A few drops of oil on the garage floor. Gulp.

I parked my car in the driveway the other day and immediately noticed 3-4 drops of oil on my garaged floor. Right away I'm thinking there's a major repair in my future. Checked the oil level and that's fine. Did a good look underneath and seemed oil free. Then I touched the drain plug and it was wet with fresh oil. I had the oil changed a few weeks ago. I snugged it up some. Maybe an 1/8 of a turn at most. The day before and based on one of my earlier post regarding a coolant smell, I flushed some hot water over coolant tank to wash away some residual coolant. Maybe that dislodged some oil too?

Did they replace the plug gasket? Some say its needed after each oil change.

I had an oil leak right after an oil change once because the washer that goes between the drain plug and the oil pan cracked due to over-torquing. I wonder if this could be your issue...

I'll give it a day and check the plug again. Floor has been dry for two days.

Or......take a look to see if the crush washer is even there. One time I changed my oil the drain plug fell into the oil pan. I reached into the dirty oil and fished for the plug...I got it and wiped off the old oil. Didn't realize the washer fell off until the next day because I had a oil leak. And you guessed it, I forgot to put the washer back on the plug because it was in the dirty oil just like the plug was. That night i went fishing again this time for the washer and found it. I jacked the car up and took the plug out with oil draining out, put the washer back on and tightened the plug. I felt like I was diffusing a bomb. BTW......I have re-used the crush washer several times.

I'll take a close look for the washer. As for oil leaks, It seems there's differing opinions. Some say all 911's are going to leak, seep, drip a bit of oil. Others say, no oil leaks. Personally, I feel any leak that results in drips is bad and should be addressed. I can accept some seeping, but drips are bad. I'm assuming some opinions are based on air cooled high oil volume motors. Thoughts?

I am also in the no leak camp. If it drips it gets fixed.

My two Porsches prior to my current 997 leaked oil. The 996 leaked until I had the RMS replaced, and even after the replacement it tended to "sweat" oil, although it never reached the garage floor. The Cayenne was leaking when I sold it (interestingly, the first generation Cayenne uses the same RMS as the 996). The turbo just developed a minor coolant leak and it will be going into the shop to have that fixed in the near future. The 996 also leaked from the front differential before that was rebuilt. I'm from the camp that believes that a Porsche will leak at some point. Get it fixed and move on.

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I have always been under the impression that a new crush washer is needed each time you loosen the plug. It does indeed crush when tightened and that causes it to become essentially a gasket between the plug and pan. Unless the washer would remain in exactly the same place and you could install the plug in exactly the same position, the crush washer's shape will not be correct to seal as well the 2nd time. They are inexpensive to replace (less than a dollar each when I last bought a handful) and for that money I don't want to risk a leak, or even a small seepage.

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In the 6 years and of owning my 996 I went through 3 crush washers. To each their own.

Whew, Pete! You were living on borrowed time! I change the washer every time I change the oil, but I'm kind of a lemming... TC P.S.--Love your new ride. Bet you're getting antsy!

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Hey Tim! Yup I like to live on the edge. Ansty??? I feel like I have a mail ordered bride coming in March!

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But, you really should treat your mail order bride to a new gasket every time you "change her oil" though.....

It's as likely that your old crush ring and a new crush ring are BOTH installed, which adds two more surfaces that have to mate and can potentially leak. Now that it's snugged up, wait and see before getting too worked up.

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You really should remove the drain -- of course the oil will flow out -- and check the drain plug is ok and the washer is ok. What can happen is the washer is not replaced or the old one is not removed and a the new washer is fitted. There is also the possibility the drain plug was not tightened properly. Use a new sealing ring and be sure to properly torque the drain plug. Then of course refill the engine with fresh oil, unless you let the oil drain into a *clean* drain pan and want to reuse that oil. (I'd just dump that oil and refill with fresh oil.) BTW, the washer is not a crush washer, but a sealing ring. The ring is quite hard and very finely finished. The drain plug sealing surface is also very finely finished, as is the sealing surface of the drain pan. The sealing ring fits between these and prevents wear/galling or damage to the drain pan and drain plug. The sealing ring is the sacrificial item that preserves the sealing surfaces of the drain plug and the oil sump pan. While some reuse this ring it should not be reused. The risk is the ring -- which is quite hard and brittle -- can crack and leak or worse yet allow the drain plug to come loose. There is also the risk of damage to the sump plate's sealing face which could result in this having to be replaced. If you look at a used ring there's a ridge raised by the drain plug. Reusing this could have the surface with the ridge against the drain pan sealing surface and the hard material of the sealing ring will damage the drain pan sealing surface and after a while not even a new sealing ring will be oil tight. If the side with the ridge is facing out the drain plug may not nest inside the ridge. This damages the drain plug sealing face. It can also result in an oil leak. But it can cause the sealing ring to crack -- the ring's material work hardens from the pressure of the drain plug -- and the risk is the drain plug becomes loose which can result in a catastrophic engine oil loss. Always replace the sealing ring and if the drain plug gets damaged in any way replace this too. (I carry a new spare one in both cars.) Anyone who reuses this sealing ring is playing Russian Roulette with his car's engine for a pittance the new ring costs. What a bad bet.

While in principle I agree with Macster, I think the Russian Roulette analogy might be a little dramatic. Even if the washer develops a radial crack, your oil isn't going to dump out instantly and blow the motor in seconds. It's good practice to replace the stuff that Porsche recommends replacing, but as OP has noted, the symptom is a few drops of oil on the floor, not a catastrophic gush. I wouldn't waste 9 quarts of oil if torquing the drain plug correctly rectifies the leak...

I actually had the drain plug crack and cause a leak on my Cayenne. They are made of aluminum and they can crack pretty easily with too much torque.

OP, this is a great time to order a magnetic drain plug so you have it on-hand, either for immediate replacement if your leak continues or to install with your next oil change...

My 964 literally rained oil. No big leaks, but drips from 4 or 5 spots. It was a driver, and my mechanic said it was going to basically require a rebuild to stop the leaks. Then, it would probably develop leaks again in the not-too-distant future. So, it had leaks when I bought it and leaks when I sold it. That being said, my 996 is dry as a bone. About 1,000 miles before I got it (so abut 13,000 miles ago), the engine was swapped out and all of the rubber bits were replaced (along with the IMS). If it is just the drain plug leaking, I think you know what to do.

The crush washer is what, $0.50? It deforms to the plug and pan to form a seal. This seal is different upon each installation, the washer can't deform (crush) to properly seal more than once. $15 filter, $50 in synthetic oil, but skimp on the $0.50 washer? As the former owner of an air cooled 911, I had to laugh at the "Gulp" associated with a few oil drips. No drips = no oil on the older cars.

^^^^Well then I guess I'm the luckiest guy in the world.....plus I saved $9.93 over the course of my 6 year 996 ownership.

It's not true that you can't crush the ring more than once. Unlike some crush rings that have a hollow core and literally crush down when the bolt is torqued, the plug ring is just softer metal and can be deformed more than once to create a seal. However, since the original post indicates that the author had his oil changed , rather than changed his oil, it seems like there's a whole lot of crush ring conjecture going on in here. Puppy, your comment hits home with me. After years of drippy cars - especially my Corvette, which has dripped almost its entire life - I actually find it odd that my 996 doesn't have a single leak. For a 15-year-old car, that's pretty impressive. Of course, resealed cam covers, revised RMS, and other odds and ends replaced over time have helped keep the 911 from marking up my garage floor.

I just changed my oil. To not spend the extra .50 cents for a new washer would, in my opinion be very stupid. It's a little price for the extra piece of mind.

If you're going to toss out flame bait suggesting that RL members who don't do as you do are, in your words, very stupid, it's probably best to make some attempt at decent English. 50 cents, or $.50, buys your "piece" of mind. Not .50 cents. Piece out.

I didn't replace the crush washer on my VW Jetta years ago and the drain plug fell out on the way to work. It was right in front of the exhaust down pipe. The end result resembled this: Fortunately I saw it and shut it down quickly, put a new plug and crush washer in, filled it with oil and drove it for 4 more years with no trouble.

Had VW's Golf, Jetta, Scirocco for 34 yrs. They all leaked oil! I'm surprised every time I look under the 996 and I see no leaks. My 2 cents ($0.02)!

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I'm now over 10 986/996/987/997 that I've owned for fun or resale. Not a single one has ever leaked. Maybe a function of buying good cars, but I think overall Porsche learned from their leaky air cooled past.