Unusual occurence

madalaa · 24 Mar 2020

On Sunday I took the Boxster out for a spin ...... I like to give it a run once a week to keep the battery topped up.

I live on the IOW and was over the other side of the Island driving along the Military road driving reasonably sedately and hadn't been revving the engine hard ..... the Military road is long and straight and it is very tempting to put ones foot to the floor but I am aware it is well policed and indeed I did see a police car parked up in one of the car parks ..... anyway that is by the by,

I had just passed the car park where the police were parked up when I noticed my water temperature had suddenly binged up from the 80 to the red line 120 and the warning light came on with the message check coolant level. I put on the hazards and pulled to the side of the road quietly cursing that I was a good distance from home ...... virtually in the middle of nowhere and it being a Sunday.

So tuned off the engine expecting to see a plume of steam from the rear .... but nothing and nothing seemed to leaking from the engine. Got back in and started the car and everything goes back to normal ...... temperature at the mid dial 80 and stayed that way for the rest of my run which was over 30 minute to get back to where I live,

I can only presume it was some temporary electrical malfunction .......never the less it was an oh ***** moment ...... the question is should I be unduly worried?

infrasilver · 26 Mar 2020

Could be the coolant temp sensor playing up, rad fans not working or a sticking thermostat, if you were only out of the car checking for leaks a couple of minutes it wouldn't have dropped that amount in that time so I feel an electrical issue ie temp sensor?

it's one of those keep an eye on it things.

madalaa · 26 Mar 2020

Thanks I will Chris ......... but I don't use the car that often but I have to go out today so I will take it when I go to do my errands.

:thumb:

madalaa · 28 Mar 2020

Well didn't get to use the car ...... I was about to pull off and the check warning light came on again ...... not straight away but after a couple of minutes ...... it suddenly just jumped all the way up to 120. I turned the engine off and restarted ........ nothing abnormal for a minute then the same thing happened.

I checked the coolant level and it said max so I can only presume it's a sensor fault, not the best timing as I know live on the Isle of Wight and the OPC Portsmouth has closed because of the virus.

The car is still under warranty until the beginning of June and I think this could well be a warranty claim. So I have emailed them about the problem so it is on their system and have heard back from them saying it was the right thing to under the circumstances as it leaves a paper trail.

Heaven knows when things will back to normal.

The only problem I now have is how to keep the battery topped up. I do not have a garage and any if I did I wouldn't be able to buy a trickle charger except on line.

Although the hand book says do not drive the car if the check coolant level comes on but as this is I am pretty sure an electrical fault do you think it would be OK to give it a short run every few days to stop the battery fully discharging.

:?: :dont know:

kurlykris · 28 Mar 2020

You need to read out the fault code really, if you haven`t got an OBDII code reader I would order an ELM 327 bluetooth dongle from Ebay or Amazon for about £5 and download the Torque Lite app for your phone and then you can read the fault code off.
You need to run the engine for at least 15 minutes each time you start the car, to replace the energy used to start the car :thumb:

infrasilver · 28 Mar 2020

Also if you get a decent reader with live running details it may show a true temperature reading and you will be safe in the knowledge that it can be driven safely.

I have seen some decent solar panel chargers recently that can keep the battery topped up inbetween drives.

madalaa · 28 Mar 2020

Thanks ...... I won't be going the code reader route ...... I would'nt even know where to start ...... but I might consider the solar charger ....... or if I manage to move into my new home soon which has a garage I might be able to get just a normal trickle charger.

madalaa · 31 Mar 2020

I decided to do further investigation yesterday.

As the car is at present parked on a bit of a downward slope and also sloping to the side I thought I would take it a short distance to somewhere flat.

I checked the coolant level again, its meant to be between the max and min markers when you take off the coolant reservoir cap. It wasn't.

So I added 1.5 litres and it still was'nt within those parameters. The warning light and check gauge hadn't come on so drove the short distance back to my road. the temperature was about half to the 80 normal reading. When I stopped the car I noticed a lot of steam was coming from the rear, not too sure if it was coming from the exhaust or from the exhaust cowling.

There was no water dripping of pouring from the engine.

I checked inside the oil filler cap and there was gunk so don't think it is a head gasket problem.

So I think it is either a split to the coolant reservoir or a split water pipe. Any thoughts would be welcome.

In the meantime I will inform Portsmouth OPC of this development'

Its a shame that deMoort is no longer around as I would really appreciate his input on this.

infrasilver · 31 Mar 2020

Low coolant would make it run hot but the only way to see if there is a leak is to check and make a note of how much coolant you are toppjng up unless it was just low and it is now sorted out?

A visual inspection is the only way to detect a leak, either steam or coolant leaking and wet areas. Is it possible to leave a piece of cardboard under the car to detect a leak as it may have evaporated if just hitting the floor.

If it's a warranty claim item you are better off waiting for them to reopen unfortunately but ultimately keep it topped up.

deMort · 31 Mar 2020

The coolant low lvl sensor is in the base of the expansion tank .. the tube you get to look at isn't really a good indicator if not on a flat slope .

My impression of what's wrong ..

1.5 litres of coolant = a leak .. light / message will happen once the sensor in the bottle sees a low lvl in the tank so you have a coolant leak .

Engine will still run as normal as there is plenty in the system but you are in a sense at the absolute min lvl before going on to have a heating issue due to lack of coolant .

steam .. exhaust will give a bit of smoke when cold but not from your description .. that to me is a small leak and is either dripping on the exhaust of is just coming off a hot engine .

Small leak as you haven't seen any water on the floor .

As to what is leaking i cant say .. the tank is on the o/s/r and above the wheel .. i've never seen one split so i doubt its that ..

These cars like 997 do suffer from coolant rubber pipes to the ally pipes so i would guess at one of these .

If no coolant on the floor then you can top it up and drive with a small leak but if you are putting 1 ltr per 50 miles then it's not a small leak .. either way when this is all over you need to get it into an OPC .

kurlykris · 31 Mar 2020

When my waterpump on the 987 started to fail back in 2018 it was obvious when I looked at it that it had been weeping for a while, but was dripping on the undertray and not the floor, so you couldn`t see it :grin:

madalaa · 1 Apr 2020

Thanks for the input Iain ....... :thumb:

madalaa · 1 Apr 2020

What I don't understand is why it suddenly jumps from 80 to 120 without any prior warning that the coolant level might be dropping ........ it is an all or nothing scenario.

Zingari · 1 Apr 2020

madalaa said:
What I don't understand is why it suddenly jumps from 80 to 120 without any prior warning that the coolant level might be dropping ........ it is an all or nothing scenario.

Are you holding the Colini Stick too close to the dash causing interference :dont know:

madalaa · 16 May 2020

Well of course with the garages still closed I have not been able to get my car over to the OPC at Portsmouth.

I think I have indentified where the leak is ...... it appears to be dripping from the nearside adjacent to the front wheel.

I take the car out to keep the battery topped up about once a week and always check the coolant level before going out and always keep the revs between 3/4k.

Normally my circuit is about 25/30 miles but the amount of water I need to add to get it to the right level between the min/max markers varies considerably from 250ml up to 1.5 litres.

Yesterday it was 0.5 of a litre but when I was about 12 miles into the trip the warning check coolant light came on and I stopped and then added nearly 2 litres ...... this is the first time that has happened but when I got back there was no visible sign of a drip.

I haven't as yet checked how much water it will take to top up but will do so and let you know when next I take the car out.

It just seems very strange that the amount I have to top varies so much seeing as the route I take and my rev limits are much the same each time and at this time of year the ambient temperature hasn't varied that much.

I hoping the OPC Portsmouth opens in the near future and I will be able to take the car for repair.

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