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Porsche 964 Oil leak options

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GEORGE S

PCGB Member
Member
Hi,

I have had a Porsche 964 which I own with my brother for the last 10 years which has always had a small oil leak which has progressively got worse over time.

The 964 drives superbly and there are no issues but have started to talk to some specialists on my options on addressing the issue. The general feedback I have had is to leave this alone as all 964 weep oil but as this is getting worse I wanted to reach out to your experience in the forum on my options. I totally understand that this would pretty much mean an engine rebuild to get this sorted and will be costly.

Thanks in advance.
 
Depends if it's something as simple as cam cover leaks.
I ended up changing mine to Rennline Billet covers which cleared minor ones I had.
Victor Reinz gaskets seemed better with these covers too.

 
I would accept small leaks as being the norm for the 964 engine and if the engine feels good and pulls well then it's more a question of how much you want to tolerate it. Depends too on where you believe leaks or oil drops are emanating from. A good dig around the engine bay with a torch will help as will getting underneath to have a look. On my second 964 and both have small drops of oil on the garage floor. I know in my case one day I would like to change the cam chain cover gaskets as I know there is a small leak there. Another place (out the way) can be a weeping union joint to/on the oil filter housing under the wheel arch on the inner wing. Usually however, this would be noticed from smelly/smoking engine start ups and running (oil drops on the secondary muffler). As deano911 mentioned cam cover gaskets can sometimes be another source - touch wood mine are dry.

Good luck. Would be interesting to hear what you find..
 
Just had mine rebuilt. Cam cover on one side was a major oil leak culprit which could have been replace without the rebuild, but I had a broken head stud.

Would suggest clean the engine throughly and see where the oil is coming from. And fix that if it’s possible. Mine was low miles and never been rebuilt but fair to say it was a large bill with lots of addditional parts, fuel lines oil lines, cam covers, rings, head studs etc. Fixing the leak if you are able would def be a lot cheaper!
 
I suspect the issue is that these are all OLD cars now and to take things apart causes a degree of disturbance to fixings joints and seals that have either corroded or hardened with age, yet can still perform well enough. To disturb such items can be found to be very expensive, and perhaps more so if made out of unobtainium, which is a risk and replacing unobtainium with available Chineseium, seems likely to present it`s own issues in time...?

I`m with Gavin, if possible fix the leak with minimum intervention..... unless there may be a chance of ignoring other obvious issues lying in wait...!

Good luck in your decision making George.
 
I have a 1990 C2 Cab which I bought from a main dealer in 1992. The car always had a slight oil leak from one of the heads, not sufficiently bad that Porsche would repair under warranty. It got worse over time, other leak points appeared, some were fixed, and eventually (as a 2016 Christmas present) I had a full rebuild. The oily smell had been getting into the car when the heater was on, and so on. I didn't want to relegate it to a summer only car. Of course, over such a long time I hadn't noticed performance dropping off so I would always have said it pulled and went well, and oil consumption wasn't excessive, but the rebuild has transformed the car. It seems to be more responsive to the right foot and eager to get up and go, it sounds good, and I'm really pleased I had it done, but it wasn't an easy decision. And I'm sure yours won't be an easy decision for you either, but I hope this helps in some way, though it won't make it any cheaper! Good luck, ... Paul.
 
PaulR964 said:
It seems to be more responsive to the right foot and eager to get up and go, it sounds good, and I'm really pleased I had it done, but it wasn't an easy decision. And I'm sure yours won't be an easy decision for you either, but I hope this helps in some way, though it won't make it any cheaper! Good luck, ... Paul.
Click to expand...


Who did the engine Paul?

With geedee too - fix if you can providing it's little, if any, disruption to main block/case/heads etc.
 
All good advise I did a top end rebuild on my 964 about 6years ago new rings and valve guides, would advise a good steam clean and then see where the oil is coming from
 
Neil Bainbridge did the rebuild. BS Motorsport, Westcott, which is just west of Aylesbury. Ran it in on the dyno (wish I'd had the figures from before the rebuild for a comparison!) then did a first service before putting the engine back into the car. I'd been talking to Neil for several years about reasons for and against and doing the easy things first. ... Paul.
 
Do you know exactly where the leak is?

GEORGE S said:
Hi,

I have had a Porsche 964 which I own with my brother for the last 10 years which has always had a small oil leak which has progressively got worse over time.

The 964 drives superbly and there are no issues but have started to talk to some specialists on my options on addressing the issue. The general feedback I have had is to leave this alone as all 964 weep oil but as this is getting worse I wanted to reach out to your experience in the forum on my options. I totally understand that this would pretty much mean an engine rebuild to get this sorted and will be costly.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...


 
Thank you all for the feedback. You have given me a lot to consider and keep you posted on developments.
 
Should anybody be looking for some insight as to what can be involved in a 3.2/ 924 engine top end refresh including a tidy up of pipes, clips, etc.etc. You might find interest in a series of vids created by the team at Heidi and Franny`s Garage... While the title might not seem promising, Franny is well skilled and explains things rather well all the way through the process, which is spread out over many vids and does not hide the issues they had to resolve when new parts caused up issues. The first link is Number 1 in the series and the link below is a sped up overview of the whole process I guess best to post this in both the 3.2 and 964 sections of the forum..?
Posted in the hope it helps someone.
https://youtu.be/-2rvMKMqQ2k
https://youtu.be/B68-BznTD1E
 
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