996TT Front Differential Leak

[rogerjohnsen]

I recently had my '04 996TT cab at the dealership and was told I needed to have the front differential seal replaced due to a small leak. I decided to wait and check it out so put the car on the lift and took a look. I can definitely see some traces of what appears to be dried fluid around the driver's side and on the under tray cover so look's like I've got a looming project to tackle. Since the service advisor told me this is a "common problem" with these cars, I am surprised by how few posts I've found by searching. Nothing in the DIY section and only a few posts on various sites but nothing extremely detailed.

Just curious if anyone can help out - maybe I missed a good post or DIY somewhere or perhaps some other help?

Many thanks in advance!

[wross996TT]

I had a very small leak while the car was still under factory warranty. They replaced the entire front diff. Porsche said it was too costly to replace the seal....

[rogerjohnsen]

Hello wross996TT. Yes - I saw a previous post where you mentioned you had that done. The part about it being too costly to replace the seal seems a little odd but who knows. I've seen some other posts where people have done the seal replacement and it seemed pretty straightforward - just not documented too well.

I'm still hopeful someone knows of a DIY or some link that will help out...

[jpflip]

Take a look at this: (too bad the picture don't show...)

http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/996-turbo-gt2/192257-diy-fix-your-own-996tt-front-differential.htmlhttp://www.6speedonline.com/forums/996-turbo-gt2/192257-diy-fix-your-own-996tt-front-differential.html

[rogerjohnsen]

Thanks - I found that article earlier but was wondering if the pictures just weren't showing on my end. Seems like it's across the board... :( There was another link on the last page of that post (http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/996-forum/617689-i-need-a-diy-on-differential-seal-removal-and-flush.html) and it showed pictures but was really difficult to follow, from my perspective, as far as a DIY is concerned. Anyway, I'm going to try and get to it this weekend with camera in hand so can hopefully document the process.

While the post on 6speed referenced a whining noise due to a faulty bearing - I don't have any noise that I could tell. What strikes me from the posts I've found, however, is none of the owners knew their seals were leaking until they were under the car doing some other work and noticed some fluid. This was the same in my case. No drips on the cement and everything seems fine. It wasn't until I removed the under tray did I even see the seals were leaking. Maybe worth checking on your car as well.