Oil Pan gasket replacement...DIY?

[ScottArizona]

I took off my engine protection plate the other day to change my oil and noticed the entire underside of the oil pan was smeared with dirty oil (never saw any drips, as they appeared to collect, gum up, and stay put on the protection plate). RMS is clean (I've got a tiptronic), and it looks like I'm having seepage where the pan meets the case. Two questions:

1) is this a common leak on 996's (1999 c2 tip)?

2) is this an easy DIY fix?

Thanks, Scott.

Edited July 22, 2006 by ScottArizona

[Loren]

I would suggest cleaning it off then finding the point where the oil is coming from. Since oil pan is the one of the lowest points on the car oil will flow there.

I've seen one cracked oil pan (and it leaked bad). Tools Pants and I watched a tech replace it. There is no gasket just a special tube of silicone sealant.

Again, if it were my car I would confirm the point of origin for the oil before doing anything.

[nick49]

The underside of my skid plate was caked from oil also. My car does not leak a drop but when the oil is changed the last little bit seems to dribble all over the top side of the plate and collect there. I have to physically remove it and clean the residue otherwise it will drip on the garage floor and blow back on the rear underside of the car.

[Izzy]

Scott,

I installed the same plate a few months ago. When doing my oil change after the install, left the plate in since it has a convinient hole for the drip plug.

But then I could not remove the filter housing with my banana fingers, so had to remove the protection plate. To my surprise, a lot of oil was on the plate. From then on I remove the plate before oil changes.

So I would guess previous owner did not remove the plate, and the oil had been sitting there for a while. Clean it up like Nick suggests, and drive for a while. Or just leave the plate off for a week and see if you can find the issue, if any.

[joee]

I have a skid plate on an '02 Carrera. I was told by a great Porsche Tec to always take it off when changing oil. There is just no way that the oil discharge will always hit the opening in the plate. The angle of flow changes greatly as the oil gets lower in the engine.