987 Coolant Flush????

[Paul]

Hard to believe until you consider your car has 2 radiators, a water cooled oil cooler and at least 20' of 1 1/2 inch tubing/hoses. A quick look at your owners manual should satisfy any doubt.

I guess good shops use pure water.

[Flavor 987S]

Thanks, Paul.

To others, I am not buying this "replace the water pump" early notion as a wear item. I asked one of the largest discount Porsche dealership parts departments today about this, and they told me the following:

In 2009 they sold 5 water pumps for the 987/997. They sold 9 in 2010.

For the same periods with the 986/996 they sold 53 and 71 respectively.

I'll either wait for it to brake and replace it, or wait till the car is a little older, like in 2016.

[jmatta]

I replaced my coolant two years ago when I updated to the LN low temp t-stat...wish I would have done the water pump at the same time. As stated, if the impeller breaks, tiny pieces get stuck in the cylinder head and cause major issues. I've seen it happen to some friends and it's enough to scare me to change mine as a precaution.

[Flavor 987S]

Jmatta, are you going to be at TRAC next weekend?

Thanks for your perspective.

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by Flavor 987S

Thanks, Paul.

To others, I am not buying this "replace the water pump" early notion as a wear item. I asked one of the largest discount Porsche dealership parts departments today about this, and they told me the following:

In 2009 they sold 5 water pumps for the 987/997. They sold 9 in 2010.

For the same periods with the 986/996 they sold 53 and 71 respectively.

I'll either wait for it to brake and replace it, or wait till the car is a little older, like in 2016.

Water pump failure is not a 986/996 issue. Every car made has a water pump replacement schedule. It's usually done with the timing belt (when there is one), which is typically 45,000 to 75,000 miles. Again, this is all cars. 944s are largely changed every 30,000 miles.

[944boy]

I just replaced the WP in my 987. 88,000 miles and it looks basically new. No seepage and the slightest hint of play (.001"). You guys got me worried so I did it. Now at least I have one less thing to think about with my upcoming 6500 mile trip. Gave me a reason to do the low temp thermostat as well.

[stephen wilson]

50k is very early to have to change a water pump, on most cars they last at least 100,000 miles. The Integra I sold still had the original pump at 200,000. Though I agree, if you have to change a timing belt, do the water pump also.

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by stephen wilson

50k is very early to have to change a water pump, on most cars they last at least 100,000 miles. The Integra I sold still had the original pump at 200,000. Though I agree, if you have to change a timing belt, do the water pump also.

The water pump in my Integra GSR only lasted about 80k. Spewing antifreeze all over the place.

Loved that car, 8000 RPM for the better part of 200,000 miles.

[The Radium King]

you have two types of maintenance - reactive (replace when broken) and preventative (replace before it breaks). reactive - spilled some milk? clean it up. grass getting long? mow it. on the other hand, preventative maintenance is done to reduce or defer a potential failure that would cost lots more to address as reactive maintenance further down the road (ie, you paint your house every 5 years to avoid having to replace the siding every 10).

vehicle maintenance schedules are developed the same way. tires worn? get new tires. brakes or shocks shot? replace them. all reactive maintenance. bad oil or worn timing belt can grenade an engine, so these are replaced as a preventative measure.

the m96 engine was new to porsche when it came out, and they didn't quite know what would wear and what wouldn't. as a result there were some 'misses'; items that we now know do wear out, that their failure has catastrophic consequences on the engine (ie, reactive maintenance is too late or VERY expensive) but are not listed in the maintenance manual as preventative. ims, water pump, chain tensioners. these should be preventative maintenance items but are not listed as such by porsche (probably due to the liability associated with acknowledging these issues).

but it is not black and white. no-one will tell you that your ims WILL fail at 96k miles, that your water pump WILL fail after three years. only that it MAY. you need lots of data to make accurate predictions in this field; porsche appears to be holding theirs close to their chest, and anything you get on the internet is worth what you pay for it. i would note that porsche has been constantly updating (to the point of eliminating) the ims, so that tells me that they are very aware of it.

so, in the absence of qualitative or quantitative info, you have to make your own call; defer a small cost with 'x' % odds that you invite a large cost in the future, or fold your hand and replace the damned thing when you do a low temp tstat.

[Flavor 987S]

Originally Posted by 944boy

I just replaced the WP in my 987. 88,000 miles and it looks basically new. No seepage and the slightest hint of play (.001"). You guys got me worried so I did it. Now at least I have one less thing to think about with my upcoming 6500 mile trip. Gave me a reason to do the low temp thermostat as well.

Excellent post, 944boy, thanks!

You have one of the highest mileage 987's I've seen. Good job. Considering I only drive mine about 2 times per month from mid-April till mid-October, I feel I have a lot of miles at almost 44,000. More than most owners who have these as DD.

Tell me more about the low temp thermostate. What temp does your Boxster run at now (mine is right at slightly <12:00...the needle is dead center on the '7' in '175')? Does it reach op temp faster too? Thanks.

[944boy]

I have no comment about the low temp thermostat, I am still waiting on the vacuum fill tool I ordered to get it running again.

I have not been daily driving the Box recently as I switched to commuting on my motorcycle most days. However I do believe in driving the wheels off of anything I own. So 88K is just getting started..... I do also believe in a mix of PM and RM. Served me well so far.

Also the 987 is my snow toy. So much fun hitting twisties in 3" of un-plowed snow. But I'm lucky in not having salt on the roads around here.

The coolant that came out was also the cleanest and best looking of any car I've drained. That made me feel good too.