Coolant loss

[briggy]

Took the Cayman out for a blast a few days ago and put it in the garage afterwards. Following day I noticed the windows had steamed up inside. Odd, but thought nothing of it and opened the driver's window a touch.

 

Went into the garage today to make sure the condensation had gone. It had. Jumped in the car and turned the key to close the window and saw a warning about low coolant. Took the coolant cover off and topped up with a full litre bottle of coolant and it was still below minimum. Not good. I can't see any wet patches on the garage floor and have never seen any in the past.

 

I did notice that there was dried on residue on the coolant cover cap, so I'm now thinking that's the culprit, especially given the lack of puddles underneath and also the condensation inside the car.

 

My question is - how far below the minimum does that warning message on the dash appear? If it's quite a lot, it would suggest it could have been getting lower bit by bit, but if the warning message is triggered as soon as it goes below minimum, I may have other problems.

 

Cheers,

Bryan

[sevenfourate]

Not 100% sure of the warning light triggering parameters Bryan. But I can tell you the caps are notorious for leaking. 
 

I had a small loss after purchase. Did some Googling !! Bought a new cap and not lost a drop since. ****I’d expect you to be able to see some signs or witness marks of coolant loss / drying / evaporation in the black rubber shroud that encapsulates that and oil filler cap though ??

 

The seals aren’t great, and the action / very course thread to lock it - fairly crude imo as an engineer - on what needs to be a closed system.

 

Good news is - you can get a genuine one off eBay for a little over £20. A cheap place to start perhaps......?

Good luck.

 

 

[Daz]

I would start with the cap as well. The next culprits are the coolant hoses at the front. They run across the front of the car and have joints where the solid pipes join rubber flexible. You can see them if you turn steering wheel get in there with a torch. Here is a video.

 

 

 

[briggy]

Thanks guys. Some useful info on there, especially to see exactly where those notorious pipes are.

 

Took another 800ml or so of distilled water to get back to the right level.

 

Plan is to start the car later and hope there's no horrific noises such as a failing water pump. If that's ok, I'll take it out locally to get the coolant up to temp and put it back in the garage. System will then be under pressure. I'll then press and pull the filler cap (without unscrewing it) and listen for the tell tale hissing sound of a leak there. Fingers crossed it is. If not, I'll keep checking the floor for wet patches. If the floor is wet, I'll look at the pipes shown in the video.

 

I'll order a new cap anyway as I suspect that it's been leaking gradually for ages, a bit like a slow puncture.

 

Cheers,

Bryan

[Lennym1984]

I'd definitely check the front crossover pipes as mentioned above. They'll leak into the undertray so unless it is properly spewing out coolant, there may not be an obvious puddle 

[briggy]

Well, after a 20 mile blast, there's no real evidence of leaks from any of the crossover pipes or the filler cap. No hissing from the cap, whether pressed or pulled. From the pipes, I could see a couple of spots of water, but there were 1 or 2 here and there leftover from driving though puddles last time I drove it. I dried off the pipe joints before driving and they're still dry afterwards.

 

I'll monitor the pipes over the next day or so, but as they're completely dry now, any drops of water on any of them and they must be the source of the leak.

 

Cheers,

Bryan

[Leo31291]

When was the last time you checked the coolant level before the warning light ? I do find I lose a little bit over a period of time ( a few months). Requires a top up once or twice a year.

[jdavis8361]

FYI, in addition to the radiator filler cap in the trunk of my 987.1, there is a second one on top of the engine that's accessible only after the engine cover is removed.  I had this one fail last year which caused a massive coolant dump.  A few months ago, the replacement cap failed, which caused another coolant dump.  Fortunately for me, my service adviser got the second replacement cap and coolant, plus labor, covered under a parts warranty.  The part number for the "closure cap" was 996-106-447-04.

[briggy]

Thanks guys.

 

I've never checked the coolant level as I've never had reason to do so. Will be checking it on a regular basis now though.

 

Now I think about it, when it was serviced last (September 2018 at OPC Tewkesbury) they mentioned they thought there may be a coolant leak, but couldn't find the source. I'm now guessing that they may have concluded that by a drop in coolant as if they'd seen any leaks or even staining, they would have known where it was coming from.

 

Plan now is to watch the coolant level over time, wait for it to drop, top up, then replace the filler cap. At that point, if there are no further drops, then that's fixed it.

 

I will of course also monitor the crossover pipes as well and also give it some more urgency if the coolant level drops quickly.

 

Cheers,

Bryan

[briggy]

Pleased to say that my plan worked. Drove as normal for a week or so and coolant dropped by about 750ml, which I topped up. Changed both filler caps, drove as normal for a week or so, checked the levels and no drop in coolant whatsoever.

 

I'll class that as fixed.

 

Cheers,

Bryan

[sevenfourate]

20 minutes ago, briggy said:

Pleased to say that my plan worked. Drove as normal for a week or so and coolant dropped by about 750ml, which I topped up. Changed both filler caps, drove as normal for a week or so, checked the levels and no drop in coolant whatsoever.

 

I'll class that as fixed.

 

Cheers,

Bryan

 

An inexpensive and simple fix ? Must be a new Porsche-thing for 2020....... 😎

 

Good to hear Bryan !

[briggy]

17 minutes ago, sevenfourate said:

 

An inexpensive and simple fix ? Must be a new Porsche-thing for 2020....... 😎

 

Good to hear Bryan !

 

Total of about £35 for the 2 caps. In Porsche terms, that's a very cheap fix indeed!

 

[GlosRich]

Excellent cheap fix. Where are ou in Glos Bryan? I'm in Churchdown near Gloucester. 

[briggy]

9 hours ago, GlosRich said:

Excellent cheap fix. Where are ou in Glos Bryan? I'm in Churchdown near Gloucester. 

 

I'm in Tewkesbury, so not that far from you. What's your reg? Will keep a look out for you.

[GlosRich]

On 14/02/2020 at 21:16, briggy said:

 

I'm in Tewkesbury, so not that far from you. What's your reg? Will keep a look out for you.

 

I pass through Tewkesbury a lot as my Mother lives up in Pershore.

 

Cayman is off the road at the moment, but back on in April, its heading to Cotswold Porsche at Toddington for some new track rod ends, strut top mounts and an alignment.

 

Its Aqua blue - YP09 BRF.