I apologize in advance for the cross thread...just trying to get a quick response

Went out on a Poker Run yesterday with the local chapter and had a blast. I jacked the car up today to take the wheels off for a good cleaning and wax and noticed an oil leak, then quickly turned to find a decent patch on the garage floor. Hadn't had any leak up until now. Does this look like an RMS?

 

It is eiter a rear main seal or intermediate shaft seal leak. I would replace both while you are in there.

 

yes, it's RMS. Once IMS starts to leak, the whole oil content will be dropped on the floor.

 

When the "IMS" bearing fails you loose all oil. The "IMS" oring seal can leak and give the false impression that the RMS is leaking. I have seen RMS replaced only to still have a leak where the engine and transmission come together. If you are in there you should replace the RMS, IMS orings, and seal case bolts with loctite orange.

 

So I don't understand why all of these people with RMS leaks continue to run with them if there is no way of knowing whether it is an RMS or an IMS leak. Sounds a lot riskier than people make it out to be.

BTW, she is bone dry this morning.

 

We have had good luck with using the latest RMS from Porsche and sealing the case bolts and problem is solved. If it is leaking it should be fixed. Also if you have the work performed by a Porsche Dealer, using Porsche Genuine Parts, the seal will have a 2 year unlimited mileage warranty.

 

Going to Karl the car doc right now. If I went to my dealer I could probably pay to have it replaced at least 3 times by my indy for what they'll charge me. Our dealer here is a joke.

 

Here are parts you are going to want to use. Rms 997-101-212-01, Intermediate shaft seals 996-105-112-01 & 999-707-392-40, Case bolts: 900-385-275-01 (qty 4), Flange bolts 999-385-004-01 (qty 3), Coat the new bolts with porsche loctite. Part # 000-043-010-00. This should take care of your problem. (these part #'s are for manual transmission car. Will be different if you have tiptronic)

 

Thanks duane! As expected Karl diagnosed it as the RMS. He's well versed on the topic of 996 short comings and resolutions. He's going to give me a price for RMS, IMS and clutch.

Karl at European Road & Racing is the best. I called the shop this morning and he said to give him 30 min heads up and he'd have a lift for me. I drove in, he put it on the lift, diagnosed it and I was on my way...how much? Nothing. He is old school on customer service.

 

Great! Might as well do the clutch while you are in there. How many miles are on your car?

 

I had my rear main seal replaced twice in about 20k miles on my 02 C2 but it never had that much oil coming from it.

 

I had a 2000 coupe. I sold it last summer with 49,000 miles. Never leaked! It was dry as a bone when I sold it. Could not beleive it was 10 years old and 50k and never had a RMS leak!

 

35000 miles on the car as of this weekend.

 

Average life of clutch on 996 is aprox 45,000 miles so you definately want to do clutch.

 

Don, could you share with us how much Karl quoted you for rms, clutch and ims?