How urgent is RMS replacement?

This past weekend I made the leap from my Toyota Supra TT to a 2001 C4. I was aware of the RMS issues on the 996 before my purchase but an inspection of the car came up clean. I drove the car nearly 700 miles home and loved every minute of it. Unfortunately the next morning I had a small pool of oil on the garage floor. I'm a maniac for maintenance and have an attention for detail so my preference is to have the item repaired immediately (although the car is just out of warranty, 52k). After searching a little on the topic I see that some folks recommend waiting until other work (e.g. clutch) needs to be done before repairing the RMS. My concern is that that leaking RMS will lead to other problems (engine replacement) out of warranty. Can I get some advice from those that have dealt with the problem before? Thanks, Shawn

Not super urgent, keep it filled with oil. get it done sooner rather than later. It was probably there when you bought it, seek a remedy.

I agree with C4S Surgeon. Keep and eye on it but the worst that will happen is the oil on your gargage floor. I here kitty litter on a piece of cardboard works good.

You might want to get it seen to soon so that the casting can be checked. If its just a leaky seal then not a huge concern but if the casting does not pass muster (out of round, eccentric) then you may need a new motor (from the service advisor's point of view). If that is the case, then the advice to seek a remedy against the seller seems prudent as PAG will likely not consider a good will fix for a privately purchased car.

Ubermensch, Newbies must post pictures! Welcome. BTW... I wonder if there would be a record somewhere (like at a dealer) of an RMS diagnosis...I suppose if there was they wouldn't tell you though

Guys. wouldn't the oil leak contaminate the clutch system??

There has never been any evidence that a RMS comtaminates the clutch. When mine was apart I looked at it and concluded it would be almost impossible for the kind of slow drip that comes from the RMS to get on the clutch. It's on the other side of the flywheel from the clutch plate. It drips down the block on that side. If it was shooting out got on the flywheel then spayed on the top of the bell housing and dripped back down maybe. But then you would have a large leak not just a drip.

I would confront the seller about this issue, as it was present prior to your purchase. I would talk to whoever did the ppi as well, this could be a big problem.

Dont you have 30 days to return the car after purchase to have things fixed if you bought it from a dealership?

Thanks for all the advice, folks. I'll get the pictures up soon. Although the car has a bit less power than I'm used to, it's a real joy to drive. The vehicle was purchased from an individual, not a dealer so I believe I'm pretty much own my own. It's possible the leak was there beforehand and was so slight that it wasn't caught and then worsened with 12 hours of high speed driving There is a very competent shop (from what I'm told by others). Since the car is just out of warranty I think I'll take it to them and if the casting is eccentric I'll have the car buttoned up and taken over to the dealer. My hope is that if a new engine is required that a dealer would give some consideration for a vehicle that just came out of warranty. Do aftermarket/extended warranties cover this kind of issue? How do they deal with pre-existing conditions?

Thanks Steve. That's good news then. I never paid attention on all the pictures I've seen. I thought the clutch was immediately forward of the RMS.

I couldn't leave it that way if it was my car. If it's a pool than it's not a slow leak. Fix it. It may be something else.

Yes, I'd have a mechanic look at the car before jumping to any conclusions. Often the cam covers leak, among other things...

Yup, could be an intermediate shaft seal.

Let a tech decide if it's an RMS leak. Take it to a dealer for the determination. Then ask them to run your vin # to see if a prior dealer put that info in the system (request a printout). The previous owner may have some disclosure obligations. If he does, he may be willing to contribute to the cost to avoid a lawsuit. Keep it full (not overfull of oil), but when you have it done then check or replace the clutch (cost should be parts plus a little time).

If the car really is just past the warranty period you might try taking it to your local Porsche dealer and see if they can get their Porsche rep to approve a repair for goodwill reasons if you indicate you'll be getting the car serviced there in the future. My dealer has told me that his factory rep is quite good about authorizing warranty-type repairs even after the warranty has expired. I'm sure the dealer would love to get the warranty work and the possibility of a new customer.

I agree with Torags that if you do have it fixed put in a new clutch at that time because there will be no addional labor involved because you have to totaly disasemble the clutch to remove the flywheel to fix the RMS. If it was mine and I knew for sure it was just a RMS leak I would'nt fix it till it needed a new clutch. With 52K miles that could be soon. YMMV

I lost a clutch disc in a 964 because of a leaking RMS and the clutch and flywheel aren't that different in the 996 (and exactly the same to the GT3) . The oil works its way from the RMS along the input shaft and onto the clutch. It took a few months of occasional drops but it definitely wasn't a large leak.

Sounds like you are just barely out of warranty by months and a couple thousand miles. I would guess there is a good chance of having it fixed under warranty if you push it through a dealer, through a "good will" gesture by Porsche. Also, you should check the records on the car to see if there was a prior RMS fix; if so, that repair may be under its own warranty.