Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

My undertray has been damaged since I got the car, however after an unfortunate incident with an already dead badger in the outside lane the tray was completly destroyed/removed, and the car has been dropping oil on the drive. After a quick look, I have found the worst attempt to seal a cam cover with black silicone I have ever seen. Checking the PO's reciepts, he was charged alot of money to have the 2 cam covers removed and re-sealed.

Also found quite a few heavily cracked breather hoses under the inlet manifold, so all parts ordered and I'm planning on doing this work before the next monthly meeting.

Hi Lee,

Yes the original front undertray is not very robust (plastic I think) but prevents any catastrophic damage to alternator/aircon compressor as well as helping with aerodynamics/cooling. On my previous S4, the records show a PO had to replace that undertray twice in a month so must have been many more badgers in his part of Germany where the work was done!

So did the old undertray simply mask the existing oil leak, rather than leak result of damage in the incident?

The hoses under the intake do face the worst heat conditions so after more than 20 years they can crumble, but not too badly in our climate. If they have contributed to vacuum loss then will make a big difference to smooth running when replaced. Presumably you are planning to remove intake, in which case there are other jobs you should consider doing at same time as replacing the hoses. It's ideal time to replace the two knock sensors, as well as idle valve or at least give it a good clean. Check flappy valve for correct operation and change this or the vacuum actuator if any fault. Throttle position switch is fragile too, particularly the wide open position, so also candidate for replacement.

Appreciate this all costs, but if you do it when you have access then all will be well for another 20 years or so!

Good point Adrian, thats the kind of information I need. I think the undertray was masking the leak, the cam cover has been like that for a while. I've ordered inlet gaskets ( for the inlet and outlet of the manifold) and both cam cover gaskets and seals, all breather hoses and bonnet strutts (I lost the rag after the back of my head hit the bonnet). I would feel really stupid if the passenger side cam cover started leaking next month so I want to do everthing at the same time. I've ordered another tray from Simon, so should be here next week. I might use this tray as a template and make one out of galvanised steel. I'd like to do everything in one go so if you have the part numbers for the sensors, please let me know. I'm just going to start looking now.

edit: Sensors 928 606 144 00 £73. I wonder if that is for the 2 or each?

Lee, good luck with your repairs, could I just ask where you order your parts from as I need to order a crank position sensor and a couple of other small parts, I would have thought the knock sensors are priced individually but perhaps I'm being pessimistic.

I've not ordered the sensors yet, but the gaskets and seals were odered from Bert @ Berlyn and the hose, bonnet strutts, rear wiper and a couple of other thing were from Glasgow OPC. I have to say that I got very good prices from them.

The problem is the removal of the intake manifold. The price of the gaskets means you don't want to do that every month. I'm just going to bite the bullet and do it all in one go, the oil leak has forced me into it. I'll phone in the morning and let you know how much I get charged. If like me you're taking the manifold off, I'd change the hoses under there for the sake of £100. I've got a rough idle when cold so want to rule them out.

Rough cold idle could be ICV (idle control valve) worth changing if you've got the inlet off

There are already metal undertray replacements available, Paul Anderson is the person to ask in the UK (unless you really enjoy the challenge of fabricating your own). They aren't cheap but presumably you only need to buy it the once

Hi

I have the ally metal ones...I got mine from the US (Roger in Texas) then when talking to Paul Anderson he told me he did the same ones lol...

I have the big rear plate (for rear of engine) and the S2 joining plate that comes from back of front spoiler to join big rear plate...you also get a small plate that holds the rear one onto the rack bolts...

All the best Brett

OPC in Glasgow quoted me £53 per sensor. They are on back order from Germany, so I might have to wait a couple of weeks.