clean at the area and let it run for about 10min. This is what I found:
The pic w/ the turquoise marks is where the oil drops would usually occur, with the line in-between them showing wetness. In the 10min it ran nothing came back
I noticed some wetness/seepage along one of the sections/moulded lines of the rack itself. The camera wont focus on it so I found some ebay pics of a rack, and where the seepage seemed to come from. I cant tell if its just how the rack is shaped/moulded itself, or if the rack is formed by separate sections and its leaking at where the sections meet, but if they're separate, then it would make sense because the spot where the drop occur would be right underneath the area. If not, then it could be leaking from the top of the rack itself, or something above it and running down, as shown in the pic with the red lines (but I cant really see what would be directly on top of the rack in that area.
Also, I ordered some UV dye to put in the engine just to verify its not an engine oil leak, should be here tomorrow --
Update -- I re-examined the rack after looking at the ebay pics, the 2nd pic w/ the red circle, the seepage seems to be coming from under that silver tape and running down to the area where I see the drops. Unless Im missing something (and its dripping from something directly on top of the rack), the only area I can tell is maybe from the front of the rack where the star bolts are, that close that end of the unit has a leak? But that brings up the question of, is there fluid inside the rack at all?
There is no fluid in the rack, only some grease. But sometimes grease will separate some fluid/oil out of it.
And those are not seams between two parts, they are just casting lines.
Is there any fluid if you pull each boot back? (you would have to cut the metal strap)
Really hard to get exact pictures, but I shot brake clean at the area and let it run for about 10min. This is what I found:
The pic w/ the turquoise marks is where the oil drops would usually occur, with the line in-between them showing wetness. In the 10min it ran nothing came back
I noticed some wetness/seepage along one of the sections/moulded lines of the rack itself. The camera wont focus on it so I found some ebay pics of a rack, and where the seepage seemed to come from. I cant tell if its just how the rack is shaped/moulded itself, or if the rack is formed by separate sections and its leaking at where the sections meet, but if they're separate, then it would make sense because the spot where the drop occur would be right underneath the area. If not, then it could be leaking from the top of the rack itself, or something above it and running down, as shown in the pic with the red lines (but I cant really see what would be directly on top of the rack in that area.
Also, I ordered some UV dye to put in the engine just to verify its not an engine oil leak, should be here tomorrow --
Update -- I re-examined the rack after looking at the ebay pics, the 2nd pic w/ the red circle, the seepage seems to be coming from under that silver tape and running down to the area where I see the drops. Unless Im missing something (and its dripping from something directly on top of the rack), the only area I can tell is maybe from the front of the rack where the star bolts are, that close that end of the unit has a leak? But that brings up the question of, is there fluid inside the rack at all?
What does the fluid smell like? Engine oil? Axle oil? Something else?
There is no fluid in the rack, only some grease. But sometimes grease will separate some fluid/oil out of it.
And those are not seams between two parts, they are just casting lines.
Is there any fluid if you pull each boot back? (you would have to cut the metal strap)
That's what I figured, I think the leak is just tracing around them as it leaks down. The area directly around the boots is completely dry, so I don't think it's coming from anything inside of it. Either behind it, where the bolts are, or on top. It's just literally no way to see what's going on without either removing the rack, or taking the front end off. Unless the dye really helps out with tracking it down!
Originally Posted by chassis
What does the fluid smell like? Engine oil? Axle oil? Something else?
I smelled it when I 1st made this post and couldn't really tell. It's brown like used oil, and doesn't smell like trans fluid. I suppose it could be gear oil or regular oil. I'll have to let it run a bit longer and hopefully get another sample, but it's just enough to form a few drops. I can't smell it burning on the exhaust or anything and there's no other spots that have any other drops or are even remotely wet
Finally got a good amount of UV dyed oil to drip... At 1st when I shined the light on it I thought it was definitely oil, but then I decided to put some oil on my ring finger and compare it to the oil on my pinky (which was from the leak under the car)
When I did this, the 2 didn't compare and the oil from the oil cap was noticeably greener under UV...
I looked everywhere and saw no other signs of oil coming down, nothing on the front of the engine or side, no splatter marks just literally right from the spot indicated. I guess I need to look at some more images of the engine itself to see if there's like a pdk oil line or something that travels in that area that could have a leak. It's got me stumped!
07-08-2023, 01:07 PM
Where could this oil leak be coming from?
