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Hi all, I was out for some spirited driving in the 996TT last night in North Houston and got a loss of coolant warning. I pulled over immediately and shut it down. She billowed coolant steam for a good hour or more. The back of the car and the right side of the engine bay are coated. A few leaks are evident on the right exhaust tip but the rest of the exhaust and engine look dry underneath. The left side of the engine bay is dry. There was very little coolant on the ground where I stopped and during the tow and there is nothing on the floor of my garage so I'm assuming the leak on the highway was catastrophic and she lost all fluid within seconds.
I have a good mechanic but before bringing it to him I thought I'd dig into it to see if I can find the problem myself. Any idea where to get started and what I'm looking for? I'm handy and have worked on cars before but I haven't got enough knowledge to drop the engine.
Nothing obvious from the top of the engine and the right hand side is actually a lot drier than I expected. A few drips here and there and some pooling near the air box. I have the shop manual so I'm going to start disassembling. I was taking a quick look for a coolant pressure test kit and came across some deal for $400 but nothing for a reasonable price. Anyone have any ideas?
On the passenger side of the motor (since you said the left side was fairly dry) there is a large hose that goes from the front of the motor to the forward coolant pipes mounted to the frame rail of the car. Make sure it didn't pop off or manage to rip itself open.
I have had my 996TT rip itself open on the dyno YEARS ago and I also had the clips in wrong on my brothers 997TT and it blew off during a quick tuning/spirited driving run.
I'm not down at my shop right now so I can't grab a picture of his engine bay (my motor is on a stand currently) but it's fairly easy to spot since it is right by the passenger side motor mount basically.
If that is the hose it is very easy to take off and replace, hardly anything needs to be removed besides the air box (I think). I already had fenderwell intakes when mine popped off and my brothers is the same way, so I'm not sure if the airbox will block working room.
Clips were really difficult to get but I've removed them fine. Hose doesn't want to come out more than an 1/8 inch or so though even with a ton of pulling and jimmying back and forth. Is there anything other than the clips holding this in place?
I am sorry I forgot to mention something important. The top and bottom clips are different (see picture and part#) You don't want them to be mixed because it won't hold under pressure!!!!
There it is. Salvageable with a bit of duct tape, yes? Pelican Parts has this for just $32.50. I'll be replacing the old reservoir as well since I see it has a crack.
Again, thanks for all the assistance. I would never have realized the retainer springs were different sizes.
There it is. Salvageable with a bit of duct tape, yes? Pelican Parts has this for just $32.50. I'll be replacing the old reservoir as well since I see it has a crack.
Again, thanks for all the assistance. I would never have realized the retainer springs were different sizes.
I have this same picture in my phone. Mine let loose a few years ago.
Yup mine split open just like that as well. It was on the dyno being tuned on the standalone back in 2009ish and during a low boost pull it just dumped smoke everywhere. My heart sank that the motor had let go (I was already pushing 810-820whp on the stock ECU/stock motor) but when the smoked cleared I saw the rip in the hose and was relieved. I would personally replace both sides as a preventative measure. Just in case the other is getting weak as well. $40 for piece of mind that you shouldn't have to worry about either side.
