996 Oil Leak

My car started to leak oil last week. I put it up on jack stands today to assess the situation. leakingoil.jpg It is for sure coming from the bellhousing which means either the Rear Main Seal or an Intermediate Shaft seal (bearing failure to follow shortly if not addressed?). I have stopped driving the car and plan to pull the transmission, assess the situation and then order parts to do the IMS Retrofit, rear main seal, clutch/flywheel (lightweight) as necessary. I'd call it a blessing in disguise. A good excuse to get in there and do some preventative maintenance. The car has 54,000 miles, has been tracked a bit and driven. Not a garage queen. More to follow once I start working on it.

what year is this?

It's a model year 2000 Carrera 2, 6-speed manual with 54,000 miles. I think I am the 4th owner. Car has been tracked a few times, not a garage queen. I will update this thread as I do the repair. There will be lots of pictures!

RMS, Common issue do a search

good... Im sure there a list of things to look for while you in there. Doesn't look to bad, Keep us posted for sure.

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I tell you what I'll do - how about an analog search where I remove the transmission, identify and then fix the leak?

Yes, do that! Consider AOS and X51 oil pan as well.

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I already have the motorsports oil pan. I'll investigate the AOS. Thanks!

Follow the logic, here….. Porsche’s are just cars, they may be German cars, but cars nonetheless. Cars that can be repaired by an ordinary human person, in that person’s garage without any fancy schoolin’ or special knowledge handed down from Ferry his own bad self…. beforeleak.jpg Passing drill at Watkins Glen the weekend I bought the car last year. passingdrillwithlauram5.jpg First sign of trouble….drops of oil. The victim is a 2000 Porsche 911 C2 6-speed manual. 54,000 miles. Car has been tracked some and is not a garage queen. The plan is to pull the transmission and fix the leak. Will also replace clutch and associated parts “while I’m in there.” oildripsoncardboardbig.jpg Need to drive up on blocks with a lowered car in order to be able to get the floor jack under the car. I prefer cherry wood for it's hardness, and I have a lot of it laying around from my dining table build. blocks.jpg Open the hatches and the windows. Because you won't be able to after the next step. Please enjoy the inspirational garage chalk art courtesy of Miss Olivia, age 6. openhatchesbeforeunhookingbattery.jpg Then disconnect the negative side of the battery. unhookbatterynegative.jpg Put car on jack stands. PM for instructions. jackedup.jpg Do you think it’s high enough to get the transmission out? These are 3 ton jack stands extended all the way to about 17”. I can go higher if needed. jackedheight17inches.jpg

smokindav- I am enjoying this thread already, and you have just started. I think your write up may be pulitzer prize material. Good luck and +1 on putting in a new AOS while you are at it.

Measure the trans and bell-housing. You might need more height. PM Shark Attack I think he had to raise his some. At least he will should remember how high he needed to go. Trans weighs ~100lbs be ready. This could be helpful http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=170846600290

subescribed this guy seems like he can take picture and document his stuff nice ! good luck with it

are you gonna do the IMS upgrade while you are in there ? The tricky part of those DIY is that quickly you will have a list of part this long of 'while you are in there' For example, might as well also give a little cleanup of the chain tensioners if you do the IMS thingy and engine is a TDC

A racer with the original pumpkins... Nice.... also love the garage floor drawings. We called it flower power way back then. Great posting and thanks for the photos of your DIY.

Not much is going to happen today as I'm traveling. Tomorrow I have customer meetings and dinner. Thursday I have church band practice (I play the bass!). Friday night I might have time to start to work on pulling the transmission. I plan to borrow my buddy's transmission jack but it has a C5 Z06 Corvette rear subframe/suspension sitting on it right now. I'll probably have to go help him with that so I can earn use of the jack. Here's an acoustic set we did a few months ago. b57788b3.jpg

Its quite common for the four rear case bolts to loosen. May not be the RMS or IMS seal at all. Once the trans is off, look carefully at the upper-most area of oil seepage for clues about the real source (oil runs downhill, always). Fix is to remove the four bolts that hold the case halves together, clean the threads, and replace with new factory bolts (they are encapsulated). A bit of flange sealant is extra insurance. Considering the labor involved, I would replace the RMS and the seal on the IMS flange at the same time. Upgrading to the L&N Engineering IMS is a good idea also (they sell a kit complete with all necessary cam & crank holding tools). New clutch too, if warranted.

Ahh Cedar Falls land of Soy Beans. I haven't been there in a while. Anyway, my car never leaked that much oil when I had RMS issues. Good luck.

Just did this job - although it was my clutch that prompted it. I did document my progress with pics - but woefully inadequately. I considered it a blessing in disguise but was a bit disappointed to find a M97 IMS bearing which meant I couldn't replace it. Your height looks ok - higher is always better, but as long as there's enough room to slide the trans out when it's sitting on the ground it will work. I had to remove the trans from the jack before I could slide it out from under the car. Also - the AOS is not as hard as people say, but a pain in the a$$ nevertheless. It's worth doing now. Get a lot of extensions, drop your motor an inch or more, drop the tail of the trans more still, then go for the top bolt entirely working above the transmission, with the ratchet extended all the way past the tail. Geez I wish I had taken better pictures.

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How did you get the transmission back in the car?

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I slid the gearbox under the car on a piece of cardboard, then blocked it up inch by inch with lumber ends until it was high enough to get the ATV jack under it, then rolled the ATV jack underneath, then blocked it up inch by inch on the ATV jack until it was high enough to line up with the motor when the ATV jack was fully extended, then strapped the gearbox to the ATV jack with the blocks in place using a ratcheting strap. Actually it was much easier than I expected and than how it sounds. I also got real lucky when I went to mate the gearbox and engine. It went together first try very easily. (Either that or I am better at this than I thought). Sorry for the lack of photos. It did look pretty, but I was on a roll. Only took an hour.

Trans is out of the car. Pix and write up to follow tonight. I'm going to the pool now.

Next Entry Stand back and let me work, here. You’re crowded around like I’m a blond with a stripper pole installed in the garage and I just turned on the CD player. This is actually fairly straight forward and simple, so far. I ran over to my C5Z06 Corvette friend’s country retreat and borrowed his transmission jack. I would say that while probably not necessary, I would not like to try this without one. Beg, borrow or steal a tranny jack. Then I raised the car up some more with a combination of cherry and pine spacers. I wasn’t sure 17” was high enough so I added about 4 more inches. I used the pine on the bottom of the stack and the cherry under the jack stands as it is a very hard wood and will support the weight of the rear of the car without flinching (hopefully). raisedhigher.jpg I removed the rear undertrays. Then I loosened all the axle bolts (I took a few of the bolts out of the axle before I realized that you can just leave them in place. You can see the bolts in a few of the upcoming pictures. Take off the sway bar. I have adjustable end links so this was very easy. axlesloose.jpg Next, remove the x-braces and crossmember. And put them on top of the undertrays next to my (was my Grandpa’s – RIP) 1973 Honda CB350 to get them out of the way. Sorry about the blurry picture. undertraybracecrossmember.jpg After that I unhooked the shift linkages. And the reverse light switch plug. shiftlinkage.jpg Now is the time to support the engine with a jack. Sorry, no picture of that. I used a block of wood and my floor jack. Once the engine is supported I took out all the bell housing bolts. The top two are a mother. Let me say how much I like air impacts and air ratchets and loooong extensions. LOVE them , in fact. bellhousingbolt.jpg After the engine is supported put the transmission jack in place. The jack I used has a chain that you can wrap around the transmission but I used a nylon ratchet strap instead as it was easier and I didn’t really want to wrap a chain around my tranny, you know? Finally, it is time to remove the forward transmission brackets. Before you do this the engine and trans must both be supported by their respective jacks. crossmemberremoved.jpg crossmember2.jpg Now, slowly start to work the transmission and engine apart. I used a pry bar (gently, everything is made of soft aluminum!) and just grabbed the front of the transmission and wiggled and pulled. Once it is separated from the engine lower it down a few inches and remove the clutch slave cylinder. Then lower the trans the rest of the way. Pretty soon it will look like this! transonjack.jpg transuninstalled.jpg When you are done with that take a picture of your clutch, then go to the pool with the wife and kids. clutch.jpg To complete the day, I highly recommend some USA Gulf Caught shrimp and a margarita made with your choice of tequila. Garnish with lime slice and a funky July 4th straw and enjoy! Cheers! finishtheday.jpg Woo hooo! Next, I will remove the clutch and see where the leak is coming from.

nice jobs on the pics I am waiting to hear if your clearance is good enough to pull the tranny on the jack but it looks like you might have to put it on the floor and then slide it out, or may be you can even jsut move it forward while you work on the clutch plate area but doubt it. good pics waiting for more

Nice work - looks familiar. There's no need to remove the big cross member though. Sure curious as to where all that oil is coming from.

awesome... looking good so far.

I thought I would pull the clutch and flywheel really quickly tonight so I could order some parts, once I took a look at what style IMS I had. I got the clutch out but don't have a big enough torx bit to remove the flywheel. Anyone know what size it is? a650d979.jpg

clutch disk looks pretty good for 54k check the flywheel while it is attached. TSB 911 (996) 8/02 1360 Dual Mass Flywheel Check procedure http://www.renntech.org/forums/index...-procedurepdf/ Can the dual Mass Flywheel be twisted approx. 15mm in each direction, left/right, and does it return to approximately its initial position? If so it is good. Can the DMF be twisted beyond dim stated above without a noticeable increase in the spring force? Or is it fixed (no rotation?) if so bad

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Flywheel performs as the test describes. No problems there. I just bought the T-55 Torx bit that is needed for flywheel bolt removal. Tonight I will pull the flywheel, inspect everything (including clutch parts) to determine what needs to be replaced. I plan to order parts tonight. I hope to start reassembly next weekend. I think I can probably get everything put back together in one day. It's not too difficult.

Flywheel removed, leak revealed I picked up the T-55 Torx at my local Blain's Farm and Fleet (seriously) for $4.99. Came home and zapped those flywheel bolts right out of the crank. Impact wrenches are the shizzle. As you may or may not be able to tell from the crappy iPhone pictures, the oil is coming from the rear main seal. 52a7bdcd.jpg cdf369bd.jpg 906bde1d.jpg Also, from what I can tell I have an early style double row IMS bearing. Take a look at the different versions and tell me what you think. http://www.lnengineering.com/ims.html Early double row bearing cover. Later single row bearing cover Non-serviceable style:

Can you let us know the build date of your car? It's on the label on the door below the door latch assembly, my 2000 was delivered in Feb 2000 and has a 11/99 build date on the label.

March, 2000. c833c855.jpg

Parts have been ordered! I probably won't get everything in time to put the car back together this weekend. It might be another week or so until the next update.

Looks like you have the early double row with the more leak prone cover/single o-ring.

Let us now what condition your double row IMSB was in when you replace it. Double rows are supposed to be more robust than the single rows.

How much lighter can a clutch plate get? Seriously?

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My IMS bearing was in fine shape. What a relief. I replaced it anyway though. Today I worked on my 911 some more. I didn�t do a very good job of taking pictures. It was probably 95 F degrees today in Iowa. And I�m almost 40-years old. Not a fun day to be constantly climbing under and out-from-under the car. Taking pictures was not a priority. Sorry. There are plenty of threads on how to do this already, check them for instructions. I did get confused on a few things so I had to keep coming into the house to read the internet. I tried to get some pictures of the things that I wasn�t able to find good documentation on the internets. One of the things I couldn�t easily find documentation on was how to pin the crank pulley for Top Dead Center, and also how to check cam timing. To get access to the crank pulley bolt you have to pull the air box out. I turned it (the pulley, the nut is 24mm so plan ahead when you go tool shopping, a 32mm is also handy for removing the cam tensioners) clockwise while facing the front of the car. I hope that is the right way to turn the engine over. For the cam timing, it was not clear which cam plugs to pull to be able to see the cam timing marks. I ended up pulling the plugs on the passenger side front of the engine and the lower plug on the driver�s side rear of the engine. Then I turned the crank pulley until the tear drop shaped hole was at about 11 o�clock. In this position the locking pin can be inserted in the tear drop hole and locks the engine from turning. Make sure the cam timing marks (grooves) are straight up and down and then install the cam locks that came with the LN Engineering tool kit. I had to grind down one of the cam lock tools so that it would fit in to the cam timing grooves. Not sure what LN Engineering expects you to do here - maybe I did it wrong? Then you bolt the pax side cam timing lock (I used the double lock here) to the head using the negative ground strap bolt that is in between the intake and exhaust cam plugs. Here�s a picture of the driver�s side rear cam plug. I didn�t order new plugs so I just used some blue RTV to cover the hole you have to poke in the middle of them to remove them. Wow that looks really ugly in the picture. I suppose I could order some new cam plugs. 5e357f41.jpg Picture of driver�s side cam tensioner. I removed this and the one on the pax side. I didn�t remove the mysterious 3rd cam tensioner. 94889891.jpg The pax side cam tensioner is hard to find at first, you have to look in from the side of the car. 57e5055e.jpg After I got the timing organized I pulled the pax and driver�s side cam tensioners. I didn�t pull the mysterious 3rd cam tensioner. I don�t even know where it is. I also used the set screws in the Pelican Parts IMS bearing kit to push against the IMS gear in hopes of keeping the shaft centered. I have read on the webz that the shaft can sometimes get pulled to one side or the other if you do not remove the mysterious 3rd cam tensioner. If this happens it can be difficult to reinstall the IMS bearing, so I�ve heard on the innerwebz. In my case the shaft did not get pulled off center. I used the LN Engineering bearing puller and my double row bearing came right out with no problems. It didn�t seem like I had to use an �extreme amount of force� to get the bearing spring clip to release. I had the new bearing and tool in the freezer for about and hour or two so when I reinstalled them. They went right back in with no problem. I buttoned everything up and cleaned up for the day. I�ll be out of town until next Tuesday so I should be posting next week on how I made a home made RMS installation tool. After I finish the RMS installation it should be a cake walk to get the new clutch bolted up, and the transmission reinstalled. Money shot of replaced Intermediate Shaft Bearing. 22120496.jpg

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Oh yeah...looking good Dave. That looks like the old style RMS too...the new style has rectangular holes pressed into the rubber instead of round holes. I elected to leave my new style RMS in place because it wasn't leaking and I was struggling with my home made tool. We'll see if I have to pay the price down the road.

Just done a 5000 oil change. Cut the filter open. clean. I have the original double row bearing and the car has done 58000 miles.

Remember the new seal should be recessed 5mm back, not flat like the older style seal.

Oops. Just pressing the seal in with a pvc pipe and hoping it goes in straight doesn�t work. That lesson cost me $14.25. I�m going to have to order another seal and borrow the Porsche special tool to install it from somebody. PVC install tool � this didn�t work out so good. 0d120569.jpg Seal is not in straight and I pushed it in way too far. Lucky it didn�t fall in the engine. Porsche did not design in a stop for the seal to rest against. It could fall in the engine if some idiot pushed it in too far. Luckily, I'm not an idiot. Just a moron. bedfc343.jpg 32591c29.jpg I just got back from a long weekend visiting my wife�s family in The Motor City. I was hoping to get the 911 put back together tonight but it looks like it will be about another week until I get it put back together. That means I get to drive this truck for another week. I had a 2004 Ford F150 but I sold it about a month ago. I am planning to replace it with a Jeep Wrangler this fall. In the mean time I had to borrow my dad�s old truck. 50de8fbc.jpg My grandpa actually bought this truck in about 1990. It is a 1986 Chevy Silverado �-ton. My grandparents drove it clear to Alaska and back in 1991 and camped in a pick-up camper they had at the time. That must have been about the last big road trip they took before they got too old. cf6d3702.jpg It is actually a very clean truck, no rust and has never been driven in salt in the winter. Very unusual for Iowa. I suppose that someday it will be mine and I will have to put an air bag suspension on it so it can lay frame and soup up the big 350 cubic inch V8. c10bagged.jpg 86silverado.jpg

I ordered a new rear main aka flywheel seal, the Porsche special tool to install it, and a clutch alignment tool because I forgot to order that when I ordered my first batch of parts. Between the intermediate shaft bearing special tool ($190) and the flywheel aka rear main seal special tool I'll have $380 worth of special tools for this car. Still way better than paying for a shop to do the job. Plus I get to bond with my car. Or whatever. I like driving them not working on them. If anyone wants to borrow the tools from me let me know

Great writeup. I like how you keep detailed notes and color-coded drawings on your garage floor for reference!

Still waiting for the special tool to arrive so I can install the rear main seal and get this thing back together. Driving that 1986 Chevy truck with no a/c is a bitch. It's supposed to be 102 � tomorrow!

home made tool with a stop http://reutterwerk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18315

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I've seen that thread. It was easier for me to order the Porsche part online and just enter in my credit card number. I could have taken the time to design something and go to my dad's and machine it up on the lathe and mill but in the end time is money and I don't have much time so I punted and paid the $180 for the special tool. I hope it gets here soon! I miss driving my car........

Greetings my fellow Porsche enthusiasts...I guess the passion and love of my first Carrera propelled me to enquire and learn more about how to maintain my car, which I refer to as Pegasus, the Krimson Knight! I am coming on my first oil change and the mechanic who works on Porsches down the street from me here in Hermosa noticed some oil leaks on both the seal and to the right of it, a larger panel...seal replacement was 115 and the larger panel 545 plus labor...no biggie...I asked him to write me up an invoice as I am going out of town for a week and then he was like well after I look at it, I may have to do other things to the car which may be relevant to the oil...for you guys who have been in this scenario, as my oil is not leaking to the ground even, should I just get the two recommendations he noticed done? My followup question is can there be anything else he is referring to that may need to be fixed? I just had a feeling he may have been taking me for a ride...please get back to me when time permits...thanks. Tanvir H.

Which seals/panel? Pix? Get him to provide the specifics and list them here along with the pix, we can then perhaps assess for you the legitimacy of the estimates or the other potential works he is suggesting as potentially looming.

iowa....pls tell me ur an engineer or work on turbos at the local water authority. i just did my first jack up of the car & oil change & oil filter & sent in for the oil analysis &...****! u got me by a few years climbing under the car & all but man, u act like it is no big deal to drop the transmission of the 996 911! and just replace the IMS and figure out how to line everything up. WTF? is anybody else following this thread not impressed??? i've read everything twice. i've watched the DIY videos and all i can say is i know my limits. what a great thread. keeping a Harley running for 10 years doesn't compare to this.....keep it up man. i am a fan. and i just sold my F150 too! (i don't know why)

This thing finally showed up today. Not too happy with Automotion/Eckler Automotive as it supposedly "shipped" back on June 27. The shipping label said ship date July 10th. I hope my multiple phone calls to their customer service person had something to do with that. I am a little under the weather or I would be out in the garage putting it back together. Maybe tomorrow night I'll be able to finish the car. Lingpoen, this is actually not that bad of a job if you just follow the different tutorials and threads on Rennlist. I've done a lot of mechanicin' over the years, so I'm not exactly a noob when it comes to this stuff. 9b44f3df.jpg cbc517b6.jpg

I took the day off - it's going to be 99�F - to finish up the 911. The first thing I did was go buy a window air conditioner from Walmart. It is only 5,000 BTU and is not able to get the garage temp below 80�F. My garage is about 600 sq. ft. so I need ~12,000BTU. This little window unit works well enough if I also open the door to the house and let that cool air in. It also helps that I'm laying on the floor where the cool air is as I finish working on the car. I plan to take the window unit back. 23f57cbc.jpg The special tool to install the flywheel aka rear main seal is a two piece tool. You first bolt this part onto the end of the crank. b2046494.jpg Then you slide the seal on over that and start to run the bolt for the big part of the tool that actually presses the seal in. I made sure to pull the seal back flat against the face of the press and frequently checked it to make sure it was going in straight. This tool worked like a charm. Glad I bought it. c61dfad3.jpg Now the new seal is installed. 77a3f28d.jpg I'm taking a lunch break while the pilot bearing for the tranmission input shaft (the pilot bearing goes in the flywheel) freezes in the freezer. I tried tapping it in at room temperature and it wasn't going well so I decided to freeze it. More pictures and info to come after lunch break is over.

With that little A/C unit cranked and the door to the house open to let in cool air the garage temp is down to 78�F. It is 97�F outside. I got all the detail work done and am ready to marry the transmission to the engine. This is a big step as if you realize you forgot something later there will be a lot of swearing. I got the flywheel on and torqued. I had to made a flywheel lock tool out of some flat steel. Just drill a couple holes, not that hard. Got the clutch disk and pressure plate on and torqued. When I pulled the clutch alignment tool out and looked in I can see that the clutch disk and pilot bearing holes are not perfectly aligned, but the tool does slide in and out ok so I hope I don't have to loosen the pressure plate up again to realign. New pilot bearing in the flywheel. 262190ab.jpg I also installed a new throwout bearing but didn't take a picture. I've got the clutch slave cylinder bolted back on and the transmission in position for the final jacking, aligning and inserting to complete the marriage of the transmission and the engine. ca08d027.jpg 13b5ba6b.jpg As soon as I'm done with break time I'll get the trans bolted up and start working on all the brackets and stuff.

Glad to see you are progressing, hope it cools down a little more for you. Nice work and great detail.

Transmission married to engine. Suffered minor cut on off-hand index finger due to 3/8" drive swivel w/socket attached to air ratchet, trying to get the highest (the bitch) bolt in on transmission. Should not affect bass playing (see previous post, this thread). Now for the final push to put all the brackets and stuff on.

Fixed. Done. No leaky. I'm tired. I work slow but I'm thorough. I only swore one time (Mother ****er!) when I cut my finger. Pre-test drive. 7f7d4b89.jpg Post-test drive. d8e833d6.jpg Fire away with questions, comments, praise.

It's folks like you which gives me the confidence the P-cars CAN be maintained by a relatively competent "shade-tree" mechanic. Well done, Sir!

Awesome, simply awesome. Were you thinking of selling your specialty tools you bought? I need to do the same things, but not till later this year.

what a good post. great work-

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I'll let you borrow the tools, but I'm not going to sell them as long as I own the car.

Awesome job! Thanks for the detailed pics & description....I know that can't be easy.

Cool, that works, too! I'll PM you before I'm ready to go so we can work out details, etc. Printing out this post, really nice job. I'm planning on changing my tie rods this weekend, I think I will document the same way. Obviously a lot easier job than this, but it may help some one too.

Nice work smokindev, very impressed! Hey, is that a tru flow intake? I have one on my c4, I think I need to service it/oil it? They don't sell the oiling kit, I'm concerned to mess with mine as I don't want to case MAF errors. Do you or anyone else know the proper procedure?

Well guys i had to grab a soccer ball underneath my car only to find a small amount of oil (see pic). I think it may be RMS related....hoping not IMS. I called two shops local in the Metro Detroit area and they both want around $1,200 just to replace the RMS. They both also recommeneded changing the IMS just to be safe which would cost me another $1,000 or so. I am wondering if anyone knows of any local shops which can do the job for much less? Also, is it necessary to spend the extra money in IMS? Only reason asking is i was planning on selling the car in next month or so, need the cash. Any recommendations are appreciated! Also, both shops said since it is a Tiptronic, they would need to remove the engine and transmission (plus suspension) doesn't seem right. Thanks! 2000 996 Tiptronic 51k miles.....thanks!

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What pic? don't see any.....

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Approach this as though it doesn't matter what is leaking - you are at a minimum going to put a new rear main seal, new intermediate shaft bearing, new clutch disk, new pilot bearing and new throwout bearing in the car as it is basically the same amount of labor to do so. The parts cost me about $1,000 and the labor was free as I did it myself. My car is a 6-speed manual, though. I have no idea what is involved in fixing a car with a tiptronic. Good luck.

excellent job!

having trouble uploading a pic