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Oil leak nearside front

DrSimon

DrSimon

New member
I was out for a spirited drive yesterday enjoying the sunshine. When I got back home I noticed that the barrel of the front nearside wheel was spattered with black oil. The car was driving and stopping fine and no warning light was showing. Any idea what this could be? I have a major service booked in a few weeks, although it's about a two hour drive away. Should the car be driven?

Any thoughts would be appreciated. The car is a 997.2 turbo PDK.

Simon
 
Unsure what you mean by "barrel". Do you mean hub?

If it is indeed engine oil then you may have a damaged oil cooler. It is vulnerable to gravel/debris through the open front air vents in the PU. Some owners fit mesh to these air intakes in order to avoid this.

Otherwise, it might be grease from an overheating wheel bearing or leaking oil seal.

If the former, you would be advised to monitor the oil level. If consumption is high, you may not make it to your PC, so have it looked at locally. If the latter, you should be OK to travel unless the wheel bearing is sounding very gravely.
Regards,

Clive
 
Lancerlot said:
Unsure what you mean by "barrel". Do you mean hub?

If it is indeed engine oil then you may have a damaged oil cooler. It is vulnerable to gravel/debris through the open front air vents in the PU. Some owners fit mesh to these air intakes in order to avoid this.

Otherwise, it might be grease from an overheating wheel bearing or leaking oil seal.

If the former, you would be advised to monitor the oil level. If consumption is high, you may not make it to your PC, so have it looked at locally. If the latter, you should be OK to travel unless the wheel bearing is sounding very gravely.
Regards,

Clive
Click to expand...


Thanks for that, Clive. By barrel I mean the inside of the actual wheel, as if something has been thrown out from the hub. I had a mesh fitted last year to protect the coolers.

Simon
 
As I was typing that last reply I suddenly remembered hitting a rather alarming pothole with that wheel. I checked the actual wheel for damage when I got back home but it wasn't until today when I noticed all the oil splashed around the wheel. As I said, the car seemed to drive fine after the pothole but I've clearly done more damage that I thought.
 
I agree with James but can't remember if his car is 4wd and has a front driveshaft gaitor. May be coming from steering rack - check if its hydraulic fluid ?? Oh Dear can't recall if 997.2 has a mechanical steering rack either. Think it does.
 
Agree with JMR - it's almost certainly CV Joint Grease. This will need sorting sooner rather than later, as prolonged driving with little or no grease in the joint will ruin it and you'll be looking at either a new CV or entire driveshaft (worst-case) instead of just a new CV boot.
 
Thanks all for your responses. It does sound like a leaking/shot CV joint gaitor. I'll limp up to DW Performance in a couple of weeks, as I have a major service booked anyway. Sigh, the bills just keep a-coming!

Simon
 
Sorry to hear about your problem Simon.

I'd agree with the other posters that it's most likely a split outer CV joint gaitor since your 997T is 4WD and if it's dark grey grease on the inner wheel rim rather than oil. If you take it easy and keep the speed down and steering inputs to a minimum you should be OK for your (Motorway?) trip to DW Performance. I'm sure they'll get you sorted and hope that the repair cost won't be too onerous.

Jeff
 
As far as I know, there is no oil cooler up front other than aircon and coolant rads. The turbo unit is similar setup to m.96 engine with the oil cooler mounted on top of the engine (also doubles to heat oil on cold start).

Have you checked hydraulic levels under front hood? Any negative feel to nearside front shock as that could leak if it has failed?
 
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