1999 996 Leaking ALL oil !!!

Could use some advice! I bought a 1999 996 rear wheel drive three days ago and on day two all while the car was under heavy load doing some spirited driving up mountain roads near Silver City New Mexcio I got some while smoke out the back, oil pressure dropped, so within a minute or so when it was safe to pull over I did so. And, looking back at the path I had taken there was a narrow trail of oil on the road for the 0.5 - 1.0 miles prior to me pulling over. The car registered no oil. I removed the air box and saw no oil residue. The oil seems to be coming from the passenger rear of the motor someplace between the area of the passenger rear wheel and the license plate - to give a horizonal bearing on the location. The air/oil separator was replace along with the ims bearing a couple years ago Redline Racing in El Paso Texas. A new local friend brought me five quarts of oil. I then drove it slowly to his shop, we inspected it and could not find the cause. Filled the oil to full. I drove off and another 10 minutes and the same thing happened. We saw no oil leak around the oil drain plug, the oil filter, the oil filler cap seems on tight. I am perplexed as is Lenny at Redline Racing. The majority of the oil is landing on the areas circled in pink (and the road) - but those are coolant areas I believe. Please advise - any help is appreciated! .

Those areas (and) hose are indeed coolant. From the pictures I don't see any oil dripping so maybe it got ingested. Read up on overwhelming the AOS, white smoke from exhaust, especially while spirited driving with sweeping right hand turns. Pull one of the easy to reach spark plugs and see if it is oil soaked. Also, my 3.4L engine takes a little over 10 quarts of oil to be full.

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Thanks, good advice. I found the below thread. The second time it happened I did not get over 3k rpm, was babying it, and was not going on any hard rights. However, maybe I had a tad bit overfull with oil. https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...compounds.html

welcome to the M96 motor...

It took five quarts of oil after the first incident? Did this bring it up to full? You are measuring using the dipstick correct? The second time it lost more oil? And more white smoke? On the 3.4 engines run the oil in the middle or low side of the dipstick.

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Thanks I had a previous 1999 996 I bought off a DE instructor who tracked it. And I had tracked it a few times - never had this issue! News to me!

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We just added 5 quarts to limp it downhill 10 minutes to his garage - it brought it to mid way I believe. At his garage we added another 3 quarts. At that point it was a little over full when read via the dipstick. The second time no white smoke and it lost all the oil. Today I plan to clean the location well, add 5 quarts of oil, check oil level, drive it lightly a few minutes, and inspect.

Also that area on the engine is the oil pump housing. https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...y/99610701261/

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Let me get this straight... You experience the M96 proverbial plume of smoke out the tailpipe. You add 5 quarts of oil that brings to the half way mark. You then overfill the engine with oil by adding another 3 quarts of oil. Then you go out and run it again and now it's lost ALL oil in the engine??? Are you getting any DTCs or anything? Have you checked the coolant quality for any signs of intermix? With this much loss of oil, I can't believe you're not seeing a trail behind you. Not trying to be a jerk, but with the plume of smoke and excessive oil loss your engine is screaming out for help. The next wise step is to get it to an experienced shop to locate this leak before you cause serious damage to the engine. Good luck!

Like B3 says, I wouldn't run this again till you find where all that oil is going, from the photo's it obviously not leaking it externally.

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Yes, that is correct. No worries I appreciate your time and support. What are DTCs? I agree your next suggested wise step is ideal. I may be just over-stressing myself by being stranded and trying too hard to DIY. After walking back to the car today with 15 quarts of oil in hand and confirmed by the shop it is at seems my initial guess was correct. Engine freeze plug. So odd that this would come loose and fail. I believe a previous owner may have had issues with this based on the adhesive residue. Is this the correct replacement? And any tips on installation? https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_In...ductDetailsAnc

You found that hole? Just like that? That certainly will cause something to leak (probably not the appropriate word, maybe gush? out? Not familiar with the proper procedure for the plugs so no advice there. Be very careful about over filling the engine oil. You want to add oil carefully and end up at the mid-point of the gauge/dip stick. Overfilling 996 engines can lead to very bad outcomes. You should also just check the coolant reservoir for oil in the coolant and also the oil filler cap for "milkshake" froth on the underside, both indications of serious issues. Good luck!

Nounder, sorry for your dilemma. After you figure it out and get it fixed, do yourself a favor and replace your AOS with the UAOS Track version. You can run the oil full and even run it over full by ~1 quart using the dipstick. Gives you room for error on and off the track.

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They're technically called Welch plugs as explained by our RL Gold Master Porsche tech - Skip. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_plug Why not have the shop install it? But read this thread... https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...-are-over.html

I�m lost. 15+ QUARTS of oil have shot out of that hole? But only in certain circumstances? Once upon a time I was a grease monkey. I forgot to put the drain plug back one time and a quart of oil went straight through to the floor. It was a big big puddle.

Here's what it's supposed to look like. No sealant required. It seems there was a big problem waiting to happen. You mentioned you've had the car 3 days. Any recourse on the sale? These really are great cars when they are well maintained. I'm sorry that you need to go through this. It's not the cars fault, it's the previous owners fault. Good luck.

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Well, that huge hole wasn't there during the first of two failures. Seems it was just loose enough to leak oil at the first failure. During repair it seemed very tight and snug fit. After the second failure it was more evident - freeze plug now missing! Thanks for your help. I forgot to check the coolant for oil when I was at my car but remembered to check the oil filler cap for "milkshake" - no "milshake." And I see no water in oil. It is still perplexing that this would fail. I removed the pressure relief bolt to check the valve / spring / piston and all seems fine. Maybe I should replace it anyways?

Good advice on the track version. Seems like a waste since the AOS was replaced in the last year or so. But, safety first.

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There's no Porsche savvy shop around here for 250+ miles! With the help of this thread, locals, and friends, I'm confident this will be sorted in a week - just now awaiting part delivery. Wow, in that thread Mark's engine failed due to a freeze plug issue just like mine. I count my blessing I haven't thrown a rod. But, we'll see if it makes it back home to California. Looks good. No recourse on the sale - this is an anomaly. The PPI checked out, the seller is a great guy, and I got a killer deal.

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I�m sitting on a plane going to riverside California to pick my New to me 03 turbo coupe. Since I got my ipd plenum Saturday for my 99, I�ll be going to my mechanic once I get back home and I�ll ask him to check this plug for me. I�m swapping headers so the car needs to go on the lift anyway. Hopefully you solved your problem. The more i drive the 99 the more i like it that is way i am not selling it. God knows I may finish liking the prehistoric, cable throttle, no glove box, no cup holders, no electronic control nanies narrow body car best.

I want to update you all and thank you all! I made it home last Friday evening with no problems - eight days on the road! I was able to fix it with a hammer, socket, and aviation sealant (advised by a seasoned diesel mechanic family friend). Thanks again! What an adventure! #haveporschecando Applied to engine and plug. The red residue is from a previous "repair."

Glad to hear!

That's great to hear. You survived your first Porsche adventure!