Are All Oil Leaks Created Equal?

I've got an '87 Targa with 75,000 miles which oozes and drips from all the expected places but never uses more than a couple of ounces of Mobil 1 every 5000 miles.

A couple of drops here and there on the driveway is just part of the late 80's 911 experience near as I can see. But... My mechanic says there is some leakage from the lines feeding the chain tensioners. Is this more serious?

The tensioner lines are pretty important. The tensioners take up the slack in the timing chain. Don't want those to fail.

Just a couple of sealing washers at the connection to the chain box (two washers per line, two lines). The driver's side (LHD) is viewable from the engine compartment. The passenger side is lower on the engine and you can get at that from the underside of the car. The passenger line runs thru the engine shroud and can be tough to get out with the shroud in place. Should be able to get the seal washers on without disturbing/bending the line. The lines could leak at the fitting joints but the seal washers are a little more likely to be the source of the leak.


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Kevin
87 Carrera

Those sealing washers are soft aluminum, one time use only. If the lines were removed, the best practice is to replace the washers. They may workd if re-used but it's questionable.

Those oil lines can be replaced pretty easily, and 14-year old lines probably should be replaced ... one oil line per side, two ferrules, four large aluminum sealing washers/rings, four small copper sealing washers/rings ... and an hour or so's work will get the job done. Whether the oil supply to the cam towers or tensioners is more important is irrelevant. Both are very important, and no leaks are necessary or acceptable anywhere on those lines!

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Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa