Oil dripping - What is normal / acceptable...

[williamsF1]

Hello Forum,

I am new to cars, generally

My Boxster 98' drips some Oil - I had it servied (new oil ect.) and my repairman motorwashed it and said the dripping stopped so I though 'that was that'...

But I just checked under the car and there were oil spots again - approx 2-4 small drips! over 3-4 days.

How many of you have oil-dripping boxsters ?

I am not sure but It looked like there also were some clear oil / water dripping from between the front tyres... the reason I say I am not sure is because I recently washed it so that might have been water from the wash, but this spot was about 4cm in diameter. I havent seen that before...

As I just had it at the shop and only drove it home (300kms) I hope it is nothing but what is acceptable oil-dripping ? Should I take it back to the porsche-repair and ask them give it a second look ? I have no warning lights in my dashboard and the car runs and sounds good...


What to do.... ?

[RandallNeighbour]

Your dripping oil can be coming from a number of places. Examine where it's coming from.... driver's side of engine, passenger side of engine, or exactly in the middle of the engine.

If it is coming from one side or the other, it may be a cam cover gasket leaking and this is somewhat typical for older boxsters. No big deal and it's not gonna blow up your engine. I have a leak that comes and goes on my driver's side.

Now if the leak is coming from the middle of the engine, you may have a rear main seal leak and you should get it checked and replaced. This will not be cheap, sorry! However, you do need to get to it sooner or later or risk losing a LOT of oil at once when it finally gives way and blowing out your engine.

The watery stuff coming from the front of the car may just be condensation from the air conditioning pipes. That is normal. Next time you see it, rub some between your fingers and smell it. If it has no smell, it's water and you can stop worrying. If it has a yellowish-green color or smells sweet or like a chemical, you may have a coolant leak.

Keep an eye on your coolant level in the trunk when the car is cold a couple of mornings in a row and note the level. If it keeps falling, you've got a leak somewhere.

Hope this helps!

PS - if you just bought the car and you have not had it looked over thoroughly by a mechanic who frequently works on Boxsters, you should pay to have this done. He can tell you what you have and what will need repair in the future so you don't get stranded somewhere or worse... stranded somewhere with a blown engine.

[williamsF1]

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]

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]

RMS, welcome to the club!

[williamsF1]

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]

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]

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"

[williamsF1]

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 ??

[denverpete]

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!

[porsche986spyder]

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.

[williamsF1]

Originally Posted by denverpete

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!

Im not sure what you mean by 'spot the potentially imminent leak'.

If I know I allready have RMS, and people say I can still drive the car as loong as I wipe up the floor when I'm done What is there to look out for ?

I have auto-tiptronic in my car so I dont know how that affects the clutch-replacement of the car, but I have decided to run it by another Porsche mecanic and let him check it out. If he says it's a 'RMS' and something I can live with for now, I guess I will wait...

Someone mentioned IMS - How do I tell the difference, Will a IMS be a complete leak and not just drips ?


Of course I will get back to this forum with a status after I have had the car in for another check


Thank you everybody for the response, it was very nice to hear from you 986spyder how you 'lived' with the RMS for such a loong time... for now I can live with the dripping like you did !

[spine911]

OK..OK...everyone slow down here.
1st of all, the typical location on where an RMS leak is coming from is the junction where the Transmission bell housing meets the engine.
If the leak is coming from another area aside from this juction-it could be something else. I recommend that you jack up the car and spend some time to really look at where the leak is originating. Remember: Oil can seep, and can travel to another side of the engine before it drips down on the ground.
2nd, Manual Transmission cars are MOST LIKELY to have the RMS leak vs. a Tip.
I still have to see a Tip with an RMS Leak. Tips are not as prone to have an RMS leak.

IMO, I think you could be leaking from either the spark plug tubes OR the Valve cover gasket. I had an Spark plug tube leak and the oil leaked on the left side of the car BUT also dripped down to the exhaust.
Oil can seep and travel.

[porsche986spyder]

Good to know that you have a tiptronic, not a manual. I'm thinking it may not be the RMS now. It would have been good to know this from the start. But it doesn't rule it out completely. At least you don't have to worry about any clutch problems liek oil leaking onto it. Just get a second opinion from a qualified Porsche machanic. Like you said there is no real way to know without guessing at this point.