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996T Massive coolant leak - my turn!

ragpicker

Portimao
Joined
14 Apr 2013
Messages
4,062
After some spirited driving whilst out today I pulled onto the sliproad of the A174 and put my foot down.

Whilst flying past a few cars dawdling along there was a massive eruption of smoke from the back of my car. I thought the genie had come out!

So i pulled over and pootled along at 60mph waiting for some warning lights on the dash. Sure enough a minute later the coolant light started flashing and the 'check coolant' message came up.

Fortunately i was only a mile or so from home so I limped back home with an eye on the temp guage. Luckily at no point did it register zero or in the red zone.

A look in the engine bay was rather unhelpful. The coolant loss is from the drivers side of the engine and is in the bay rather than under the car. My mate who has a local indy is on holiday so im puzzling this one out myself.

From my limited knowledge it sounds like a rubber coolant hose has blown off due to the car 'getting the beans'. Ive had a look at the one nearest the rear of the car next to the water pump but this is firmly secured. I havent been able to look elsewhere as I needed to jump in the wifes car and get back to work.

Any more places I should look tomorrow? I dont think its the bonded hoses as I didnt think they dropped all the coolant instantly the way this one did..... Well at least I hope its not them!

:pc:
 
ragpicker said:
Fortunately i was only a mile or so from home so I limped back home with an eye on the temp guage. Luckily at no point did it register zero or in the red zone.
Its just not the done thing to run any engine without coolant.You should stop it immediately.
I do hope its nothing serious.
 
Most likely a hose has split. They're getting to an age where this happens. Worst case scenario is one of the glued on fittings has suffered glue failure.

Good luck
 
Have it checked by a Porsche specialist.
 
Thanks for the replies so far chaps.

I will indeed have it checked by a porsche specialist but he's on holiday this week.

I'm not shy with the spanners and can do quite a bit myself so if i can identify a simple coolant hose which has blown off or split I will change that myself.

Anybody have any photos of the common coolant hose leak sites on the drivers side of the engine?

Tomorrow I'm going to jack it up and pour some coolant in bit by bit to see where it leaks out of (without turning the engine over of course!).

On the subject of ruining an engine due to driving it for a mile or so with a coolant leak, if the temperature guage is still reading normal there must be coolant still around the engine block as the sensor requires fluid to operate. If it was dry the guage would read zero. Is this correct?
 
Unfortunatly, I would put money on this being one of the inserts unbonding on the water pump, heater matrix or water pipe crossing behind the alternator.

Exactly what happened to me...

http://www.911uk.com/viewtopic.php?p=911555

There is a lot of documentation on this - particulary for US cars, and if you take a look on rennlist / 6 speed you will find numerous articles.

This is a bit of a nightmare I am afraid, the only real option if this is the case is engine out, and inserts welded - mine's booked in with Ken at 9e for January.. along with clutch etc.

This will help you understand the issue further;

http://sharkwerks.com/porsche/techn...tion-fix-on-gt1-block-gt3-gt2-turbo-cars.html

I do hope for your sake it is simply a blown hose, but let me know where you get too.

Also: Not sure I would have driven with no coolant - the 996TT doesn't report low coolant immediately, the way the system works seems to be very slow to report. I had emptied my entire expansion tank over the road and didn't get the light before I had stopped and turned the engine off. Hopefully no other damage done.
 
You should look at getting the coolant hoses welded in. This is a permanent fix for it.

Cheers, Tim
 
ragpicker said:
Thanks for the replies so far chaps.

I will indeed have it checked by a porsche specialist but he's on holiday this week.

I'm not shy with the spanners and can do quite a bit myself so if i can identify a simple coolant hose which has blown off or split I will change that myself.

Anybody have any photos of the common coolant hose leak sites on the drivers side of the engine?

Tomorrow I'm going to jack it up and pour some coolant in bit by bit to see where it leaks out of (without turning the engine over of course!).

On the subject of ruining an engine due to driving it for a mile or so with a coolant leak, if the temperature guage is still reading normal there must be coolant still around the engine block as the sensor requires fluid to operate. If it was dry the guage would read zero. Is this correct?

You will get a good view on what's going on if you follow this :thumb:

http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/996-turbo-gt2/119698-alternator-diy-remove-replace.html

Just don't unplug the alternator! I would also advise pushing the boot catch back over to turn the light off and avoid draining the battery.
 
I agree with Jamesyg in terms of most likely cause. If it was me and it is accessible I'd fix in situ then get them welded in next time the engine is out. I have just had mine done.
You are brave driving like that. I would have pulled over and turned off at the first sign of trouble. No point risking anything.

MC
 
MisterCorn said:
I agree with Jamesyg in terms of most likely cause. If it was me and it is accessible I'd fix in situ then get them welded in next time the engine is out. I have just had mine done.
You are brave driving like that. I would have pulled over and turned off at the first sign of trouble. No point risking anything.

MC

Stupid more like! :nooo:

Unfortunately I had very little option but to get back home and then back to work due to time pressures. if i could have hung around waiting for the AA I would but I would have had 40 angry patients to contend with this afternoon...

I hope I've not done the head gasket or anything but there was no sign of it running badly. If it did need a new head gasket it would be an ideal time to upgrade the cylinder head bolts for high strength fellows to take more boost! :)

Every cloud.....
 
Reading this again though, the fact that the leak is drivers side makes me question if it is an insert - these sit on passenger side - but depending on how the car is sat, you could see it track either side.

The only exception is one of the inserts on the heater matrix.
 
So the culprit has been identified.

Those who thought it would be a bonded hose are correct.

It looks like one that will be fixable without the engine out. The picture attached is taken from above the engine looking down.

Any ideas on best way to fix (other than taking it to a Porsche specialist)?

Ta
 

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Why mess about? If one has failed, you've got, iirc, 6 more that can go at any time. It's only a matter of when. The next time it might not be only 1 mile from home.

Get the engine dropped & the fittings removed so that they can all be welded. Replace all the rubber hoses & the expansion tank if it hasn't already been done & you'll be good for another decade at least.

Glue was a crap long-term solution when they were new, why repeat a crap idea?
 
Is that the 90 degree angled insert? Same as the one I had let go?

You can rebond as I did, make sure you use the appropriate resin, think it was a loctite suitable for up to 300 degrees I used. You need to clean the part up well, and ensure it goes back exactly as it came out,

However, be really gentle with it, I was really careful, and still disrupted one of the o rings the other end of the pipe. Hence the car now going in for the fittings to be welded.

I would do the same when you have time, and have some other work I.e clutch replaced at the same time.

Good luck!
 

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