Bell Housing Oil Leak on my 53 C4S

I'm sure I've read this before but....Porsche have advised that I have an oil leak on the bell housing and have advised that to replace it will be £880 including VAT. However they have advised that they can give me 100% discount on parts and 80% on labour so it will be about £200. Am I correct in saying that this is a common fault / have other people had it done? The cars only done 23000 miles, anyone else needed this?

Sounds like the infamous rear main seal once again. Same thing happened on my previous car, an 03 Boxster S with similar mileage to yours and a full OPCSH. I was unaware that I had a leak, there were no oil spots on the garage floor. You will see other threads where, depending on the severity of leak, and the inconvenience of any staining, people just leave it and wait for the next time the car needs an engine-out job, eg clutch replacement. Makes you wonder how necessary the work actually is, but then if the dealer is reclaiming costs form Porsche AG, maybe it also keeps the workshop busy....? However for £200 I'd say it's well worth doing - and you should get you a year's guarantee on the work as well.

My old 4S went at the same mileage, once the RMS was replaced it never happened again during my ownership. I bet the OPC 'advise' you to replace the clutch during the job No OPC warranty?

Clutch Just what I thought! How many miles does the clutch normally last. Thanks for the reply...just on the way out 2 drown my sorrows!

I take it you are not under Porsche warranty then? If so, there should be no charge at all to you. However, if you are not covered it's up to you: You could leave it and it will probably never be a problem, and then just get it changed when you need a clutch (anywhere between 30k and 60k depending on how often you slip the clutch!) Or you could take advantage of the £200 offer and just do the RMS. Or you could get a brand new clutch put in for just £200 labour, which should then be good for 50,000 miles or so (especially if you heel and toe your down-changes). Think I would do the latter... You'll be kicking yourself if the clutch starts slipping in 5,000 miles time and they don't make the same offer! Just out of interest, I had a new RMS under warranty at about 56,000 miles and had the clutch changed at the same time. You could even save a few quid by getting the clutch kit from Carnewal or something yourself, and asking them to fit it while it's apart - they would be foolish to say no if they ever wanted to see your car again!

Oil Leak Nope I haven't got any warrenty, I thought that the £800 a year was a bit expensive...I would have also had to pay about £200 to get the car checked over....I just hope the engine doesn't blow!! Cheers for the responses!

Re: Oil Leak Hi Mike, have you actually had a quote for this - ? it seems a bit cheap to me - three points 1. the RMS/ bell housing seal is about £40 therfore your labour charge will be £6-700 2. also why are porsche giving you free parts if you are not under warranty 3. have you got a comparible quote from an indy? - Simon

Oil Leak Hi Simon Yes it was Porsche Newcastle that quoted me £200, as I said they were offering me the seal free and I had to pay 20% of the labour costs. I had just had the car serviced there so I don't know why they were offering the discount...probably because they could claim money back from Porsche for doing the work as its a common fault. I have a quote from an Indy and they can't do it for £200, they have also said that its not worth doing as its a common fault on all 996's and its not even that bad.

Porsche will replace/ repair the RMS Under 'a goodwill' warranty subject to age, mileage, service history, there is a sliding scale of contributions with respect to labour and parts, hence they're offering you a £750 job for £200 As you are contributing you now have a year warrranty on the parts fitted, I.E. a 2 year warranty on the RMS

Re: Oil Leak Hi Mike, sounds like you've found a good OPC there, I also saw on another forum that labour rates from OPC's had been dropped to £65 per hour for cars older than 5 years. :thumb: - Simon

Hi Mike, This sounds like a good offer to me. Porsche Newcastle offered to pay 100% of the Parts and only 40% of the labour on my C4S last week for the same problem. My car is a year older than yours and has 45K miles on it but I was hoping for something closer to the offer they made you. Who was the indy that quoted you was it Tom Ferguson? I'm about to get a quote form them myself. Glen.

indy No it was Red Line racing in Thornaby 01642 751911. They have just done my 4 wheel alignment...the car feeols miles better!