Having lots of issues recently with my high mileage 2010 GTS and oil leaks. At about 85,000 miles the oil pan gasket was replaced under an extended warranty. This was a couple thousand dollar job. About 10,000 miles later more oil leaks. Local dealer explained it was the gaskets/seals on the oil pressure sensor, oil level sensor and intercooler(?). All three were replaced under warranty. Several more thousands of dollars. About 1,000 miles later, more oil was leaking. This time local dealer advised that front seal, oil pan gaskets, valve cover gaskets were all leaking and it would be another $6,000. I took a look at the engine during an unannounced visit and sure enough, the leaks look like they were all coming from the diagnosed areas. I am fairly mechanically minded and this makes absolutely no sense to me. I am beginning to suspect foul play. Any ideas on what is happening to this engine and whether I have any recourse with Porsche?

I thought these engines would easily last a couple hundred thousand miles I am wondering if I will make 100,000.

 

Take it to a different dealer/Porsche mechanic and get their opinion. Ask them to check out your motor and see if the seals have been replaced. Could be that the seals were replaced but the surface on either side of the gaskets are not true or flat, thus meaning you are not getting even clamping across the board and because of that causing leaks. When in dought always get an independent 3rd party to verify.

 

Agreed. Second opinion is best.

 

Could be that a bad crankcase vent is causing excess pressure to build up, and is blowing out seals. These leaks are unusual. Also, your GTS does not have an intercooler.

 

Yeah I missed the intercooler part of the post. If they said they replaced the intercooler on your GTS I think its time to find a new dealer/repair shop.

 

Why would the oil pan gasket be a couple thousand dollar job? Is it that super hard to get to? Also, replacing an intercooler on a NA car? Um...

Sounds like your shop either sucks or is milking the warranty for all its worth. Either way, your car is suffering because of it. Take it somewhere else.

 

240k km (150k miles) on my 2004 CS , never had an oil leak.
Sounds like a shady mechanic.

 

Too many seal issues. I would guess that someone - maybe the original owner - or someone trying to stop an earlier leak - put some additive into the oil that has eaten the seals. There would be no reason for that many seals to be replaced. Unless, it sat without running for a very long time - which is doubtful given its age and mileage. It's not a Porsche issue, it's likely an owner or maintenance issue.

 

I am the original owner and the car has only been to the local Porsche Dealer for maintenance. Intercooler may have been the wrong terminology, I will need to check the invoice when I get the car back. A faulty crankcase vent is an interesting idea that I will need to have the dealership investigate further. If there is one, I will have it replaced. I really hope the mechanics did not add some type of additive to the oil which is eating everything up. if so, I can only imagine the rear seal will be next. The whole thing is very frustrating.

 

If you're the original owner, and haven't added anything, I'm sure no one else did. It would have me baffled too. Given that you're the only owner, I would sit down with my regional Porsche rep. and discuss this as I have never heard of anything like it with a car bought new and with the original owner.

 

Pm me

 

Good advice - I believe the parts just recently arrived so probably a good time to get upper level Porsche involved. Only thing I have added was a few quarts of Mobil 1 here and there to make sure the level is in check.

 

In order for them to properly fix this issue they have to drop the front subframe/suspension which you can imagine is quite costly. What they will do is attempt to fix this leak as cheap as possible. They will say they replaced the gaskets but this isnt the case, they will drop your oil pan enough to get a silicone bead around the pan and then re-tighten everything again. These engines have multiple places that oil can leak from, and once you fix one the oil will find its way out unless everything is sealed. Not sure on your GTS but the Turbo has an upper and lower pan, oil cooler that are prone to leak so unless these seals are actually REPLACED and not just sealed up which most dealers will do you will continue to have a leak becuase of the pressure you can imagine that run's through our motors.

When you saw your vehicle up on the lift and they were working on it did you notice your front suspension dropped??

 

Aspenone - when I made my surprise visit, I had them pull the car from the lot and throw it on the lift. The belly pan was removed so I had a good line of vision to see where the oil was leaking from. They did clean up the engine pretty well to help identify the location of the various leaks. Makes me wonder what type of degreaser they used... I didn't see traces of gasket sealer around the the various pan gaskets.

The first time the pan gasket was fixed, they did mention that they had to drop the front end which explained the high cost.

I may as well ask them to save the old gaskets for possible analysis and to ensure that they are replacing them

 

Bill
from what I was told there are no gaskets for the oil pan, meaning they will use the gasket sealer....in some cases's they may need to replace your oil pan because it will become warped after tightening and re-tightening....there are several points that the oil can leak from as you are aware.....just make sure after the repair's are done you do not see an excess of gasket material they oil pan fittings etc should be as clean as they came off the assembly line if they did the right job.

They have to drop the front end to make repairs to the oil pan this is a must I would suggest you check it mid repair to inspect that they actually did this....like I said some will say they did but they didnt and billed it out as if they did that many hours on it.