Wife came home from work yesterday and when she pulled into the garage I could smell a antifreeze type odor. Looking into the engine on the front right side I see a small amount of coolant spewing out of this line. Called the local dealership and was given a 1200.00 repair cost. Found the part online for 50 bucks. The intake has to come off from what I've heard. My warranty doesn't cover belts or hoses which is what they say it is. Just wondering if anyone had any free advise on how to proceed.

 

So I started wrenching on it tonight. Found a few threads online about removing the intake. Once that was out of the way I could clearly see the coolant vent line was broken in 2 spots. Part is on order just waiting now for it to get here.

 

 

Yes there is some build up around the valve stems. I've been spot on with the oil changes and always use premium gas from the same gsd station. What fuel additives would help with this ?

 

Those valves never see fuel so additives are not really going to help

 

 

as Bobby noted, no fuel additive is going to help, they never see fuel.

was it very difficult to get the intake off?

could you post a link to the thread you found?

thanks

 

So which methods are available to clean these valves and area?

 

There was a thread floating around about walnut blasting. Not a DYI thing I dont think

 

If you already have a grit blaster, there is an attachment specifically for this job and my recollection it has a reasonable price. Not sure how much a grit blaster (assuming you have an air compressor) and the walnut shells cost. But I would not hesitate to consider getting the equipment if the intake is already removed. There is at least one video on utube on how to do this servicing. Just have to ensure you have the valves closed before cleaning the intakes for that cylinder, and cover the other intake ports. I believe you can easily buy the tools for this and still save money from doing this yourself.

 

What about the CRC Valve and Turbo cleaner?
I have heard good results from it. Basically, you warm up the car engine, in Panamera case, would disconnect a a line (vacuum or otherwise), that goes into intake (I dont know which one that would be, havent investigated), and then while at 2k rpm, spray the contents of can into the car in short bursts. Then you rev up few times, idle for about a minute, then shut car off for about 1 hr. After that you go drive car for 15 minutes on a highway.

Anyone hear that one work well? Anyone tried that way? it is intended for GDI engines specifically.

 

It wasn't bad to change at all. I used this thread as its very close to the Panamera.
https://www.pelicanparts.com/techart...ld_Removal.htm

After the intake was removed I could see clearly the leak in the plastic vent line. I loosened up the fuel rail and fished the new line in. total time was about 2 hours but if I needed to do it again I bet it could be done in half that.

One more thing I figured out. I thought the thermostat was bad, car kept getting hot like 220 to 230 degrees. It was air in the coolant system. A friend told me to park it on a incline and let it run with the cap off until it starts to overheat then shut it down and let it sit over night. I did exactly that to burp the coolant system and it worked. runs at 194 solid now. saved me a dealership visit.

 

thanks, that's a good tip on getting air out..
mine runs a solid 194 as well, doesn't matter how hot it is outside.

 

Congrats on the repair.

So this morning I found a small puddle under the passenger side and got the "check coolant level," warning. I looked over the entire front of the motor and couldn't see anything to include the plastic line you replaced, it was all intact and dry.

On my lunch break I topped up with distilled water and the only thing I could find was the "felt" under tray is pretty saturated in coolant, with no puddle in my parking spot.

Do you guys have any ideas? I plan on putting it on jack stands and taking the tray off to inspect further, just wondering if you guys may have seen something other than thermostat housing, plastic lines etc, maybe the actual radiator?

 

I would take lower engine shield off from under car and look for where it is dripping. Try to follow to source.
Obvious checks will be hoses and rad. Add distilled water so you do not waste coolant. Should see.
Most common places are under the intake where the coolant tube is epoxied to the engine. Yeah. Epoxied.
Fix for that is to drill through pipe and fitting, so you can put in a screw to hold the pipe in place.
Update us as you diagnose, so we can learn with you.