HELP, Do I need to worry about this ??
 

I have a 72 911T. I had the oil changed last week. The car has been garaged since the oil was changed and when I opened the garage door this morning I noticed a larger than usual, but not large puddle of oil under the car. It appears to be slightly dripping off of the large circular screen. I started the car and watched a few drips come off of that area.

I need to drive my car on a trip this weekend. I will drive around 350 miles.

I'm going to watch the oil level very carefully.

Will this leak be the same whether the car is running or not?


The car has never leaked oil from this area before.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

In these circumstances I tend NOT to believe in coincidence so I would attribute the leak to something that was done to your car during the oil change.

If the bolts holding the circular cover have been over torqued it can distort the cover and cause a leak. Off hand I'm not sure what the torque specs are for these bolts are.

Hope it's nothing more serious.


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Allan Broadribb
'70-911E, 2.2l with Webers
http://www.cheaterswayside.com/uploads/Mvc-002s355.jpg

it could be the oil return tubes. if the car sits, the oil from the tank seeps past the oil pump gears into the crankcase, up to and beyond the level of the o rings on the tubes, and if they're old and loose, they will leak. the oil runs down the side of the case and can collect on the drainplate.

Because parts swell when they heat up, and because this area is not under pressure, I might expect the leak to lessen under operating conditions. I would keep a close eye on oil level, but I would nevertheless drive the car.

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'83 SC

I would suspect the oil return tubes too. Mine started leaking this winter when the car was garaged. But when it warmed up and I took it out, they pretty much stopped leaking. I've heard that this sort of self-healing leak is not uncommon for cars that sit a while. I still had the return tubes changed before doing much driving.

But in your case, see if the leak looks like it's coming from the oil return tubes. If it is, bring some extra oil and don't worry about it until you can get it fixed. It's unlikely you'll even need the extra oil. If something related to the recent oil change created a more serious problem, then you should be more cautious in driving. I'm betting on the return tubes. Good luck.

I'm pretty sure it's not the return tubes.

I'm fairly confident the circular plate is leaking slightly. I fairly sure this is a result of my oil change. I watched the tech. change the gasket, looked pretty hard to screw up.

Is this area under any more pressure when the car is running?

I have this friend that had EXACT same problem 2 weeks ago. See, this friend was changing oil and when he replaced the cover of sump and screen he only used ONE gasket as opposed to 2. He only used the gasket that sits between the bottom of case and screen and he FORGOT to install the second gasket which is under the screen and therefore between the screen and cover. This provided a "metal to metal" joined area which will NOT hold the oil even with all those little bolts. So the friend had to drain the 4 quarts out of the sump area, put 2 new gaskets in and refill...problem solved. This friend was very embarrassed as every home mechanic knows that you have to have both gaskets there.

Email me privately if you have questions as I know this friend REAL well.

Joe 68 L

Did you change both gaskets? I don't know if your 72 is the same as my 82, but I had 2 gaskets, one between the screen and the case, and one between the screen and the sump plate.

Those 10 mm nylock nuts are only supposed to be torqued to 7 lb-ft. More than likely you have a sump plate that is distorted around the eight holes for the studs. Very common occurrence. The plate can be pounded flat again with a large hammer or mallet, though I prefer to solder/braze some oversize diameter washers over the eight holes, after flattening again. You can reuse the sealing washers a time or two, but new, soft ones are a cheap insurance policy against leaks -- once a year, anyway.
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Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

[This message has been edited by Early_S_Man (edited 05-11-2001).]