Oil leak nearside front wheel barrel.

[Chubbyross]

After a blast in the sunshine yesterday I got home and noticed oil splattered all around the inside of the front nearside wheel barrel. The oil was thicker towards the inside of the wheel, nearer the frunk. There was no warning light, everything was working fine and no major oil leaks under the car (that I noticed). Any idea what this could be? Annoyingly, I have a major service booked for three weeks' time but it involves a two hour drive up the M1.

Your thoughts much appreciated. The car is a 997.2 Turbo PDK.

[anonymous-user]

Driveshaft oil seal on the front diff, might need to remove the undertray to see.

[Chubbyross]

gottans said:

Driveshaft oil seal on the front diff, might need to remove the undertray to see.

I’ll have a look tomorrow when I have more time but I’m guessing a two-hour drive up the M1 is probably not a good idea. Getting the trays off by myself is not an option.

[Slippydiff]

Oil or grease ? If the latter, outer CV joint boot failure highly likely.
Driven gently it should be fine to drive up to your scheduled service appointment.

Edited by Slippydiff on Monday 25th February 20:47

[Chubbyross]

Slippydiff said:

Oil or grease ? If the latter, outer CV joint boot failure highly likely.
Driven gently it should be fine to drive up to your scheduled service appointment.

Edited by Slippydiff on Monday 25th February 20:47

Slippydiff, thanks for the reply. It definitely looked like oil unfortunately. I also remember hitting a rather nasty pothole with that side of the car when I was out. I checked the actual wheel for damage when I got home but it wasn’t until it was light today that I noticed the oil.

[Chubbyross]

Apologies for the late update on this and thanks for all the advice. It was indeed leaking gaiters, both sides on the front. Both replaced by Kev at DW Performance for a great price whilst the car had its major.

Edited by Chubbyross on Monday 8th April 19:08

[Chubbyross]

Carguy85 said:

Sounds like you got an oil leak, will most likely be coming from the engine.

See my previous post. Leaking gaiters. Problem fixed.

[Slippydiff]

Chubbyross said:

Apologies for the late update on this and thanks for all the advice. It was indeed leaking gaiters, both sides on the front. Both replaced by Kev at DW Performance for a great price whilst the car had its major.

Steering rack or driveshaft ?

[Chubbyross]

Driveshaft.

[Slippydiff]

Chubbyross said:

Driveshaft.

Glad to hear you got it sorted.

[Chubbyross]

Cheers. By the time I’d paid for a major service, new disks and pads all round, plugs, coil packs all replaced along with new rads and hoses, the price of the gaiters somewhat paled into insignificance! Still, I’m glad it was done at an indy. I dread to think what the bill might have been at an OPC. All in all the total came to £4500 (inc. VAT). My next road trip will have to wait until next year now!