Just got flashed this Friday and wanted to do a shakedown run. So found a long deserted stretch of straight smooth back road and booked it. Smoke out the back, coolant everywhere in engine bay. Heart dropped at first as my first guess was headgasket Find out it's a leaking coolant hose from the bottom of the hose by the passenger side in the engine bay. Waiting till Monday to go get the hose from the dealership and replace it. Do the clamps come off using needlenose pliers or would I need special pliers? Also is the coolant any pink coolant or porsche specific coolant? Also car is a 2001 996tt EPL flashed stock turbos. Should I replace all the hoses or just this one. This one I can do myself as it's accessible from the top but no clue where the others are or how to go about doing them. Any guidance would be appreciated. Glad this happened few miles from my house and not at the track

 

Do a search on coolant manifold blowout. Make sure the aluminum sleeve didn't let go as they are glued in and there is a history of them letting go. There was a recent article in Excellence Magazine about it with the various fixes.

Read this entire thread:

http://dorkiphus.net/porsche/showthread.php?t=23058

 

Thanks a lot

 

Link is not working for some reason

 

Works for me. Google dorkiphus, search "tt popped it's expansion tank" and read the whole thing because it turned out not to be the expansion tank.

 

That hose is ripped on the bottom, so new one is going in:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/...COOLANT%20HOSE

Do the spring clamps just come off by lifting on them? Also the dealer quoted me $307 to do a coolant flush. I was reading the shop manual and it seems like it would be easy to drain the coolant and fill it back up, save for the porsche system tester 2. Any thoughts?

 

Glad you are enjoying the flash but sorry to hear about the leak. Coolant flushes/refills on these cars are a pain because of the bleeding process but $307. seems high. Let me know if I can help.

 

Are you a DIYer? If not I would not recommend doing work that you are not familiar with. Coolant flush and hose replacement are easy to do on the spectrum of projects, but if you are not familiar with the project and how the components work in conjunction with each other, I would not DIY. If you can DIY, the clip pulls off the aluminum housing and you replace the hose, drain all coolant, fill coolant back up, and bleed the system for bubbles. This is normal procedure on all coolant systems, I am used to working on BMW's for the last 10 years, and now am moving onto Porsche, so I am not as familiar with Porsche as I am with BMW, VW, Audi, MBZ.

Edit, write up of coolant bleed?

 

There are some kind of one way valves in the system that make refilling difficult but not impossible. The dealer probably has the pressurized machine that forces the coolant in under pressure while vacuuming out the old and that keeps the check valves open. Plus the cost of coolant is pretty high and there are 7.5 gallons in the system. Good idea to flush out all the old. They say it is lifetime but coolant degrades and looses it properties over time.

 

I'd suggest doing this:



From the factory, those connections are all held in basically with glue. After enough heat cycles, the glue does what any glue does....it gives out. While you have it out, this is definitely a worthwhile mod!

 

I suggest not removing the clips, but just pulling them up in order to let the hose pegs clear. Once the hose is removed, push the clip back into place and let it lock into place. If you remove them, then you will have bloody knuckles trying to seat it correctly. Additionally, you reduce the chance of getting the spring clips mixed up as they are not the same. If they get mixed up, then the hose will pop off at operating temp. Once you are ready to put the new ones in, they will make an audible snap. If not, then you did not seat it correctly.

I would also suggest using the same money and purchase the Mac tools vacuum bleeder with Porsche specific expansion tank fitting (It is a very high quality apparatus). You will purchase the tool for the price of one flush at the dealership, as well as use the tool for future projects which require evacuation of the coolant system.

http://www.mactools.com/SearchResult...?Search=CSR200

You will also need the Porsche specific adapter: part# RA10022
I ordered a couple of more adapters for BMW's since it will make the process so much faster.

Also, don't forget to drain the coolant hoses located underneath the transaxle. You will need to remove the undercover to access them.

 

Call me old school, but I have had ZERO issues with bleeding BMW, Audi/VW, Domestics, etc, using the heat and/or heat valve open, undo bleed screw, keep RPM's in the 2-3K range for 10-15 secs, re-screw bleeder screw, do this procedure a few times, until no bubbles come out of the bleeder screw. Turn off engine, repeat process the following morning, or evening, depending on the time frame.

 

I am old school as well and have been working on BMW's for over 20 years. However, the 996 cooling system bleeding is not old school. These cars do not bleed the same way due to the valves and the extended plumbing throughout the car.

Now that I have this tool, I can use it on my BMW's as well. It is not necessary, but saves time.

 

Good to know! I will be adding that to the tool kit Is there a diagram of the cooling system? I am curious to see what valves are being used as well as why.

 

Thank you so much for such detailed help. But since I don't feel comfortable yet with Porsche mechanics, I will be trusting the dealer this time. I will be taking baby steps starting with oil changes etc as this tool requires a compressor and I don't even own one of those . I will however reference this thread if I ever have to do it again in the future.