Oil dripping - What is normal / acceptable... - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

williamsF1 · 06-07-2007, 12:11 PM

Both drips are from the center of the car - the black oil drips from the engine are comming from different places 3-6 cms distance from each other (I had a PPI, where the mecanis pointed to two diffrent places under my car left and right side as far as I remember) - the other Porsche mechanic who just mega-servied it at it said 'it might just be tubes' but I have lost faith in him because if I actually have a RMS problem he should have been able to see....

What does a typical RMS look like - are the oil dripping from one place only or random places from the engine area ?

Now I will take it to the official (more expensive) Porsche dealer here and ask them for a second (third) opinion...

The liquid from the front of the car had no smell I think (Ill go to the garage in 5 mins to check again)... I will leave a cloth from the spot, that should make the 'smell' easier to check.

porsche986spyder · 06-07-2007, 12:31 PM

Hate to say this, but what you are describing sounds like a RMS leak. I had the same type of dripping that you described. I waited until the clutch needed to be replaced and did both at the same time.

Brucelee · 06-07-2007, 12:56 PM

RMS, welcome to the club!

williamsF1 · 06-07-2007, 01:07 PM

argh no... what is the repair price of this ?

Denmark is not the cheapest place to get this type of thing done, but what would a 'typical' repair price for this be ??

I havent even owned this for a month yet... I feel like getting rid of the car right now.

porsche986spyder · 06-07-2007, 01:27 PM

I just paid $860 for labor that was 8-9 hrs. And $55.00 for the RMS complete seal kit. The Porsche "steelership" wanted $1,250 for the labor and $95.00 for the parts. I saved allot at my local German car mechanic. I used a place here in Dallas called Stuttgart. I'm sure if you search for a European car specialist you can always beet the Dealership prices. I bought my parts from Suncoast in Florida. They are very helpfull in placing your parts order. I also had my clutch purchased through them for only $377 and the dealer wanted $725!

RandallNeighbour · 06-07-2007, 01:30 PM

Ouch! I pray I do not have an RMS anytime soon... heck, I pray I NEVER have one!

WilliamsF1, our cars also have notorius oil leakage coming from cracked oil filler tubes. It can drip down the tube and come out in a couple of different places. Ask the dealer to take a clean rag and wipe the bottom of the oil filler tube inside the firewall in the engine compartment to see if its oily... it's not an expensive repair because the part is made from "high performance Porsche plastic"

denverpete · 06-07-2007, 01:57 PM

Unlike many cars - any oil drips need to be checked out immediately. Unfortunately if not properly diagnosed some leaks can be catastrophic (RMS). If it turns out to be something you can live with then I suppose you can just let it leak. But then you won't be able to spot the potentially imminent RMS leak.

Don't freak out too much - you do have a 9 year old vehicle and some problems are to be expected.

Let us know how things turn out!

williamsF1 · 06-07-2007, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brucelee

RMS, welcome to the club!

How can you be so sure ?

The OIL dripping - couldnt it be 100 things ? or is the clear dripping from the front another symtom or not related ?

I am just curious, because another one here says it might be the tubes.

I just read this on RennTech:

"No problems. You can let it leak forever without damage.
Even in the most extreme rare case (and I don;t know if this has ever happened) that the seal fell out, it won;t blow your engine up...

The seal is not like a plug. It doesn't hold the oil in per se, it just stops it weeping out the end of the block thru the main bearing. If it gell out its possible to get a lot of oil on your clutch and it would probably drip on your exhaust and cause a lot of smoke. But no catastrophic engine failure.

I drove around for thousands of miles between RMS fixes. In fact I had my 1st RMS done at 27k and my car has now done 52k and only just stopped leaking......I have been driving around leaking for years.
So hang in there until the clutch is done."

Any comments on this - can I drive with my RMS without problems and wait till the problem becomes a lot worse ??

porsche986spyder · 06-07-2007, 02:05 PM

I just read this on RennTech:

"No problems. You can let it leak forever without damage.
Even in the most extreme rare case (and I don;t know if this has ever happened) that the seal fell out, it won;t blow your engine up...

Any comments on this - can I drive with my RMS without problems and wait till the problem becomes a lot worse ??[/QUOTE]

I would have to agree. But it's more of a nusance of looking at it on the ground everytime you park it some place. I did the same thing. Had mine with small drips for about 1 yr. Never had any problems with oil loss. Just keep an eye on the oild level and top off if needed. I NEVER even needed to add any oil between changes. Oil level always read where it should be. I even brought it to my machanic and he to said, wait until the clutch needs to be replaced and kill 2 birds with 1 stone. That's the smart thing to do. I only needed to replace the clutch because I was doing something stupid with my car, (drag racing/auto x racing) and was showing off when I screwed up my clutch. So you should be fine until you can save you money to have it fixed or get an extended warranty and have it fixed later and just pay your deductable. That's if they don't notice it when you bring it in for a first time inspection.