Is this RMS leak (and should I worry yet)?

Hi Everyone,

I joined this forum last week and posted that I just bought a used 2001 Boxster around 2-3 weeks ago with around 19,000 miles on it. This is my first Porsche ever.

Before I bought the car, I did read about the RMS leak issues that the M96 engine has. From the different public postings and sites, some say to wait until the leak drips on the floor pretty often before heading to the shop while others say to bring it to Porsche immediately (even if there are no drips on the floor). Most of the later party seem to still have warranty, and thus, RMS replacement/installation was free.

During this last 3 weeks of owning the car and driving it ~50 miles/week, I have not seen any oil drips on the garage floor. At the same time, I have been reading more postings about the RMS leaks in order to educate myself, and the more I know the more I build up fear of this issue.

Today, after taking it for a short local drive, I came home and looked under the car. Still, there are no oil drips on the floor. However, between the rear wheels, there seem to be a mechanical spot where there are some slight oil build up there (see pictures, circled in red). I owned 2 other Acura cars (Vigor and CL) and change oil myself. These two cars always have some oil spot under the engine, but the cars never gave me any problems all the way past 100K miles.

From the pictures I posted, is this the location of the RMS leak if it happens? Since there are no oil drips on the floor yet, should I just relax until I see drips on the garage floor (and how much...e.g. 1-2 drips/day or a small pool of oil)?

Hope anyone can educate me some more on this issue. I know there are a lot of postings on this topic already, but everyone seems to have different opinions on this. Thanks!

I am not nearly the expert some are here, but there is nothing I see that I would be concerned about. Typically with RMS leaks your will see a couple of drops of oil on the floor. Generally the best approach to handling the issue if you are out of warranty is to just monitor your oil level. A RMS leak in and of itself is really not a big deal. The time to go ahead and do the repair would be if, and when, you replace your clutch. That way you knock off two items at once from a labor standpoint.

I am new to this forum as well, and too have a Boxster S with a leak in the same exact spot as yours. I got it checked out at the dealer last week and said it was in fact the RMS that was leaking. I have 38000 miles on mine and am thinking about getting the leak fixed. I have a puddle the size of a big grape on the floor each night. The cost here in Michigan is $900.00 for the new seal. The more I think about it, I may take Paralizer's thoughts and get it done when I need a new clutch.

Personally, I wouldn't be too concerned about your situation. I'm coming up on having my car for 8 years and most of that time have had an RMS leak. I'm also on my 6th, and hopefully last, RMS

I had my first one replaced early on and my 4th replacement (5th seal total) just as my warranty was expiring at 4 years and 46K miles. That one began leaking within 7K miles. I had my clutch replaced right before I departed the Bay Area for Indiana and had the RMS replaced at that time as well. Doing the math, I had about 20K miles on my last RMS that leaked to the point that it only produced a damp spot between the engine and clutch housing similar to your picture. I simply monitored the oil level to make sure how things were going and topped it up from time to time.

I did have 2 occasions where I had leaks serious enough that they dripped on the floor. One happened shortly after a replacement early in the cycle that resulted in spots the size of a silver dollar (it happened in Las Vegas.) The other time I only had dime-sized spots. So long as the leak doesn't result in clutch damage or readily drips I'd wait until you get other work done as the bulk of the cost is the R&R of the transmission.

Just my $0.02

As a long time mechanic (though not on water cooled Porsches); I strongly advise waiting for the leak to register notably on the dip stick, on the level meter on cold starts (more than 6 hours since last run), and on your floor where you park.

RMS leaks rarely affect clutch performance unless they become drastic - where oil pressure begins to pump oil trough an actual tear in the seal. This usually occurs after a car has sat for years and the seal dries out and cracks. Rather, it's typically a seepage which takes many months to even begin to coat the pressure plate (the clamping part of a clutch assembly), if ignored for a very long time, eventually oil will get to the friction part of the clutch (the clutch disc), but this is when you'll need to replace the clutch - all of which is part of the R&R to get to the rear main seal.

So I'd wait until you need a clutch or you begin to have to add oil regularly due to a clearly visible leak.

Jack

Hi Paralyzer, Bluebox03, Tom M, and TypeS,

Thank you for all of your quick insights into my questions! Based on what all of you have mentioned, my current situation is not bad enough yet to take immediate actions. I'll keep monitoring that area I showed on the pictures for worsen oil leak, and when it gets to the point of a pretty bad/frequent leaks or time to change the clutch, I'll have the RMS replaced as well.

I also read that the Cayenne's RMS ring (with green ring inside) works very well to permaneantly solve this problem. I guess I should voice my preference for this particular part when I do replace the ring.

Thank you again, everyone!!!