996 GT3 oil leak

[Pip1968]

Well it's been a while since I have been out in the car since Nurburgring last September after the rules were relaxed but it was due it's MoT. I took her for a bit of a warm up drive before showing up and then had some bad news on arrival. Once on the ramps she was showing a bit of an oil leak. I could not see anything obvious from the top although Fernsport replaced the oil cooler (a year or so ago) although I still think it was the split oil filler tube that was the main culprit. Underneath it was pretty wet and left a small patch on the road when I was manoeuvring the cars on the drive.

For interest here are a couple of pictures. As I am due out of country I will probably get her looked at in a month or two.

Anyone any obvious ideas ( - oil pressure and level was fine although a yellow light warning appeared on the dash a while afterwards).

Pip

 

[Senoj]

So hard to figure out from the pics. Could also be RMS?

Needs cleaning up then watching on a ramp or something. :thumb:

 

[Marky911]

Yep it's hard to see but RMS can start to weep when not in use.
Don't they actually sort themselves after a big drive and fully up to temp? I know that sounds daft but I'm pretty sure they can.

Actually though, your leak looks a bit heavier than misting.

 

[Pip1968]

Yes it is hard to diagnose and there does not seem to be anything eminating from the top of the engine. Hopefully find out once the engine is out and I will then update the thread.

Pip

 

[Senoj]

There's a hard to get to core plug in there that's been known to fail. :?

 

[Marky911]

Good luck. I hope it's a cheap-ish fix for you.

 

[Roro]

My money's on the RMS, probably just need to drive a lot more as Marky says and that should fix itself unless it's beyond repair. Anecdotally a few years ago I had a 'strong' misting which cleared up after driving over to Spa for a trackday. But then the misting/leak returned after a period of not driving the car much. My car also had leaking diff flanges at one point, but cannot for the life of me remember what the symptoms were. I'm pretty sure it manifested as a leak onto the under tray then onto the ground (which is why that particular leak was a little more difficult to locate the source of), rather than the areas in the pics above, but still maybe worth looking into that too while you're in there poking around
:thumb:

 

[Diggermeister]

Hoping on it just being minor RMS for you too.

Over lockdown my car had very similar, on that same bracket - the tiniest of drips.

IIRC the seal relies on some vacuum pressure in the crankcase, which, over prolonged layup, dissipates.

Since getting back to using the car more, there's nothing, whatsoever, and oil pressure is bang on and levels never change. So however much it lost, it was probably barely a thumble full.

 

[andye30m3]

There's a hard to get to core plug in there that's been known to fail. :?

After over a year of waiting we took my 996 gt3 engine out earlier in the week to find this plug had corroded and was leaking under pressure.

Very small hole but pumped the oil out at quite a rate. I was really lucky that I spotted it really quickly and switched it off, can have only been on tick over for a minute or so.

OP if there's any chance yours is doing the same I'd be very wary about driving it as I don't think mine would have taken long to empty itself

 

[Pip1968]

My money's on the RMS, probably just need to drive a lot more as Marky says and that should fix itself unless it's beyond repair.
:thumb:

How much money did you put on Roro ? It turns out it was related to the oil cooler that was thought to be leaking a couple of years ago. It was one of the rubber seals/hoses that goes to or from the oil cooler and has now been sorted.

Once the car has been collected I can be more specific if anyone shows a keen interest.

Pip

 

[Roro]

My money's on the RMS, probably just need to drive a lot more as Marky says and that should fix itself unless it's beyond repair.
:thumb:

How much money did you put on Roro ? It turns out it was related to the oil cooler that was thought to be leaking a couple of years ago. It was one of the rubber seals/hoses that goes to or from the oil cooler and has now been sorted.

Once the car has been collected I can be more specific if anyone shows a keen interest.

Pip

Millions! Damnit!

Good to hear it's sorted :thumb:

 

[Pip1968]

Thanks Roro. Well only a million or two. Anyway to further update the leak was apparently caused by the degradation of the seals (as circled) under the oil cooler. They probably should have been changed when the new cooler went in but it is what it is.

Shame it has got so wet as I was hoping for a Sunday blast on some B roads.

Pip