996 C4S another problems any help/advise welcome

77szymon · 22 Apr 2018

Hi,

I have discovered few problems with my car today coolant related.

Long story short, my car was parked in garage without oil pan for few days waiting for oil change. On Friday I put car together there was no visible any leak but under car floor was very moisture, strange.... checked coolant, was below minimum on cold engine, since I will be installing LTT I decide to top up with water just to check if something will show up, I have to point out coolant below minimum and no warning on dashboard.

My plan for today was to rush my C4S locally, pull off driveway after all night and discover leak :frustrated:

Start looking under car and leak is visible on middle where splash shields rear to centre are connected. I decide to drive car to garage and solve this problem next week I get to my garage park car and start looking under it and nothing what interesting level of coolant drop to minimum like it was when I have get my car :?

so instead of leave it in garage I took it for spin, stops around 20 times and no leak visible push hard nothing coolant level same spot.

p.s. I have nice footage from gopro but after watching I can't upload to youtube wrong angle and too many numbers are visible :cop:

So this is my list of :?:

1. should warning shows up if coolant was below minimum if yes what I should check,
2. since coolant will be off I need LTT and new pump where I could/should get these from I have read about Hartech should I contact with them?
3. what coolant, in my Porsche I have some pink stuff not sure brand or what it is.

Car will be back to garage tomorrow on jacks, all splash shields off and looking for leak all pipes to check great fun :eh!:

Regards
Szymon

Alex · 22 Apr 2018

Hello Szymon,

I'll tell you what I think:

1. should warning shows up if coolant was below minimum if yes what I should check,

No, I would think light will only come on when system sensor see's too high temperature or no water. Low level in expansion tank would still have level full in rest of system in normal conditions.

Just for your information. The warning light works like this:

"Four functions of the coolant warning light:

1. Engine coolant level too low -- light flashes slowly (0.5 Hz)

2. Engine compartment temperature too high -- light flashes slowly (0.5 Hz) (engine compartment blower might be faulty)

3. Engine coolant temperature too high -- light is lit; pointer on the right

4. Temperature sensor at water outlet faulty -- light flashes rapidly (1 Hz) ; pointer on the right

Note: The temperature warning in point three is indicated if the conditions "engine coolant temperature too high" and "engine coolant level too low" are present simultaneously."

2. since coolant will be off I need LTT and new pump where I could/should get these from I have read about Hartech should I contact with them?

I don't think Hartech sell the LTT anymore but you can check with them. Also, Eurocarparts sell them for around £35........and on eBay too:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wahler-4...ing-71C-160F-Porsche-986-987-996/351986644302

3. what coolant, in my Porsche I have some pink stuff not sure brand or what it is.

Comma Xtreme G30:

https://www.commaoil.com/passenger-vehicles/products/view/351

With regards to your leak - I don't think you have one. When the car is cold and has been not used for a few days, the coolant drops to its very lowest point in the expansion tank. If checked after maybe 4 or 5 hours of driving, the level will be higher.....even after sitting still for so long. The capacity of the full system is 20 litres and due to all the pipe work, radiators and engine it does not take very much warmth to make the level rise in the expansion tank.

I think the wet patch on your undertrays (splash shields) are where there has been condensation (moisture) on the underside of the car that has then dripped on to the undertray. When you go for a quick drive, the force of movement then pushes the water out from the undertray and will be visible on the underside of it.

So in my opinion - no leak. Where you think there may be - if there is it sounds like an easy job as it will only be one of the coolant pipe joints on the underside of the car, seen here with the green arrow:

77szymon · 22 Apr 2018

Thank you Alex.

maldren · 23 Apr 2018

Hello Szymon,
I changed my thermostat this week, I bought a stat complete with new housing and gasket from Frazerpart and 11l of G30 from Amazon.

I also used a sealer on the gasket (loctite 5922 £5 from Halfords) following GT4's excellent instructions http://911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t=65932. You will need your 1/4" socket set and bendy connections/UJs/wobble bars to get at the top bolt.

My car is a 3.6 and the engine drain plug has no sealing washer, it seems to have a white thread sealer so rather than replace it, I smeared loctite on the thread with complete success.

Draining the old antifreeze isn't easy unless you can get right under the car, Pelican recommend disconnecting the large pipes in front of the gearbox but I didn't fancy that on axle stands. I drained about 15l out by disconnecting the rad hoses and using the engine drain plug but a lot remains trapped in the central pipes - make sure you have the ignition on and the heater on high to drain the heater too.

I then tried filling from the rear and draining at the front but there were airlocks until I filled the system and bled out the airlocks with the engine up to temp.

Finally, having filled the system with clean water, I drained the water through each of the radiator hoses in turn while filling from the header tank until the water ran clear.

I then drained the system as far as I could again but of course it still contained a lot of water so I refilled with nearly neat concentrated G30 on the assumption that it will soon mix in.

Having filled it, I ran the engine until the thermostat opened and kept topping up with more G30 mix until it seemed full. I then went for a drive and the system took another 3 litres!

Well worth the effort although it took much longer than the 2 hours claimed, must get a hoist of some sort!

Mike

77szymon · 29 Apr 2018

Thank you, I just ordered parts from CP4L LTT water pump with gaskets 198.88, I will have to check rubber pipes for condition as I can't stop leaking it slowly dropping.

996 C4S another problems any help/advise welcome

77szymon

Spa-Francorchamps

Alex

Nordschleife

77szymon

Spa-Francorchamps

maldren

Albert Park

77szymon

Spa-Francorchamps

Similar threads

Latest posts

New Threads

Porsche Model Range

Porsche 911

Porsche Hypercars

Other Current Porsche Model

Porsche Legacy Models

Forum statistics