Oil leak- Please help!

[Jenko17]

Hi All,

 

Any help would be really appreciated.

My wife has a 2008 boxster S that I am trying to keep on the road for her which has sprung an oil leak. The leak seems to be an unusual one as I can't find any old blogs. My questions are:

 

1. What is the component part called in the first picture?

2. Is this simply a seal that needs replacing or is it more complex such as spring loaded tensioner etc.

3. Does this job require any specialist tools?

 

Thank you so much in advance for any help. I am desperate.

 

The first attached picture shows the location that the leak is coming from and the second is a close up.

 

Thanks again.

[JFP in PA]

Hard to tell from the perspective of your photo, but looks like the coolant guide assembly, which is weird because all the ones I have seen are plastic. Is this photo taken from the water pump or flywheel side?

[Jenko17]

Hi,

It is definitely engine oil, not coolant. My coolant housing is plastic and on the other side, also happens to be leaking but that is another job that I am fixing. This photo was taken from the flywheel side. I thought it might be the chain tensioner at first but that is just below it.

[JFP in PA]

What transmission is in the car?  Do you have a photo looking directly up at where it is leaking?

 

I am having difficulty orienting what we are looking at.............

[Jenko17]

Hi,

It is manual transmission. I have it up on props at the moment (fixing the coolant housing) so I will try and get you a better photo. Thank you so much for helping with this. I have had the leak a while now and had to temporarily bung it up until I could find some one who could tell me what is behind the part that is leaking. I will get a photo as soon as it gets a bit lighter outside. 

[Jenko17]

Hi,

Just got another photo. Hope this helps more. I think that the blue arrow is the chain tensioner which is common to leak and require a new seal. However, the red arrow is my problem. The red arrow is pointing to the same part in the early photo but looks different as I have temporarily bunged it with some chemical metal until I can find out exactly what part a d tools I needto fix the problem.

 

Thank you so much again for your help with this 

[Jenko17]

To try and orientate you better. The next picture is looking from the rear of the car to the front.

 

[JFP in PA]

That helped a lot.  The leaking fastener is a chain guide rail pivot, item #31 in the diagram below, which allows the guide rail (items #30 & 33) to move with the long cam chains. It has a sealing ring under it, but this part should NOT be removed without doing a lot more work to release the chain tension after locking the cams in time, as the guide rail is under tension, and it will jump out of place, at which time the engine has to come out and apart to put everything back together.  You could try re torquing it, 10Nm or 7.5 ft. lbs. (I would use an inch pound tool set to 90-inch pounds as the spec is so low).

 

[Jenko17]

That is so helpful. Thank you.

I did try to tighten it before with allan keys but couldnt get any to bite. I assumed that it needed a specialist tool but Im guessing now that the screw is just rounded. Can't get any access to look inside it. Oh well, looks like I will have to leave this one for the dealers to sort out.

Thanks again for all your replies.

[JFP in PA]

It is supposed to be a metric Allan headed fastener, perhaps you can get a mechanic's inspection mirror up to it and see if it is rounded or has some debris stuck in the Allan keyway.

[JFP in PA]

I stand corrected!  Some engines used a Torx head fastener:

 

[Jenko17]

I will give it a go.

 

Thank you.