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    Rear main seal oil leak

    I have a 2005 997 with 42,000 miles. Upon inspection of the RMS area, I can see that there is some oil leak, but it is not dripping oil. Just an oily area covered with dirt etc. Since I have one year remaining of warranty, should I insist that Porsche replace the seal ( even though it is not dripping oil)? I suspect that the leak can only get worse with time. Opinions / advise would be appreciated.

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    I'd get it fixed under warranty, why not? When my previous car - a 996 Carrera 4S - went in for its first scheduled service, the guys at the dealer did this for me, free of charge since the car was still under warranty, even though I had not noticed any dripping of oil on my garage floor. Of course, any oil leak will only get worse with time so, if you are under warranty, have them do it! If the car wasn't under warranty, then I'd wait until it gets worse or until I needed a clutch replacement, to offset the cost of labor a bit.

    I will be on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary with my present 997 Carrera S when its service is due next March and will have them correct any leaks if they are present.

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    do let us know what happens

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    That does not sound like an RMS leak. If you had one you would know it. That is just the dirt and grime from 42K of use. More power to you. Mine has 46K, same dirt/grime you mention but no RMS issue either. Keep running it hard!

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    When I had RMS I asked the guy what it would have cost me out of pocket. I want to say it was about $2 - 3K. I say hammer them so it's not on your dime later.

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    Quote:
    Leawood911 said:
    That does not sound like an RMS leak. If you had one you would know it. That is just the dirt and grime from 42K of use. More power to you. Mine has 46K, same dirt/grime you mention but no RMS issue either. Keep running it hard!



    Agree. I found an area on my 997S (only 9600 miles) where I see what appears to be a grease spot mixed with dirt. There is no dripping oil nor have I seen any oil spots on my garage floor. Could be that you get some slight amount of oil that seeps out under pressure. I will watch it carefully as I only have a bit over 2 years left on the warranty.

    Jim

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    Had an RMS leak on my 986S. You will know if it's a RMS leak because 70% of the time there's always a few drops of oil on your garage floor the morning after you park it after a drive. For me the other 30% of the time there were no new drops (I have no idea why). Put a clean sheet of newspaper under the car and see if you have consistent leakage.

    Area circled in red is from where RMS leaks appear.

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    Have you ever over fill oil? I was told that if you did, the oil may be forced out the seal a little but not really a leak. Can someone confirm that?

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    Looking at the bottom of the Boxster's engine, one can really see why this is not a real dry sump engine and I cannot cut slack on Porsche for putting the words "dry sump", even if the wrote "integrated" also, as they imply that this engine is dry sump nevertheless. That was and is misleading. Not to worry too much as a Ferrari 328 I owned years ago was not dry sump either and neither were my 944 Turbo nor my 968 and they still were fantastic track cars.

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    Quote:
    cibergypsy said:
    Looking at the bottom of the Boxster's engine, one can really see why this is not a real dry sump engine ...



    Not related to what you said, but I note that the picture posted above is NOT of a Boxster's engine. It is a 911 engine.

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    Quote:
    ADias said:


    Not related to what you said, but I note that the picture posted above is NOT of a Boxster's engine. It is a 911 engine.



    You are correct sir.

    Vern's post was asking about 997 RMS; so I posted a 997 underside.

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    I think he may have meant 'Boxer' engine, not 'Boxter'...?

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    Quote:
    ADias said:
    Quote:
    cibergypsy said:
    Looking at the bottom of the Boxster's engine, one can really see why this is not a real dry sump engine ...



    Not related to what you said, but I note that the picture posted above is NOT of a Boxster's engine. It is a 911 engine.



    You're right about that. I should have taken a second look before saying it was a Boxster engine. The seal would be on the other end then as the engine is turned around.

    At the same time, regardless, both engines are related so the observation about the engine's sump will apply to either one of them. That was the substance of my statement and what one should concentrate on and not nit-pick on a trivial issue that will not change the outcome of the observation, like the one you pointed out.

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    Quote:
    John H said:
    I think he may have meant 'Boxer' engine, not 'Boxter'...?



    I wouldn't confuse Boxster with boxer. It was a legitimate oversight on my part to not look twice at the position of the engine on the car to realize it was a 997, not a 987. Regardless, the observation about the engine's sump would hold valid for either engine.

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    is there any report of the RMS leak with 997 so far? is there a difference between frequently use car and not so frequently use car in relation to the occurance of the RMS leak? any comments?

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    12500 miles on my 997 S and no problems so far. Not even minor oil consumption after about 4200 miles.

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    Quote:
    WR said:
    is there any report of the RMS leak with 997 so far? is there a difference between frequently use car and not so frequently use car in relation to the occurance of the RMS leak? any comments?



    IMO, it's hard to say. My 986S started leaking after about only 4000 miles. I think it's safe to say _most_ leaks occur well before the warrenty runs out (50K, 4 years). Maybe do a search of RMS leak at PPBB.com; lots of info there.

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    Quote:
    MMD said:
    Had an RMS leak on my 986S. You will know if it's a RMS leak because 70% of the time there's always a few drops of oil on your garage floor the morning after you park it after a drive. For me the other 30% of the time there were no new drops (I have no idea why). Put a clean sheet of newspaper under the car and see if you have consistent leakage.

    Area circled in red is from where RMS leaks appear.



    Thanks for the tip, MMD. I'll do that right now and watch for any oil drops. I had painted my garage floor (unfortunately, with a cheap interior garage floor paint/treatment), but thus far, I have not seen anything on the floor.

    Jim

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    Here is a picture of the suspected oil leak from my original posting.

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    My theory about the leak:

    The drip comes from oil which gets caught in the imperfect seal.

    Since the seal is above the "waterline" of the crankcase, the only time oil gets in there so it can actually leak is when the engine is running.

    When you park the car there's a bit of oil trapped in the seal and that's the amount that leaks out. BTW, who knows how much oil leaks out when engine is running?

    That's why my 986S leak was evident only when car was parked overnight AND the amount of oil was always approximately the same (as measured by diameters of oil spot). No matter how long the car is parked (and seal is leaking) the oil spot is always the same size.\

    Again, get a large sheet of clean paper and keep track of overnight post-drive leaks by dating them: show to Porsche to prove it's time for warrenty repair.

    Here's a pic if leaking seal FWIW:

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    Quote:
    WR said:
    is there any report of the RMS leak with 997 so far? is there a difference between frequently use car and not so frequently use car in relation to the occurance of the RMS leak? any comments?



    Nearly 9800 miles on mine and no leaks - only a bit of grease on one part, and there is no dripping.

    Jim

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    I just found an oil spot below my car yesterday,but it does not feel quite like motor oil.
    Could it be transmission fluid ?

    It must just have started , because I never saw any leak before .
    It is a definite leak (drops along the seam ) and it looks like from exactly the same spot as in the photo above ,just in front of the engine .
    The car is a 997 S with ~ 10 k miles on it , so it's well within warranty .

    I called the dealer and have an appointment for next Monday .

    My question is :
    If it's the RMS , how long should it take to get fixed ?
    And is this something that will happen again (cronic ), or is this just a one time deal ?

    Any info is appreciated .
    Thanks

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    Takes an "afternoon" to replace.

    After the first fix your're probably good "forever."

    If it leaks again, they'll fix it again.

    After the third unsuccessful fix Porsche replaces the engine (or so I've heard).

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    Here's the HUUUUUGE seal. Humongoidosity is one of the reasons it is prone to failure.

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    Thank you MMD .
    So it appears it's not really that big a deal if it turns out to be the RMS.
    Makes me feel a lot better .

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    Quote:
    jcs said:
    Thank you MMD .
    So it appears it's not really that big a deal if it turns out to be the RMS.
    Makes me feel a lot better .



    It's really not a huge thing, glad you feel better.

    Only thing that bothers me about it? The mechanic "tearing" thru your factory-assembled car to perform the switch. Gotta have your fingers crossed that he isn't too distracted by other jobs and therefore forgets to torque a few bolts or has a few washers left over... . Still kinda sucks, but, at a big dealership, the mechanic probably has done several RMS jobs in the past and has gotten very good at it.


    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    Thanks again MMD.
    My dealer is Princeton Porsche .
    They are probably the best dealership in N.J.
    so I have absolutely no concerns regarding their
    mechanical work .

    I just hope the weather is nice. I usually get a Boxter as a loaner car.
    It's cute and a lot of fun with the top down . Lol

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    jcs,

    after they change the RMS, maybe you could request they put some "black light indicator" in the oil. Princeton put some in my 05 911 when it had issues. After a trip to Spencers for a black light, I would check every other week, until the car and I parted ways. Hopefully your car issue will turn out better than mine, and hopefully none of the oil got to the clutch.

    Cheers

    jb

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    Though I know the 987 engine is smaller capacity i beleive the bottom end is essntially the same. I had my clutch replaced at 30 k and a small ammount of damp oil was noticed near the RMS. As it turned out it was the intermediate shaft cover seal that had a slight weep. This was replaced and the car put back together. As to the risk of the RMS contaminating the clutch , this is unlikely as the back side of the flywheel is directly in front of the RMS and its shape would prevent oil getting onto the friction surface the other side.

    Re: Rear main seal oil leak

    Quote:
    jboyko said:
    jcs,

    after they change the RMS, maybe you could request they put some "black light indicator" in the oil. Princeton put some in my 05 911 when it had issues. After a trip to Spencers for a black light, I would check every other week, until the car and I parted ways. Hopefully your car issue will turn out better than mine, and hopefully none of the oil got to the clutch.

    Cheers

    jb




    Thank you for your advice .
    If it turns out to be the RMS, what is a "black light indicator "? Some oil additive ?

     
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