Fluid Leak?

Ok so I bought my 996 the other day. Today I notice a leak from the driver side right behind the tire. Not slick like coolant and doesn't smell like it either. Then I thought about the night before I went for a drive. I used the headlight cleaner worked once then nothing afterwards. The headlight washer doesn't work but the windshield washer does but I'm getting fluid dripping on the floor. How are the system hooked up? I haven't had the time to remove the wheel well cover yet to take a look. Also my question is what can this fluid be? I pretty sure it's washer fluid but the strange thing is that the windshield washer works but not the headlight washer. Any inputs?

I believe this happened to me. My WW and HW do work. The dealership filled the WW reservoir up to the top in cool weather. So, I move my car outside of the garage in warmer weather and after a while I get drops just in front of the door on driver's side, and, at the end of the Mk2 aero side sills right before the rear wheel opening in the fender. Since it was dripping I collected a little in a jar. Just like you felt it and it was slippery, shook the jar and generated suds. Opened the WW reservoir and fluid was right at the top and almost overflowing. Conclusion: my leak was WW fluid. So, I took a syringe and took out as much as I could so this doesn't happen again. And, this also explains the semi-sweet smeel from the vents after hot/hard driving (finally....thought I had a coolant leak hidden somewhere.). Can't help with why the HW don't work. Regards, Marc 04 40th 911 06 M3 ZCP

seb928s - Do you have a '99 - '01 996 or is it a '02 - '04? The reason I need to know is because the headlight washer system on a pre-facelift 996 is different from the post-facelift models. I can supply you with a couple of diagrams from the PET. One will be the windshield washer system and the second will be the headlight washer system. That should help you track down the leak which could be caused by a clogged or disconnected hose.

It's an '99 that would be great. I don't think it's anything else that is leaking.

It's leaking at the front driver side wheel. So it leads me to believe it's the washer bottle or one of the hoses.

SEB - here you go. The first diagram is the Windshield Washer System and the second diagram is the Headlight Washer System for '99 - '01 model years. Hope this helps. Good luck with teh fix.

Thanks for the diagram. Now that I'm out of washer fluid no leak. So when I have some spare time I'll take it apart.

Well then, I guess you solved the problem!

Hello Tim, Not sure if you are looking at this thread any longer, but thought I would try contactaing you this way first. My 2003 996 developed a leak just below the driver side headlight. It is washer fluid. The HW on the passenger side lifts when activated, but the driver side HW doesn't, and neither of them spray water. The problem is that when activated LOTS of soapy water leaks from below the driver side headlight. I crawled under the car today and could see the high pressure lines and header through some openings, but nothing that is accesible. I would have to take apart some of the front of the undercarriage to do this, but I am not sure what is connected where and which should and shouldn't be removed. Could you please send me a service diagram and any other helpful information that might walk me through correcting this? I would really appreciate it. I had purchased a PDF service manual last year for this car, but when it arrived it was corrupted and wouldn't work. It turned out that the company that sold it to me hadn't identified the file as corrupted, and didn't have another to send me. It was inexpensive anyway, but they gave my money back. Any help would be greatly appreciated, as these sort of things shouldn't go to the dealer in my mind. Thanks. Kurt

Kurt, Here is a diagram of the '02 -'04 headlight washer system. I am not sure but you may be able to access some of this by removing the headlight (instructions are in the manual). Let me know if there is another diagram which you think could help you.

Thanks Tim. I will let you know what was causing the leak. Looking at this assembly from under the car it appeared that it might be most easily accessed from teh underside. Do you have any schematics showing how to take off the panel under the driver-side headlight? There is one screw, another unknown connector or two, and some apparent interlocking between panels of some sort. Will this small panel directly under the driver-side headlight remove simply or is it too fitted with other panels to be an easy RnR? Thanks again. Kurt

Kurt, Here are two more diagrams. The first is for the under body panels and the second if for the wheel liners.

Thanks Tim. I will work with these sometime this week. A hesitation I have is whether special tools are needed to separate some of the fittings that hold some under-body panels together. Do you know if there are special tools needed for this? I have a full compliment of non-specialty tools. Thanks for your time and help. Kurt

I am not sure if you need special tools or not. Sorry I can't help you there.

Thanks for all of your help. I will let you know how things go and what caused the leak. Have a nice week. Kurt

I never have actually have done the work but I had a Porsche Tech tell me about this. He said if you put fluid in the resevoir and it leaks out, it is more than likely the hose that supplies the pump has popped off the nipple. Their fix is to simply put a zip tie around the hose, very common problem they say. To get to it, you have to remove the drivers side fender well. I sold mine before I tried it.

Thanks Cory, Is this covered in the service manual? It sounds time consuming. Did you tech friend say it was simple? Thanks. kurt

Thanks all. I purchased fateners to RnR the fender well, but never got that far. After being totally impressed with the modularity of the headlights, I noticed the nozzle/recepticle connection and thought I would simply try to install the headlight more carefully. This worked, there are no leaks and it all functions well now. The last owner must have had one headlight removed for some reason and didn't have it installed so the nozzle and recepticle lined up. I don't know how this is possible, as it would seem to cause ofher fit problems and such, but that is what I did. Thanks to all for your help. I was very impressed by the headlight system. What a great company to be an engineer for. Kurt

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Yep - they are rather cool! Just make sure you lock them back in place fully before you drive - otherwise they will shoot out (in a James Bond Missile style) next time you brake hard for the lights!!!!

I couldn't tell you how many times I have driven around the block to see if I had closed my garage door again, only to find that it was closed. I will do the same with the Porsche. Thanks. Kurt

I was surprised that there doesn't seem to be a fully locked position for these headlights, in that there is no absolute position that tells me that they are tightened enough. Also was surprising to me that there was no secondary catch that would keep the lights from ejecting if they weren't completely secure. Or, am I missing something? Thanks. Kurt

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Yes, he said pull some of the rivets and peel the liner back enough to access the tank. I dont think you have to remove the whole liner but I am not 100% sure. To pull the rivets, I used a needle nose pliers on the backside of the head and pulled away from the rivet, then the rivets just pop out. I would pull as many as it takes until the tank is visible along with the lines.

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It's more of a cam that snaps into place, rather than a screw-tight fitment You hear a definite clunk as you turn the locking cam with the Porsche tool provided - then you know it's in and locked.

There are some small grommets/gaskets that rot away and cause leaks. I believe there are two that cause the most problems. Access to the this area is thru the wheel area, remove the liners.

Well, how about this for resurrecting a 3-year-old thread? But it's right on point. I believe I've got this leak, went in yesterday to try to find it but couldn't figure out which hose people were referring to. I didn't remove my wheel so I couldn't get a super good look, though. Is this the one (circled in red) that I should be checking connectivity on, and possibly putting a zip-tie on? Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Ok, not getting much traction on this thread, maybe if I add some pictures. Basically, I'm trying to visualize where the leak on my washer tank could be coming from. Here's some pictures from the bay, I assume that it's the piece on the lower left that has all the hose connections that can drip: Or, on this picture, the parts to the right: This may win the "Captain Obvious" award, but I really can't see much of anything back there - and I don't really want to spend $200 at the mechanics if it's just a hose that needs to be tied down better.