Looking thru my ppi....

[recycled sixtie]

done last May on my 2001 Boxster base, "oil buildup around bell housing and back engine could be Intermediate Shaft seal and rear main seal"was reported. I have no oil leaks on the garage floor. I had the IMS Guardian installed recently. I have plans on driving this until I get a problem. I am not into spending $$$$$ unless I have to. What is the likely outcome of this oil buildup? Clutch slippage? Clutch seems okay so far. I got $2000 off the asking price because of this when I bought this.
Your comments would be be appreciated. Car has 37k miles on it and it drives well.

[JMatta]

Likely a leaky rear main seal, which is a common problem...easily corrected, but the tranny has to come out.

[JFP in PA]

+1 on the possible RMS leak, these were fairly common in that model year. Porsche has developed and released an updated RMS design that seems to put an end to the issue, but it does require pulling the trans, clutch, and flywheel to get at it. Long term impact of an RMS leak is that it will not get better, but could get substantially worse, and end up killing the clutch as well as making one Hell of a mess in the process.

Upside is that you now have a reason to go in there, update the RMS and IMS bearing with the LN retrofit, and replace the clutch. Depending upon the condition of your flywheel, you would be back on the road for something in the $2-3K range with no further fear of the dreaded IMS issue, and your oil leak will be gone as well………