Who lives with drip between engine and Bellhousing

[kk2002s]

I know this is a common area to have a leak
It started with my last oil change back in June. Drove it a couple times and it started. I also had replaced my AOS just before that. Just maintenance replacement.
I have been using Mobil 1 0-40 (I don't want to start an oil thread)
4 years ago I bought @ 52k miles and no evidence of leaks. Now 37k miles later, being completely dry, it starts
It is very inconsistent, maybe 1,2 or 3 drips, sometimes a quarter size stain on the garage floor
I can drive on several hours long trips and nothing. then out of nowhere after a drive there it is
Last week I drove 6 1/2 hours round trip, nothing and several multi-hour trips before that, nothing. It was dry for a month or more.
This week I did a 4 hour round trip and next morning a couple drips.
I know from research it's either the RMS or the IMS and there is no way to know until separating tranny and Flywheel.
My filter has always been clear of debris. Last winter my sump was clean. My clutch is still very strong, so I'm just not mentally ready to go in there yet but I know it's coming
The only thing I don't know is Cam deviation so I might be closer to getting a Durametric to see how that is.

[steved0x]

I had a very small drip like that, only appeared every once in a great while, turned out to be spark plug tubes and was resolved when I changed out the tubes and O-rings.

Can you see where the drip is coming from on the car, or is it just on the garage floor?

[kk2002s]

steved0x, I know that issue and I replaced those tubes last year.
I don't see any evidence this oil comes from above as it is dry above the Bellhousing/engine join
Good thing I think, is that it does not appear to be running leak as there is no oil streak back behind where the drips appear. So it looks like it only happens when the car sits after a drive
I just took this photo

[78F350]

This car http://986forum.com/forums/boxsters-sale-wanted/57612-1999-boxster-128k-hardtop-lots-parts-atlanta-2.html had a slow leak when I got it.

It was not a significant concern for driving it, but clearly something was not right and it slowly got worse over time. After about 6 months of driving I took it to the shop. Turned out to be the seal for the IMS. The RMS and IMS bearing were fine.

[Gelbster]

"Turned out to be the seal for the IMS. The RMS and IMS bearing were fine."

Thanks for mentioning this because the conventional wisdom would have been to predict that the RMS was leaking. It is often mentioned as a 'while you are in there' PM item with clutch & IMSB.
You may have saved some people a lot of work because replacing the RMS is quite tedious !

[78F350]

Originally Posted by Gelbster

"Turned out to be the seal for the IMS. The RMS and IMS bearing were fine."

Thanks for mentioning this because the conventional wisdom would have been to predict that the RMS was leaking. It is often mentioned as a 'while you are in there' PM item with clutch & IMSB.
You may have saved some people a lot of work because replacing the RMS is quite tedious !

The funny thing is that before they pulled the transmission to get a look, we all thought it was the RMS. The shop had told me not to worry about replacing the dual row IMS bearing. I ended up having them install a LN dual row ceramic bearing, 'while they were in there'.

[Ckrikos]

My old boxster had a slight leak from the ims. I believe it leaked for 8 years with no issue. I finally replaced the imsb with the ln part and can't remember if it came back. My bearing was fine. I wouldn't worry about a small oil leak.

Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk

[Gelbster]

Good point.
Seldom mentioned but if you compare the seal on the original IMSB flange to the LN flange, the LN seal looks different and presumably more effective &/or longer lasting.

[nieuwhzn]

Is it really coming from the inside of the bell housing or is oil dripping on top? I had that once, turned out being the aos spitting oil in the intake.