Motor oil inside - 1987 911 Targa

[Alatriste]

Hello Guys,
I found some oil inside under passenger seat and I started the investigation. I opened the cover between the two seat to see the shifter pushrod and I found all the floor of that compartment full of engine oil (is not gearbox oil). All the ducts coming from the rear are dry including the main where the shifter pushrod go to the gear box. I could not find where the leak is nor how the oil is reaching that place.
Does anybody have any clue/ seen similar problem ?
Could be possible that this happens when/if anybody fill oil over the limit?

Any idea will help!

Thank you,
Ernesto

[john walker's workshop]

Shift rod seal.

[ben parrish]

Impossible for engine oil to be in there....unless...
1. Someone spilled a quart of oil down the shifter
2. See option one

Listen to John...it’s tranny oil perhaps from long ago.

[Alatriste]

Thank you guys for the replies. but I'm positive is not gearbox oil, smell is very characteristic.

[gomezoneill]

Originally Posted by Alatriste

Thank you guys for the replies. but I'm positive is not gearbox oil, smell is very characteristic.

Not if it's synthetic.

[GH85Carrera]

The engine is on the other end of the transmission. There is no way engine oil can get to the tunnel on its own. There are no oil hoses or any source for it to get there. It has to be transmission oil.

[pmax]

Originally Posted by Alatriste

Thank you guys for the replies. but I'm positive is not gearbox oil, smell is very characteristic.

Well then, the other possibility is someone put engine oil into the tranny.

But really, it’s tranny fluid, some smells and looks like the other.

[ClickClickBoom]

Possibly the oil breather hose has a hole? Depending on location, oil moves in strange direction when coupled with gravity and airflow.

[Discseven]

Ernesto... has the car been in your possession for a while or did you just buy it?

[Paulporsche]

I had a similar situation recently. Some people on this forum said they were surprised that I couldn't tell the difference between the gear oil that had slipped past my shift shaft seal and onto the garage floor, and motor oil. The gear oil was blackish, not the bluish color I expected from Swepco 201, and didn't have a sulfur like smell, so I wondered if it was engine oil. It was trans fluid after all. Apparently Swepco loses its characteristic color over time. I can't account for the smell thing though. Maybe the sulfur additive also breaks down over time, or maybe it wasn't Swepco in there after all.

[GH85Carrera]

My daily driver El Camino had a transmission leak recently. Red automatic transmission fluid gushing from the front seal. With the heat and other dirt it made a puddle on the drip tray that was black. Only when I put it on my lift and got under the car could I see for sure it was red and coming from the transmission seal. When I was doing the floor cleanup I could see some red color in it.