Help with source of transmission leak?

Maxhouse97 · 05-06-2016, 06:15 PM

87 911 - see pic below. I have a very slow leak from the front of the transmission just to the right of the sway bar in this picture. It's a drop (hard to see) from the aluminum piece that juts downward like a very small inverted shark fin or tooth. Anyone know what the cause could be and how hard/$$ to fix?

gomezoneill · gomezoneill's Garage

Shift shaft seal or case housing gasket.

Discseven · Discseven's Garage

Tony... here's a look at a leaking shifter seal. Can see how cross member for trans mount to chassis gets oil coated. I suggest feeling the top side of the cross member. If it feels like this looks (minus the dirt)... very good probability it's shifter seal. If that's the case and you want to attend the leak, the engine & trans would be removed. If cross member is dry... not likely to be the shifter seal. Not sure if you'd DIY or asking for $s for shop to do. If shop, I believe going reasonable rate for an engine/trans drop & replace is around $700. That's not a Porsche dealership rate. The seal is a couple of bucks. Inevitably when the engine/trans is out there's ALWAYS more to do because it makes sense doing at the moment. Tossing a random figure out (and not knowing condition of your engine/trans)... $3,000 to attend seal and a variety of other things.

While it's a long shot, sometimes oil vent plugs are incorrectly installed. The hole needs to face the front of the car. If not in this position, the vent can leak oil. But this vent sits atop the opposite side of the trans from where your leak is and would likely drip farther back, on the lowest part of trans---but fluids migrate in uncanny ways.

If you do attend this, would be excellent of you to post findings.

steely · 05-07-2016, 01:10 PM

Try to clean above the leak to see where it is coming from (later on).
Mine turned out to be just one bolt on the nose.
Small G50 transmission leak

Maxhouse97 · 05-07-2016, 05:36 PM

Ok thanks guys. Thing is I just had the transmission rebuilt two years ago, with the engine out so not excited about potentially going back there. However the shop that did the trans rebuild would probably do the work again. Don't know if they would give me a discount if they felt they caused it.

It's a very slow leak - can I live with this? I will try the tests you've described, but again I really don't want to yank the engine out again.