Water pump .....

[aneal000]

Gearing up to tackle this project Friday night. 1998 with 84k miles and it started squealing, drove it home, parked it in the garage and it started self draining. I pulled the belt and there was play in the pulley (bearing/bushing shot). I did notice that it looks like the squeal is due to the pulley rubbing a bolt on the engine.

I was bummed that Pelican was out of stock on the composite blade water pump but I found it online at another company and it should be here today. I already have the low temp thermostat. After reading some of these posts I'm curious about what antifreeze to use and the proper way to refill the system. I do not have the vacuum airlift system - can this be done without? How much antifreeze should I have on hand for this project?

[Muzzle of Bees]

Originally Posted by aneal000

Gearing up to tackle this project Friday night. 1998 with 84k miles and it started squealing, drove it home, parked it in the garage and it started self draining. I pulled the belt and there was play in the pulley (bearing/bushing shot). I did notice that it looks like the squeal is due to the pulley rubbing a bolt on the engine.

I was bummed that Pelican was out of stock on the composite blade water pump but I found it online at another company and it should be here today. I already have the low temp thermostat. After reading some of these posts I'm curious about what antifreeze to use and the proper way to refill the system. I do not have the vacuum airlift system - can this be done without? How much antifreeze should I have on hand for this project?

Mine puked a bunch of fluid recently also. I had purchased the parts, low temp thermostat and water pump, from Pelican a while back in anticipation of the failure as my water pump was leaking a little already.
I am going to use the Porsche brand of anti-freeze, the dealership near me said that 2 gallons of anti freeze + distilled water should be enough. I am going to tackle the re fill using the method from the Pelican site. From what I have read the procedures should be followed precisely.

Be sure to have an array of 10 mm options. The bolt I reference in my post below is still giving a hard time.

[Spinnaker]

Originally Posted by aneal000

After reading some of these posts I'm curious about what antifreeze to use and the proper way to refill the system. I do not have the vacuum airlift system - can this be done without? How much antifreeze should I have on hand for this project?

When I did my water pump, I asked the independent P-car shop about the refill process and getting the air bubbles out. They said to make sure the back of the car is higher than the front and I would not have any problems. Lucky for me, my driveway is sloping downhill, so I had no trouble with the refill process. Drove it for a day with the bleeder valve open and only had to put in about a quart of coolant in to bring it up to the correct level.
Started with 2 gallons of Porsche antifreeze, but had to buy another gallon to make enough 50/50 mix to fill it. Still have about a ½ gallon of full strength antifreeze left over. The stuff I got is pink colored.

[steved0x]

ECS Tuning has it for $33 a gallon unless I am missing something?

http://www.ecstuning.com/Porsche-2000-Boxster-986-Roadster_S-Convertible-H6_3.2L/Engine/Cooling/ES2166166/

[aneal000]

Originally Posted by steved0x

ECS Tuning has it for $33 a gallon unless I am missing something?

2000 Porsche Boxster Roadster S H6 3.2L Engine Cooling - 00004330149 - Coolant Anti-Freeze - One Gallon - ES#2166166

No, just needed some yesterday so I ran to the local dealer. $56 a gallon plus tax.


Completed the project last night. It wasn't bad, just had to take your time and realize you are working in tight quarters most of the time. Drove it to work this morning. Of course now I'm wondering where the temp gauge should be and where it used to be. I installed the low temp thermostat (160). The gauge on the dash still shows 180-190 range during highway/aggressive driving. Any thoughts if that is normal or an indicator of possible air still in the system or of Pelican sending me a 180 deg thermostat? For some reason I am under the impression that a 160 deg thermostat would make the gauge read 160?

[epapp]

Originally Posted by aneal000

No, just needed some yesterday so I ran to the local dealer. $56 a gallon plus tax.


Completed the project last night. It wasn't bad, just had to take your time and realize you are working in tight quarters most of the time. Drove it to work this morning. Of course now I'm wondering where the temp gauge should be and where it used to be. I installed the low temp thermostat (160). The gauge on the dash still shows 180-190 range during highway/aggressive driving. Any thoughts if that is normal or an indicator of possible air still in the system or of Pelican sending me a 180 deg thermostat? For some reason I am under the impression that a 160 deg thermostat would make the gauge read 160?

The 160 thermostat debate will never end, but a few things for sure: it opens SOONER than a 180 degree thermostat. Your car will warm up a LITTLE bit slower because of coolant flow sooner in the heat/warmup cycle. The engine is STILL putting off the same amount of heat as with a 180 tstat so steady state will inevitably be the same, but with the 160 tstat it will take longer to see the steady state, and depending on the drive/weather, you may no longer get to steady state of ~195 on the freeway and 204ish while sitting still. It 'dampens' the warmup cycle, but the car will still get hot; the lower temp tstat is no miracle drug.

You will never see the difference reflected in the gauge, only with a durametric or OBD readout of the temp.

Also, warming up slower means the fuel trims are richer for longer, so you are probably using MORE gas, depending on when the ecu stops warmup fuel trim..

[Brad Roberts]

The engine is STILL putting off the same amount of heat as with a 180 tstat so steady state will inevitably be the same, but with the 160 tstat it will take longer to see the steady state, and depending on the drive/weather, you may no longer get to steady state of ~195 on the freeway and 204ish while sitting still.

You'd be amazed at the number of people who "don't get it" LOL You'd think they owned/drove air cooled cars their whole life

The coolant capacity went up on the 3.2 cars only. They have MUCH bigger water lines than the 2.5 and 2.7 cars, plus the 3rd radiator.

Technically, as displacement goes up on these blocks, there is actually LESS coolant in the block (the cylinder bore gets bigger) The 2.5 and 2.7 share the same bore size