Your comments requested - how does this look?
 

Some pics from the engine bay of a 964 I'm looking at - what do you guys think? Is it leaking a LOT? A little? Scary? Not scary?


Leaks, including right and left sides near valve covers:

http://i326.photobucket.com/albums/k...4/DSC01622.jpg

http://i326.photobucket.com/albums/k...4/DSC01630.jpg

http://i326.photobucket.com/albums/k...4/DSC01632.jpg


Near distributors:

http://i326.photobucket.com/albums/k...4/DSC01633.jpg


Oil spots from 15-20 mins of idling - the biggest drip spot there is about 3" in diameter:

http://i326.photobucket.com/albums/k...4/DSC01675.jpg

I hate oil leaks, and that one looks substantial. To me, an engine drop is probably required.

leak
 

I would degrease the engine and get all of the oil off. Then check the leak. Before you pull and engine, see where the leak is. I could be a valve cover.

I agree with above. Clean up the engine./ Top photo could just be a old or split hose to the oil tank. Others could be valve covers. You needs to pinpoint the leaks, before you can address them.

PPI before you buy. Could be from anywhere. It is a $3k drop off the price if it is unidentified. The RH side could be spilled oil from filling.

Nothing should hit the floor. Does it have the engine cover underneath? If it goes past that, the leak is pretty bad.

I once offered on a 964 with a heavy oil leak. I told them I was preparing myself for a $5k repair bill to fix the oil leaks. They sold it to someone that was a little more risk happy ...

George

This 964 came from a very reputable seller, and will need a clutch soon anyway, so the engine will have to be dropped regardless.

Yes, the engine cover is on.

There are high $ spots for leaks too - even with the engine out you may have to dig deeper. I hope you didn't buy this already without full PPI.

Reputable seller? I hope this isn't a dealership. I would expect oil leaks and clutches to be fixed before a car is sold.

George

Hard to tell from the pictures but it looks like the oil return hose is leaking. Not a reason for concern but depending on what hoses need replacing can cost between a few bucks to around $800-1000. If you are handy and the oil return hose that requires the oil tank to be removed is shot you are looking at around $400 for the hose alone, the rest is labor. There are cheaper aftermarket hoses but stay away from them they kink and can cause expensive issues. Although what i see looks like a few dollars in repairs.

This seems to becoming a more common problem as the cars get older the rubber is drying out and it doesn't matter how many miles. I just did mine with 55k miles on the clock.

BTW all the engine sheet metal rusts. It is the coating that goes bad and it flakes off. The metal is usually not to bad if you remove it and clean it it is easily painted.

It is apparent he has leaking hoses from the pictures the oil around the valve covers is a concern. A simple PPI can tell you the answer to that. Although from the pictures there seems to be nothing obvious. Pictures of the underside of the engine can tell a lot whether it is just a valve cover gasket or something more serious. In either case we know the 2 smaller oil tank hoses need addressing. Whether the long hose that goes over the top is an issue or not is not so easy to determine.

This car had not been started since September when I started it about 2 weeks ago - not sure if that would affect the amount of leaking oil or not....?

It started up fine and ran smoothly, idled steadily (at ~700 rpm as I recall), and warmed up gradually to a steady temperature. It revved fine and sounded fine - really no warning signs while running.

PPI is difficult because there is no Porsche specialist within quite a few miles, making a PPI super-expensive.

What do you guys think?

Your decision but if you have to reseal the motor it could cost you far more.

In either case jack the car up, climb underneath and take some close up pictures from as many angles as you can. I find that pictures can be studied and enlarged on a PC making it easier to determine where the oil is coming from if you don't have a lift.

If you can determine if the oil is coming from just in front of the left side rear tire than odds are you have a hose leak. IMO it is quite apparent that is one issue. The oil around the valve covers could be for many reasons. Hopefully it is a simple valve cover gasket but I would not purchase a car with oil leaks on blind faith.

Good Luck

PS: If a car sits for a long time you don't want to start the motor cold. You should always cut the fuel, pull the DME relay and crank the motor to build oil pressure replace the relay and then start it. This will increase engine longevity.

This car was sold to the current owner by a very reputable seller, about two years ago and 6,000 miles ago.

At that time, it was checked out by that shop and was said to be in tip-top shape.

So I'm thinking it's unlikely that these leaks are now coming from the motor. I think it's unlikely that it could have gone that far downhill in under 10k miles and 2 years.

But, I am still trying to avoid being burned. I appreciate the comments here.

Hello, I have very similar spots on the rear passenger side, and was the hose that goes from the power steering fluid deposit to the pump, a little crack that under some conditions release some atf drops.