Purrrrs like a kitten!
 

I got the exhaust leak fixed today on my newly acquired 1999, and also had the rear trailing arm replaced, because it was making a knocking noise when I would hit a bump on the right side. The leak was coming from a cracked manifold on one side.

Took her out for a cruise this afternoon on some curvy roads in 80 degree weather with the top down.

Man it feels nice to ride around in a nice little sports car that sounds like it's supposed to. Just saying. :D

How did you come to the conclusion that it was an exhaust leak?

I have a leak I need to address too. It's where the headers meet the engine on the pass wide towards the front. So worried about bolts breaking that I'm procrastinating. What did you do to fix the issue?

Coolbreeze and Bala, I took it to my Porsche guy for the 60,000 service, since I had just purchased it, and didn't really have any service records. I asked him to check to see where the leak was coming from. He said that while he had it one the lift, he had a helper press the gas and felt the air coming from around the manifold, where it connected to the engine, only on the driver's side. I knew the leak was coming from that side, becasue when I cranked it up in the garage, it would echo off the wall, and really never got much better after heating up.

When I got it back yesterday, he said that after he got it off, it was cracked around the flange where it bolts to the engine. He had it welded and reinstalled. It really made a big difference in the sound and my overall driving enjoyment.

He told me it would only be an hour or two of labor, providing the bolts came out okay. He said they came right out, so that part went very smoothly. He replaced the metal gasket and hooked the manifold back to the engine. I'm sure glad he didn't have to drill them out or heat them up. Would have made the labor that much more.

You were lucky that the bolts came right off. 3 snapped for me while doing a clutch job and it took a couple of hours to drill them out. Well at least I was lucky not to damage the head.

Sounds exactly like mine. But i have it on pass side. I tried using one of those automotive stethoscope no luck. FInally I used a long piece of flex clear plastic tube (1/2"), out one end to my ear and the other to probe at every joint along the exhaust and bingo.

I definitely need to address it and have dealt with many a broken bolt so I guess I just have to get it started. It probably just needs one of those seals.

Thanks for the update.