Oil leak question on 964

[marcesq]

Just crawled out from under a '91 964 with 90k that my neighbor is thinking of buying. The car ran like a scalded dog, but the bottom of the motor was soaked with oil.

My question is this . . . the majority of oil was coming from the cylinder-block joint, 5 out of 6 were clearly wet. The 6th dry as a bone. I assume that this condition means rebuild . . . thoughts.

BTW the head/cylinder joints were also dry as a bone.

Thanks in advance.

I would imagine that the car has 60-80K miles. If so, it may be that oil sender is leaking on top of the motor and the oil dripping down from above. It is also possible/probable that the power steering seal and/or O-ring is leaking at the right front of the motor and the oil is getting throw around by wind. Good luck!

-CKrause

[Bill Verburg]

964/993 use silicon o-rings in a groove to seal the cylinder base. It is unlike any previously used set up. If the head bolts loosen for any reason these seals can be damaged easily. Early 964 were noted for loose/leaky heads.

The red rings in this pic show the o-rings.

The solution will likely involve rplacement of these seals

[91C2wrencher]

I gotta agree with ckrause, It's unlikely to be leaking from 5 of 6 cylinders and still run great, an engine beat that badly and abused would show signs of real neglect. The oil sender is up on top of the block sort of directly below the mass flowsensor. Check to see if the top of the case in that area is swimming in oil. This is an easy fix. perhaps it also has the now all to common power steering cam shaft seal leak, which does leak right down onto the front cylinder on the passenger side. You didn't mention whether the car still had the under engine tray still attached? If so, well, it just holds oil in under the engine and it gets everywhere. wouldn't buy this one with out a resolution of the source of the oil, good PPI is order.

[marcesq]

Thanks guys.

Bill the picture gives me a great education on the place in question.

I checked the oil sender area with hand and mirror best I could. While there is a little oil dampness, not enough to produce the oil that was evident on the bottom. Who knows . . .

The pan was taken off by the owner the morning before we picked up the car. I drove the car the day before and told him that most people take the pan off and throw in the garage for resale, because of the heat issues. Prior to that it had remained in place.

There is a fair amount of oil under the reservoir next to the oil filter. Not engine oil though, and I doubt it could make its way around the other bank of cylinders.

Thanks for the input . . . . this one is going to be someone else's project unless the owner is willing to part with it for 10k less than he is asking.

[plain fan]

For reference sake, mind if I ask what the asking price is?
Thanks

[Bill Verburg]

Hres a pic of the oil sender area of an early 964

[marcesq]

Thank you Bill.

[expat]

The oil sender on my 87 911 sent lots of oil below and yet when I originally felt around, it didnt seem that wet with oil and I was sure it couldnt have been the sender....fact was, it was.

Cheap fix (relatively speaking) either DIY or p-mechanic. Not sure about the 964 but looks similar.

Investigate further. Get the owner to clean up the engine and then go for a drive and see what looks like the source of this leak. Good luck.

Mark