Cam plug pops out, oil evacuates, panic ensues

After purchasing my CS a week ago and driving it about 500 miles, I had what I thought was a game over moment a couple of days ago. I backed out of a friend's driveway and the dash lit up, the car died and I got an insufficient oil pressure warning. The car started back up and ran fine for the five blocks to my office. It was then when I noticed the trail of oil following me into the lot. F***!! My friend's driveway is rather steep, so I thought I must have punctured the oil pan when I went over a concrete rain diverter at the bottom of the drive. My local shop is next door to my office, so I parked the car in their lot and came back the next morning to turn over the key and ask how many zeroes are going to be at the end of the bill. They put it up on the rack and there was no damage whatsoever. Pan in perfect shape, no scrapes anywhere. Turns out that the cam plug had popped out and vomited all of the oil. After looking around a bit, I came across this article: https://scotthuntersmith.com/2017/12/28/porsche-cayman-cam-plugs-popping-out/ Further searching turned up a ******** post where the same thing happened when a guy had his car on a flatbed and started it and gave it throttle when the car was on the incline. His contention was that this forced all of the oil to the back, building a lot of pressure in the crank case. As it so happens, this is exactly what I did when I was pulling into and out of my friend's driveway. The shop is busy trying to determine if there are any other factors involved. The link above has some good points about the breather and air oil separator. Anyway, this is just a cautionary tale. I'll update when I hear back from the shop and follow up with total cost and parts involved. I'd be interested in hearing if anyone else has had a similar experience.

Mine did this on the freeway a couple of years ago. Normal speeds, early morning hours. Listening to tunes. Lost all but 3 liters of oil. Engine is fine. No oil pressure warning at all. Heard the engine before it was completely ruined. Tech said it was likely unusual pressure in the crankcase that was not relieved by the air-oil system. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

@zzril What year and engine was this?

Mine is a 2008 2.7L, Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Oh just swell. Something else to worry about. Geeezzzz!

Sorry for the lack of this very basic information: 2006 3.4L

LOL's, first the rear seal, then the headliner, then Oil air separator, warping doors, mysterious speaks and rattles, windows that don't work right, CD24 malfunctions and sticky knobs, bad shift cables!!!! Oh my!!!! I got to laugh because we really do worry about our cars but in my experience they are one of the most reliable brands I owned. To set the record straight with my Cayman , I had only sticky knobs to deal with to date. My Boxster had a canister issue and a squeaking clutch pedal. Both bought new.

What was the result and did the service(s) performed keep it from happening again? Cost? Thanks!

Mine involved lots of inspection, boro, dropped pan, looking for damage. Replace AOS and plastic plugs. LOTS of cleanup hours. $2k ish. Sent from my SAMSUNG -SM-G891A using Tapatalk

Update on status. In an abundance of caution, my shop has recommended replacement of the air oil separator, oil hose and breather line (and cam plug and oil, of course). These items, cleanup of oil on mechanicals and labor = $1500. Thoughts?

Mine was about $2K, so not out of line at all. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I just had the same thing happen to my 07 base daily driver. I commute 90+ miles each day and have owned my 987.1 for a little over two years now. I was in the last 10 miles of my commute when I heard a pop that reminded me of the sound of a milk jug lid flying off when stomping on an empty container. I had no warning lights come on, so I continued on my way. I searched under the car once I made it home and found oil dripping from the drivers side rear. After jacking the car up and searching underneath, I found the brown cam plug lying in the splash guard pan just under the front of the engine bay. The only issue that I have had in the past is the AOS not doing its job, causing the notorious white smoke start up. I changed mine about three months ago at a cost of just under $70 bucks and have still been experiencing the smoky start-ups but at a reduced rate from before. After searching the internet, I came across the same article in your post. Seems to be the most informative so far. Without being able to fully inspect the lower hose (98710724601 - 54.29 from RMEuropean) going to the AOS , I ordered a new one along with a new cam plug (99610421602 - 12.26 from RMEuropean) and changed them out last night. I did not see any cracks in the old lower hose. This hose was very brittle and came out in three pieces. Getting the new hose in is a pain, but can be done with only removing the main air intake tube. I would really like to know what a shop comes up with as I do all my work myself.

This tread helped me locate the problem I had with a leak that caused burning oil and leaking oil on the passenger side of the car. The burning came out the side vent (passenger side) of my 2006 Cayman S and the oil on the garage was centered on the passenger side. It is really hard to see the plug when the car is sitting on the garage floor, but when it is jacked up and the right rear wheel is removed, it is easier to see and is about 2 feet forward of the bumper. To install, simply place in the hole and press into place until it becomes just inside of flush with the camshaft housing. I used a wooden pole to ensure it was pushed in as far as I could go and it is holding. How it was blown, I will never know although I did have a problem with the Air/Oil Separator some time ago and maybe it caused a pressure issue and weakened the bond on this plug . I there is a similar plug on the driver's side (one would think), then it is really hard to see, so hope not! When I removed my top hatch cover and the inside behind the seat hatch cover, all looked ok. It was not until I put the car up that I could see this hole and I had my wife go and turn the car over as I wanted to see if something was moving inside that hole and yep it was movement of the camshaft.

There are two oil pumps on the ends of the heads, one on each head to suck the oil out of the heads back to the sump. If one of those pumps stop working, then oil builds up inside the head with no where to go but to pop that plug . The aos sucks the air/oil vapor out of the heads as well. So if that pump is failing the oil could be backing up in the air/oil vapor return to the aos . Pull the air return to the aos from that engine bank and see if its full of oil. If so, its time to change that pump. You can google to find others who have had those pumps fail. I read a thread from a Boxster owner in Portland, who had this issue. He replaced the pump and cleaned out the oil in the air/vapor return line to the aos . It worked for him. The newer 9A1 engines have 4 of those oil return pumps 2 in each head, to help get the oil back to the sump.