Coolant leak

[Maexle]

So I have bought a 2001 Boxster for my wife.

The next day she drove to work and back, and discovered in the garage a huge puddle of coolant fluid.

It leaks from the center.

After checking the coolant level, of course it was to low but still some left, temp was around 190 F.

I refilled and took it for a spin, the temp was o.k. (around 185 - 190 ) till after a few minutes it of a sudden went up.

Immediately back to the Garage of course.

It seems that this is the thermostat ?

But the leakage, I guess, is showing that the water pump is shot too...hmmmmmmm

[Zedcat]

Could be the coolant tank in the trunk too. I had a coolant leak shortly after buying my 04 S and it turned out the tank was cracked. Mine was a slow leak and no overheating. Guess I caught it early.

[Maexle]

Originally Posted by Zedcat

Could be the coolant tank in the trunk too. I had a coolant leak shortly after buying my 04 S and it turned out the tank was cracked. Mine was a slow leak and no overheating. Guess I caught it early.

I've checked this one out but it seems to be o.k. and the coolant is not leaking from the side, I took the floor cover off and it clearly leaks from where the water pump sits.

[max_asdf]

When the tank leaks, where does it usually leak to. Inside the trunk?

[Steve Tinker]

When the coolant has been low and the temp guage spikes up even after topping off, its a classic example of air pockets in the system and not a failed thermostat (though it could also be suspect on an older car). If your pump is leaking, I would not run the car untill it has been replaced - M96 engines are susceptable to high temperatures....
Use the search function for water pump failures / installation procedures - you will be reading for quite a while.

[Steve Tinker]

Originally Posted by max_asdf

When the tank leaks, where does it usually leak to. Inside the trunk?

Yes - lift up the carpet under the tankand look to see if its wet or ifany fluid is lying there.
When my tank leaked (at the rear of the tank so it wasn't obvious), it was only a slight weep and only when hot. Enough to lose half a cupfull every 500 miles or so.

[Perfectlap]

There's one thing I have learned about these cars. Do not guess when it comes to anything cooling system related. Have it towed to your local Porsche specialist. He'll charge you $100 and will tell you exactly what is wrong, it could be one thing, it could be several things. Air pockets in your system are a potential disaster. Or maybe he won't charge you at all to diagnose. Either way it's money well spent.

Also, if you have the original coolant cap and removed it to top off, you may be inviting big trouble.
That cap may not be able to hold pressure once removed. It needs to be updated with the most recent version. If you have a leak, and the original cap, the previous owner may done performed a flush and introduced air into the system which may have hairline-cracked the coolant tank. Don't mess with the coolant unless you have the updated cap.

If you do need the new cap, and a new coolant tank then it would probably be a good idea to replace the water pump if you're going to be doing all this. Engine rebuilding experts on this site have posted that if everyone replaced these before they actually failed, he'd have a tiny fraction of cars to work on.