Oil Leak - concerned... Update, coolant, water pump culprit

teddy34 · 25 Mar 2018

I think this is my first tech post, coming from Lotus I'm used to things going wrong, but this one has me worried :-/

Any help would be much appreciated! Drove the car 90ish miles today, 2005 997.1 c2s, with the updated IMS. When I parked at home I looked behind me (i don't normally) and there was smoke coming from the engine bay. No warning lights on the dash, checked oil levels, all temps ok etc, popped the bonnet and there was oil (at least I think it's oil) everywhere. All over the drive belt, on a pipe running up past the coolant reservoir, over the fan assembly on the rear hatch, and evidently dripping down onto the exhaust.

I will try and get some pics, and have done a search but couldn't come up with anything which seemed too similar to this, but has anyone had anything similar? I'm kind of assuming the oil on the drive belt will be the cause of oil being sprayed everywhere, but I'm just after a few pointers as to what I should be looking for. Weirdly it smelled quite sweet, but didn't come up pink (despite my coolant reservoir being a little below min, glad I checked that too!!).

Anyway, sorry if this is in the wrong section, like I said, any pointers would be amazing! I will be dropping the car to AW motorsports tomorrow for an inspection, so will know more then, but anything in the meantime to know how serious it might be would be somewhat calming.

resigner · 25 Mar 2018

Is the oil level down?

I suspect a coolant pipe has gone (not unusual!) which can do this and could easily look like oil. Mine went on new years day, but not a problem, just topped up with water, had it sorted by my Indy a couple of days later and isn't expensive.

Alex · 25 Mar 2018

Power steering fluid from the pump?

infrasilver · 25 Mar 2018

If it turns out to be coolant it could be the water pump failing.

teddy34 · 25 Mar 2018

resigner said:
Is the oil level down?

I suspect a coolant pipe has gone (not unusual!) which can do this and could easily look like oil. Mine went on new years day, but not a problem, just topped up with water, had it sorted by my Indy a couple of days later and isn't expensive.

Could be coolant :-/ I have just been out to the car, and the coolant expansion tank is hissing. I don't know whether it's sucking air in or getting rid, but it's been a while out there and the level is a bit lower than the min. Also, the whole area (apart from a couple of puddles) seems to have dried up, which isn't so common with oil!

I have attached a couple of pics showing where it was covered before, and the red marking (excuse my poor highlighting) shows where the liquid has pooled. I couldn't get a good pic as it's down the gap, seems to be about halfway down. On the other pic that pipe was the one that was covered before.

infrasilver · 25 Mar 2018

The water pump is just below where you are highlighting, you can see it's pulley in your second picture.

teddy34 · 25 Mar 2018

infrasilver said:
The water pump is just below where you are highlighting, you can see it's pulley in your second picture.

I've just been out again to have another good look. The oil level isn't any lower than I'd expect it to be (car burns within tolerated levels, around a litre every 1000 miles ish)

I looked at the pump, it's difficult to tell if that's the culprit, but looks like it could be coming from that general area and leaking down to the left (as you look at it). Whatever it is it's leaked all the way down the exhaust and the inside tailpipe in the near side exhaust is wet down one side. This hasn't dried out well, but I still can't tell if it's oil as it's mixed in with all the dirt from the road :-/

infrasilver · 25 Mar 2018

Best to check the pump just in case, remove the auxiliary belt and give the water pump pulley a wiggle.

teddy34 · 25 Mar 2018

infrasilver said:
Best to check the pump just in case, remove the auxiliary belt and give the water pump pulley a wiggle.

I'll give this a go and see what happens, bloody thing :-/ thanks for your help on this!

infrasilver · 25 Mar 2018

teddy34 said:
infrasilver said:

Best to check the pump just in case, remove the auxiliary belt and give the water pump pulley a wiggle.

Click to expand...

I'll give this a go and see what happens, bloody thing :-/ thanks for your help on this!

Also go over the expansion tank with a fine tooth-comb, you may have a failing cap or a hairline crack in the tank? Again, if it is coolant?

asterix_the_gaul · 25 Mar 2018

If it's coolant it's also worth checking the coolant cap is on tight, I didn't do mine up tight enough after checking coolant and it leaked over the engine bay giving similar symptoms

FRZ 911 · 25 Mar 2018

teddy34 said:
infrasilver said:

Best to check the pump just in case, remove the auxiliary belt and give the water pump pulley a wiggle.

Click to expand...

I'll give this a go and see what happens, bloody thing :-/ thanks for your help on this!

For what it's worth I had very similar symptoms when my water pump let go a few years back. The coolant getting on to the exhaust created quite a cloud in the rear view mirror at the lights and what looked like a swimming pool once I managed to get parked. :roll: if it's the pump then it looks like yours hasn't totally given up the ghost quite yet but is getting there......

teddy34 · 25 Mar 2018

FRZ 911 said:
teddy34 said:

infrasilver said:

Best to check the pump just in case, remove the auxiliary belt and give the water pump pulley a wiggle.

Click to expand...

I'll give this a go and see what happens, bloody thing :-/ thanks for your help on this!

Click to expand...

For what it's worth I had very similar symptoms when my water pump let go a few years back. The coolant getting on to the exhaust created quite a cloud in the rear view mirror at the lights and what looked like a swimming pool once I managed to get parked. :roll: if it's the pump then it looks like yours hasn't totally given up the ghost quite yet but is getting there......

Im kind of hopeful it's this, then at least I know. There was a constant stream of steam/smoke (it was white) and very possibly could have been steam. I was looking at the DIY for it off Rennlist, but think I may just throw it at the garage tomorrow and get them to sort. I need to check if this is a warranty item, although I expect not!

I checked the caps and the tank, they look ok. The cap hasn't budged since it was last in the garage 4/5 months ago. It's now done 55,000 so I think water pump would be about the right age to go.

FRZ 911 · 25 Mar 2018

Not a DIYer myself so would suggest the garage route as well. If it's the pump on its last legs they will be able to change it then refill the system etc no problem.

Good luck and hope it's all a straightforward fix. :thumbs:

teddy34 · 25 Mar 2018

FRZ 911 said:
Not a DIYer myself so would suggest the garage route as well. If it's the pump on its last legs they will be able to change it then refill the system etc no problem.

Good luck and hope it's all a straightforward fix. :thumbs:

Just been out and underneath, confirmed coolant leak. It must have just been the dirt dragged round by the coolant that made it look like it could be oil. Underneath however it is clear pink liquid, and that explains the sweet smell as it burnt off.

Not 100% sure where from yet, but happier knowing it's coolant and not oil. Thanks for the pointers all, I will post back once it's been through the garage. I should be able to drive it down there (only 5 mins away) as no leak when stationary and there's plenty of coolant in there for a couple of mins.

Oil Leak - concerned... Update, coolant, water pump culprit

New member

Barcelona

Nordschleife

Moderator

New member

Attachments

Moderator

New member

Moderator

New member

Moderator

Barcelona

Sao Paulo

New member

Sao Paulo

New member

Similar threads

Porsche Model Range

Porsche 911

Porsche Hypercars

Other Current Porsche Model

Porsche Legacy Models

Forum statistics