What could leak from Left Rear wheel? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

sasha055 · 09-03-2010, 07:41 AM

Hi,

I noticed a leak from left rear wheel in the last 2 days.

It's right in front of left rear wheel.. and it doesn't smell like coolant.
It doesn't look like oil it's more like water that washed an oily engine..

I did a search and it seems that coolant leaks are usually on the right or middle, oil leaks also should be in the middle.

Any iddeas on what could leak from left rear wheel? what fluids are going through there?

Thanks
Sasha

manolo · 09-03-2010, 07:56 AM

Hey Sasha,

Most likely its the water drain from the convertible top area. It drains out right in front of the rear wheels on both sides.

sasha055 · 09-03-2010, 08:01 AM

That would be my first guess.. but it was sunny last couple of days in Seattle..
Can it be condensation? or water that didn't drain before?

Thanks Manolo.. hearing that it could be nothing wrong is always good!

Sasha

sasha055 · 09-03-2010, 05:22 PM

It's oil that's leaking from there. Apparently Castrol Syntec doesn't smell.

It seems that it's dripping from inside on the support metal plate in fron of rear left wheel.
I'll lift the car this weekend to see where it's coming from.. any idees what should I look for?

Thanks
Sasha

jcb986 · 09-04-2010, 09:54 AM

Check for a spark plug tube leaking.

manolo · 09-04-2010, 02:00 PM

Maybe check valve cover also. Some boxster owners have experienced this.

j.fro · 09-04-2010, 09:39 PM

Power steering is on the left side, but I'm with the others on checking the spark plug tubes/ valve covers first.

sasha055 · 09-05-2010, 08:53 AM

Thanks for all the responses.
How do I check valve covers? where are they located and how they look?

Is there a DIY with pictures somewhere?

Thanks
Sasha

sasha055 · 09-07-2010, 10:59 AM

Over the weekend I lifted up the car and took a closer look at where the leak could be coming from.
I still didn't get the source of leak.
It's a very small leak, a couple of drops every time I park.
It's dripping down from the protective undercover (the one that covers front engine mount, fuel filter.. etc).
Spark plugs were OK.
It seems that oil is getting there by running down on one of the tubes rather then dripping directly down.

I cleaned-up up everything so next time I'll get a better look.

I did notice one strange thing though. When I'm parking in reverse I get a cloud of white smoke. I suspected AOS but the smoke is not coming from exhaust, it seems that oil is dripping on something HOT in there and evaporates. Smoke is coming from rear left wheel.

Can AOS brake in a way that is letting oil out on the engine/exhaust? I didn't look at the top of the engine so I'm not sure if there's oil there. BTW AOS passed OIL cap tests.

Any advices what this could be?

Thanks
Sasha

SeanZ4 · 09-07-2010, 01:58 PM

a month or so after I got my '00 S a couple of years ago. Same leak in exactly the same place. It turned out to be the cam tower seals. I had bought mine from a p-dealer so they put a short term full bumper to bumper warranty on it. They replaced both sides because they found it was seeping on the other side too. I'm not sure what it would've cost if I had to pay for it. There is a write-up somewhere out there on tightening the cam cover bolts to slow down or stop a leak. Maybe someone can chime in?

sean