The dealer mechanic that has serviced this car has it wasn't a big deal, and probably a hose, but what do you think?

It has over 80k miles, but everything else checked out great and the mechanic knows the car and said it's a good car.

Thanks guys.

 

Cars break. Its a fact of life.

In my opinion, if the price of the car reflects any repair that is needed, then I say get what you want.

If you are worried because upkeep of such an expensive car will leave you with no funds, then I would pass and reconsider.

Mike

 

That's not the point. I am buying the car, and if the repair is considerable (I dunno, $500+) I should get that knocked off the price.

Just curious if you guys have seen this kind of leak before. The mechanic basically said he wouldn't do anything abotu it since it's so minor, bt after thinking about it, not knowing the source kinda bothers me. It seems pretty clear it is not the block.

 

I am sorry but that looks like a pretty major leak to me. Let me put it this way, Porsche's were traditionally air cooled aided by having huge amounts of oil in them. Combine that with Porsche's racing heritage and the incredible difficulty for mechanics to service the engine in race situations, Porsche has spent huge amounts making sure there are not oil seepage or leaks. For these very reasons, if you see oil anywhere around engine components of a Porsche, you should be worried.

My 2Cents.

Cheers.

 

Fair enough. Thanks.

 

Agreed^. That does seem pretty major as well as it looks like it's been leaking for a while.

Edwin

 

Get a root cause for the leak before you do anything and from there you can determine if in fact it is minor, although it does not look like it.

 

Interchangeable parts my friend... I say pull the turbos and make sure all the seals and lines are connected. I say pull the trigger ; find a good tech to fix her up!

 

it looks major but I bet thats a slow leak over time right there. I would not worry about it.

 

Mechanic says he knows the car and its a good car, and it's just a hose.

Do you still trust the technician's inspection of the rest of the vehicle?

 

For the most part as long as it did not run dry and damage anything............

A man built is and the RIGHT man can fix it.

Buy it and drive it like you stole it...................................

 

That looks like a leaking seal around the cam housing, which I believe would require an engine drop for repair. It doesn't look like anything that would cause damage as long as the previous owner kept track of oil level.

LP

 

Well, it's not a big leak, otherwise it would be leaking more than nothing over many hours. Also, the car was checked right after the guy drove it to work, which is 1.5 hours of hwy driving (which explains the mileage), so it was plenty warm.

It did not seem to be leaking from the engine itself. It was just that small section to the left of the car. The tech words were basically, "well it's an 80k mile car and that's pretty minor." It was more of an attitude of "it's not really an issue now. Fix it when it does become an issue."

I am in fact getting a hell of a deal on an otherwise pretty clean car.

I've asked the owner (co-worker who bought it with 38k miles 3 years ago) to have it cleaned and have the source of the leak diagnosed.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

I think its leaking through one of those hex bolts on the housing. I had similar leak when my car had 3k miles (bogger had same problem too), actually one of those bolts were lose and I could screw it off with my fingers. I would say clean up the area and retorque those bolts, I think they only need 7 ft/lbs of torque, and see if it still leaks.

 

Seller dropped off car at the dealer to have the source of the leak identified. He said he has never seen a drop of oil in the garage. Regardless, he wants to know the source too.

If it checks out to not be be a big deal, I will buy the car. It looks like a 25k-mile car in and out and drives well.

If it needs to have the engine dropped and major service/maintenance done soon (plugs, clutch, etc) then so be it. I am getting it for a pretty good deal, and once that all gets done it should be good for a few years considering I will only put 5k miles a year.