Unusual oil leak

[phild]

I have an unusual oil leak, it doesn't look much, but when engine is stopped it is a drip every couple of minutes and when running is a drip every couple of seconds or so. So serious enough for me not to be happy driving anywhere.

I am pretty sure it is coming out of a small hole with what looks like a metal plug in it next to the chain tensioner bolt, front left side of the engine, see the red circle on the attached picture. as you can see it looks damp despite having just cleaned it and all around. Any ideas what this is and the best course of action to fix? Thanks

 

[Gt3Owl]

I've seen something similar on here before, they can be replaced but seem to remember they are difficult to remove. (Tap them out from the inside as they are press fitted)

You could try cleaning it off and sealing it externally, plenty of good products about these days.

Good luck

 

[berni29]

Hi I replaced a few plugs when I rebuilt my engine, they do rust. Sure someone will know if it can be changed.

 

[infrasilver]

It might be removable with a slide hammer as you won't be able to tap it out from behind without stripping the engine to some extent.
Try to use a self tapper screw rather than drilling a hole in it for the slide hammer as you don't want drill swarf inside the engine, although you may be able to get any particles with a magnet.

 

[phild]

Thanks for the help, it took me a while, but I finally identified it as a sealing cap - part number 999 036 02 602 which was leaking. I tried to get a quote for replacing it from Porsche but they wanted to see the car first to even give me an idea of replacement cost. In the end I have gone down the route of using some Granville Petro Patch Putty that seemed well designed for the task from Amazon. It looks to be holding up well, but at some point I expect to need to replace the £2 part properly.

 

[Super_Ray]

I had a similar issue but not leaking as bad - it was from the core plug at the bottom of your picture.

You are right the part itself was less than £2 and 9excellence changed it for me for an hours labour along with some other work which I thought was fair as there was quite a bit of cleaning up to do from the mess the leak caused to the surrounding area.

HTH Ray