Oil on top of the engine!

[tobiasr]

So i thought i had this oil leak under my engine before, Checked from top of the engine and there was huge oil pools laying on the engine, what can this be comming from?


Oil on - YouTube

[DFW02S]

Probably from your power steering pump. I've had the problem at the track.

What color is the oil on top?
Don't check the stuff on the floor because it gets dirty dripping down the engine.

[Gilles]

could be from the AOS as well...

[Autobahn Pete]

Considering the oil is pooling on top of the cylinder head/engine block seam and next to the oil cooler. I would check the oil cooler seals first.
If it were P/S fluid, it would be a "greenish" color, P/S fluid is Pentosin CHF11S. Check the level in the P/S reservoir, if it's not very low, then it's probably not the P/S considering looking at the amount of fluid in your pictures that the car is leaking.
If the oil color is dark brown, it's more than likely engine oil.

[j.fro]

Not to scare the crap out of you, but power steering fluid is pretty flammable...
The PS reservoir has an o-ring that can fail, might look into that.
The oil cooler could also be the culprit, and that's also a couple of o-rings.
Good news is, either way the parts are not to expensive, and the fix is reasonably easy.

[Jager]

Have you checked the fluid levels? What fluid is going down? Seems to be quite a bit.

[johnsimion]

The same problem actually happened to me with my 1999 Boxster. Dealer just gave it the 15K service, and I drove home and next morning there was the puddle of oil. Took the car to an indie, who found that the oil filler tube was cracked. Apparently when the idiots at the dealer filled the car with new oil, the just kept pouring it in until it was full, regardless of the amount they were pouring in. The indie said he mopped up at least a quart off the top of the engine. Replaced the oil filler tube and the problem never came back. This was the same dealer that inspected the rusty-looking stains on the wheels of my brand new Cayman and wanted to sand and repaint them. Fortunately my friends in the forums realized this was just cosmoline, and I cleaned my wheels at home in 15 minutes, problem solved. Ever since, I do my best to avoid that dealer!

[tobiasr]

Originally Posted by DFW02S

Probably from your power steering pump. I've had the problem at the track.

What color is the oil on top?
Don't check the stuff on the floor because it gets dirty dripping down the engine.

Hard to tell the colour everything is very dirty.


If i am going to clean the engine to locate from where the oil is comming from, is it safe to use engine degreaser and then just house it of with regular water?

[DFW02S]

Hosing it off won't be a problem, just don't use a pressure washer.

Is there any fluid in the ps reservoir? If you turn your steering wheel from lock to lock, you should get some groaning at the locks because there's little to no fluid.

[tobiasr]

There seem to be no problem with the power stearing, used degreeser on the engine but it is still very dirty after 3 rounds. Is there a easy way to ger the manifolds out of the way to inspect the cables more?

[DFW02S]

You're stuck on the manifolds, no easy solution.
The oil cooler is right there too, maybe it's the culprit as Pete mentions above.

[WhipE350]

Always look for leaks with the joints in the Oil Filler Tube and check all connections on the AOS.