Planet 9

Another disasterous day at the track - car taken out for a few laps to warm up some new tyres and new brake pads. Upon returning to the pits.. the Marshalls come running over as smoke is puffing away from the rear wheels.

At first we thought it was just hot brakes, but strange all the same, so the car was sent back out for a further cooling down lap. Then we saw the puddle of oil on the floor

Decided to give up on the day, added 1 notch of oil to the car to make up for the loss and headed to a garage. With the car on the ramp it was clear that there was a lot of oil around the n/s of the engine and it hadn't come from the sump but up high.

The oil level stabilised, after adding more back to the maximum mark, and we limped home carefully checking for oil leaks.

To me, it looks like a seal must have blown somewhere high-up on the engine. Any thoughts on this, any other reports?

I'm in Hertfordshire so could do with a recommendation for a local Porsche specialist who could undertake a repair.. or shoot the Cayman and put it out of its suffering (like my wallet).

Steven

PS The engine is now at 49,000 miles.

Ouch! Brave man taking it back on the track after finding an oil leak!!

So no idea on the location of said leak? Not the RMS if it is high up. But for it to leak, and then stop like that, seems a bit strange. What level did you have the oil at before you started your track stint?

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Cayman S - Since December '05

I must have confused things - 2 laps came in with what was looking like smoking brakes (or in that area). Then it went out for a 50mph further cooling down lap and at that stage it became apparent that the smoke was caused by drops of oil hitting the hot cats. So stopped there and carefully went to the local garage to get it on a ramp.

Oil was at full before starting the laps and dropped 1 notch. When at the garage it had dropped a further notch therefore 2 below full. Topped it up and for the past 24 hours, whilst in the garage at home, it's stayed at full and no puddles on the floor.

Tess Tickle has suggested that it could be the oil return hose from the VOS. As I'd replaced the MAF senesor the other day there is a chance I've somehow knocked that hose as it runs under the plenum area. So tonight I'm going to have a proper look and see if it's something as simple as a damaged/detached hose.

Otherwise time to take it to a garage later in the week and let them start digging through the engine. Karel has voluntered to assist me in on Friday getting it to a garage - which is kind.

If Tess Tickle is right then a) I'll have to buy him huge amounts of beer at Silverstone and b) cut my fingers off for being too ****-handed whilst swapping the MAF.

Regards
Steven

You forgot "c) Thank the Lord it's not a blown gasket."

I was start to think about an Autofarm engine upgrade

The obvious fault is the breather hose that goes from the throttle to the VOS which has split near the throttle. The oil has gathered all over the top of the engine and dripped down on to everything below. I'm hoping that's the only issue as the car oil level stabilised at 1 notch below full, no leaks on the garage floor and just a huge cleaning up exercise.

Karel has pointed me at a source for a better grade of hose and I'm hoping to fit that on Thursday then take it for a test drive. Sincerely hoping that's the fix otherwise its time to sell the girlfriend, again ,and go down the expensive route.

Regards
Steven

The other thing to bare in mind in future Mr Gee is (Now your running a deep sump) run the oil level at least one marker down from full (I actually run mine 2 markers down on track)
You have got an extra 1 ½ Litres of oil under the normal gauge and a windage tray on top of it so running too much oil doesn’t now equate as all it will do is finish up in you Plenum....or dare I say it....in your case……. ON THE FLOOR.........

Hope everything works out and that it is "something and nothing"......I've got an new engine for 4k if you want !!!!!!! complete with all ancillaries….

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Email: allan@motordrive.com
Group Buys: http://motordrive.com/acatalog/Cayma...roup_Buys.html

Buy shares in Mobil or Motordrive... so is that a £1k engine and a £3k Tess Tickle holiday

You my friend must be able to "Read my Mind" as I'm going for a bit of a chill to Tenerife next week..

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Email: allan@motordrive.com
Group Buys: http://motordrive.com/acatalog/Cayma...roup_Buys.html