Rachel Posted February 17, 2007 Report Share Posted February 17, 2007 Hi Guys, My baby has now entered it's 9th month in my care - and I must admit it hasn't been driven much over the last month or 4 due to other commitments. I finally got to give it a nice warm up and then a hard punt around some backroads in the country near here on my way to visit folks on the other end of the city. After a very fast and hard (and hot - 32C day) and moderately long (>1 hour) run, I noticed when it was parked up on the kerb, a bit of oil seepage on the base of (I assume) the engine, or transmission. It is the exposed part of the underbody - and seems to be a large thick machined plate (maybe 1.5 - 2cm thick), just aft of the underbody fairing that seems to stop right at the rear wheels and has what appear to be a significant number of large bolts holding it to the rest of the drivetrain (is it the sump?). Now, given it has only just clocked over 7500km (yes - KM), would the seepage likely to have been caused by dried out seals that needed that engine to get good and hot for an extended period to relubricate themselves and re-seal? Just curious - not too worried as it is going in for its first service in a week or 3 (currently a 2.5 week lead required to book it in @ Porsche) - and as far as I'm concerned, a low mileage car under 9 months old (well - for me it is) shouldn't seep or drip, and if it does then something is wrong - ergo, a warranty job. FYI - the official factory service interval is every 30,000km (20K miles) or 2 years. Major service @ 60,000km or 4 years. Anyone got an opinion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richy_uk Posted February 17, 2007 Report Share Posted February 17, 2007 Afraid this sounds like the dreaded RMS fault. Quite rare on 987's but have affected some 997s. Was common on 986s. Should be sorted under warranty. Caught early and no real long term issue. Left too long and all kinds of terminal trouble can occur. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted February 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2007 I had it washed by my friendly detailer this morning and he wiggled uder the rear and shot it with a heap of degreaser and let it sit while we washed and chamoised the car. He then hit it with their special water gun, and a pile of old burnt oil came away. I went for a 60km blat afterwards and parked it in the garage and wiggled under with a maglite. Nothing is easily visible seepage wise above the base plate I assume is the sump (as the exhaust manifolds are directly above it and the oil filter just offset of it). I thought it might be the gasket holding that plate that is perished - but there was no new seep as I looked (just bits the degreaser missed). Because I have been accused of being anal about my cars - I went inside and got my Xenon bike light which is a globe housing on a long coiled cable to the Lithium battery. Using that I can see that there is oil residue all up the front (as in next to the passenger compartment firewall) of the engine too. Is this the dreaded RMS? The car was built in Feb '05, then shipped to Oz and kept in Custom's Bond till I scored it, whereupon it was given a compliance plate dated May '06. Standing idle for 12-15 months would definitely see a butyl rubber seal perish if not lubricated. Oh well, I'll find out what they say tomorrow when I try to book it in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez Posted February 18, 2007 Report Share Posted February 18, 2007 Hi Rachel, if it is the RMS the dealer should have knowlage as it was fairly common on 986's and early 987's. Here's some good info with pics in this thread on RMS leakage: http://www.987forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6619 This should be replaced under warranty and is nearly all labour, good luck ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted February 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2007 It's booked in for March 2nd @ Gulsons in the ACT. Their new service manager claims they can't get to it any sooner, and though the spares guy (who I've know for years) wanted me to bring it in ASAP for a 5 minute hoist inspection to check the severity of the leak - the service manager was having none of it... The main seepage seems to be from the front LH side of the big machined base plate on the bottom of the engine that I assume is the sump. Additionally, looking as far up into the LH side (facing forwards) as I can I can see oil on components - though most of it is at the height, or lower, of the (I assume) gasket that the plate would have as a seal to the base of the engine. I can't see much of the bell housing for the transmission/clutch - but there seems to little sign of a serious leak there - more like some road grime on the more prominent bits of the base of the housing. So RMS failure seems less likely than a gasket failure or something else going wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmmlmmam Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 Good luck for tomorrow Rachel, hope they get it sorted for you (and that their attitude improves!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted March 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 Good news - the service manager is gone (they said he was a dud apparently), and I got the dealer's overall service manager (they now do Citroen, Alfa and Fiat too). Well - where to begin? They have a beautiful red Brera convertible (roof down) in the showroom next to the service area - it is one of the more stunning cars I have seen in the metal, and mine to drive away in for $75K... I also got a huge surprise (and took a 2-4pm lunch to enjoy it) in that they gave me a Seal Grey Cayman S as a loan car ($165K, $173K on the road). Woo Hoo! The seepage was definitely the sump plate and it appears the torx-style bolts holding it on were not torqued up to factory spec and the seepage was actually around the bolts themselves! The guys fixed that, fitted a small piece of trim that had never been fitted, and then somehow broke (and fixed while I had a coffee) the LH airvent flap control. Oh, and they did an oil change service too for me! I usually do my cars every 7500km, and the sad thing is it has taken me 9 months of ownership to clock the first 7500 up. All up - great service, awesome loan car and a total cost for the service and check-up of the beastie was about $330. Kudos to Mark and the tech guys at Gulsons! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 Glad it wasn't the RMS How did you find the Cayman compaired to the Boxster ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted March 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2007 Actually - I was underwhelmed by the Cayman S. My skate buddy came with me to retrive my car, and we both agreed the engine was great in the Cayman S - but why get one when you can get the same grunt now out of a Boxster S? The extra rigidity in the Cayman is actually detrimental to it's ride on the roads around here. The other tidbit - one of the local Porsche Club guys gets his new GT3 RS on March 5th - just in time for it to be set up for the Targa Tasmania on March 17th. I better take my camera to work that day, and take another long lunch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmmlmmam Posted March 5, 2007 Report Share Posted March 5, 2007 Glad they got rid of the dud service manager quick! The Cayman is quite attractive (IMO) but I couldn't bear to loose top down action and pay all that extra for a fairly academic (on public roads) handling benefit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazza_g Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 [ QUOTE ] one of the local Porsche Club guys gets his new GT3 RS on March 5th [/ QUOTE ] That must cost about a million Oz dollars? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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