997.1 Turbo - unusual coolant leak

[Chumbaside]

Hi folks,

I've been getting the familiar-to-many 'Coolant Level Low' warning on the dash when starting the car, but it quickly extinguishes once moving. I've topped up the coolant in the expansion tank an it took a couple of litres (bottle was practically empty).

Here's the thing: no coolant on the garage floor, no evidence of coolant anywhere - until Saturday morning when there was a pink puddle under the front of the engine!

Got car up on the ramp and could see that coolant had dripped down between the RHS oil tank and the block. It appeared to be coming from up behind the throttle body / heat exchanger area, but of course it wouldn't drip at all when running on the ramp and hasn't left a puddle on the floor since... :don't know:

Anyone any ideas on what might be leaking to cause this? I've added a couple of photos where you can just see the dried remains of coolant and the general location of where it's finding its way down to the floor.

Your collective help appreciated!

Mark

 

[IMI A]

Coolant caps sometimes need replacing and as you're probably aware there are a myriad of coolant hoses on the mezger turbo which are glued in rather than pinned/welded. They always fail so I expect one of them if not all are weeping. One of them is an engine out job so may as well do all of them whilst you're at it.

9e weld them in using this kit from Protomotive or similar from BBi. Needs to be done properly by a decent indy if you weld them as the welds can become porous with heat cycles. You can glue them again but will have same issue a few years down the line.

https://www.protomotive.com/wp422/product/billet-coolant-bung-kit-for-996-turbo/?v=ea8a1a99f6c9

 

[Chumbaside]

Coolant caps sometimes need replacing and as you're probably aware there are a myriad of coolant hoses on the mezger turbo which are glued in rather than pinned/welded. They always fail so I expect one of them if not all are weeping. One of them is an engine out job so may as well do all of them whilst you're at it.

9e weld them in using this kit from Protomotive or similar from BBi. Needs to be done properly by a decent indy if you weld them as the welds can become porous with heat cycles. You can glue them again but will have same issue a few years down the line.

https://www.protomotive.com/wp422/product/billet-coolant-bung-kit-for-996-turbo/?v=ea8a1a99f6c9

Thanks for the quick response :thumb:

I've tried the easy things like replacement coolant cap when I wasn't seeing any coolant getting out but they didn't solve the issue unfortunately...

The crossover pipes and rads have been replace prior to my ownership (great!) but I know there are quite a few more pipes crossing the engine. Given where the drip is it may well be one of those unfortunately.

Good info re the ProMotive kit too. I know folks States-side seem a lot more paranoid about their cooling systems with pinning and welding the connections. Doesn't seem to be such a big thing in the UK?

I'm not planning to up the power at all so figure new OEM will probably get the car another 15 years or so. However I'm sure there will be quite a shopping list if the engine comes out!!