Afraid of the answer.....

[Gilles]

Rob,
Just take your time and ensure that the system is properly bleed…
Good luck

[Dr. Acula]

Perhaps there are other 986 enthusiasts in the LA area who can loan Rob an extra set of eyes and hands on this? I'm surprised that hasn't happened yet.

[robdelorenzo]

I think I finally found the culprit!
After a few times of trying to flush and bleed with just distilled water, I saw flow from under the bleeder valve! I guess it wasn't a big enough leak to be visible until I ran it for a few cycles.

Now I do have a few questions on replacing the valve.

Is it a good idea to put silicone or any kind of sealant on the threads of the screws?

Can anyone report success stories on replacing just the valve? The mechanic says he doesn't replace only the valves as he's had too many problems with them.

I see that they need to be handled with kid gloves or it's new tank time.

I'm really hoping that this solves the problem.

Thanks for the help.

[78F350]

Congrats! I think you can get it done without too much trouble now...

Originally Posted by robdelorenzo

Can anyone report success stories on replacing just the valve? The mechanic says he doesn't replace only the valves as he's had too many problems with them.

Check out Jon Slocum's post about a coolant leak. Near the bottom of post #63.
1st Boxster 7th Porsche, we now have 4 in the family
I also remember it being discussed (with parts) in another thread... maybe JFP in PA detailed it.

[robdelorenzo]

Thanks!
We will know in a few days.

[pilut2]

Originally Posted by robdelorenzo

Now I do have a few questions on replacing the valve.

Is it a good idea to put silicone or any kind of sealant on the threads of the screws?


Thanks for the help.

Try replacing the O-rings first- it worked for me! I was able to source them at a local hydraulics repair shop. No need to seal the screws with anything - just don't over tighten them. Good luck!

[nicecar]

Be very carefull with the screws. They go into plastic and strip very easily. I didnt use any to of antiseize or watever. The best advice I got was on here....rotate screws counter clockwise until it clicks into original bore then tighten down only to snug. The O- rings do the sealing. Cross your tightening pattern to insure even seating. Disclaimer I am a cook not a mechanic. Good Luck. Still had to bleed air after completion

[robdelorenzo]

Thanks, I just got the valve today and am going to install it in the morning.
Does anyone know if it needs to be installed with the bail in the "open" position?
I saw that mentioned in this thread, but nowhere else
https://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?app=forums&module=forums&controller=topic&id=14754
I also saw that using some silicone grease or even dish soap on the o rings is a good idea. Any comments on that?
The biggest thing it looks like to me is to go very easy on the screws and to twist them backwards until I feel the pop of the threads and then tighten them down.
Thanks and I'll let you know what happens.

[BFeller]

Congratulations. Drive it like you work on it.

[robdelorenzo]

Well, there is one thing still plaguing me.
I have had all of the carpet pulled up from the trunk for a while now.
I filled it with coolant and drove it and am letting it cool down.
All seems well, except that the strange "rag carpet type thing" that goes across the rear of the bulkhead is wet in the lower right corner by the tank. It has not dried up since the meltdown. I think this may mean that there is steam or coolant leaking onto it ever so slightly or it just hasn't dried out yet.
It is pretty thick stuff and maybe it will just take a while to dry out?
It must be so small of an amount leaking that it's not visible.
The tank is dry, the hoses seem dry, but that thing should not be wet. What is that, anyway?
How can I test it to see if it is indeed being leaked on?
When I press down on it, it's wet.
There's been so much water, coolant, overflow, etc in the past week that I can't tell if it's indeed just soaked or is continually getting wetter.

[Paul]

At this point I would just drive it and keep an eye on the coolant level. The level will tell you soon enough if you still have a leak.

Or have the system pressure tested.

[robdelorenzo]

Thanks.
I'm going to drive it a lot today and see what's going on.
A pressure test will be next if the levels seem to change.
This place is very helpful.
Thanks.

[BFeller]

Wet carpet in these boxers is notorious for never drying. Take some time to insure no moisture is puddling under the seats. There is a very expensive and important computer sitting in the lowest point of the car - under the seats.

[robdelorenzo]

Originally Posted by BFeller

Wet carpet in these boxers is notorious for never drying. Take some time to insure no moisture is puddling under the seats. There is a very expensive and important computer sitting in the lowest point of the car - under the seats.

Thanks. It isn't the carpet though. It's that brownish looking thing that goes across the firewall at the back of the trunk under the computer. All of the wiring harness sits on top of it. I'll shoot a photo of it and see what happens in the next day or two.

[robdelorenzo]

To bring this story to a close, two coolant tanks later (I was warned about not getting a Porsche tank after the first one which was not) the problem was solved.
The original tank went bad.
I had an "off-brand" one installed, which has a hairline crack in the seam on the side and sprayed a fine mist of coolant onto that "pad" in the trunk.
I then had a Porsche tank installed (#2) and that problem went away.
Lesson learned - the $100 I saved by not buying The Porsche Tank cost me a lot more than that to have it replaced.

[911monty]

Originally Posted by 911monty

Well since it's been too damn hot for golf or driving the Box (115 deg yesterday) I guess I'm your Huckelberry, if you're interested.
While your temperature sender apparently needs to be changed I think we still need to verify the leak issue. I have attached a few pics since they're far better than words. So to be clear, your leakage looks exactly like the last pic in the thread I attached yesterday? From the same hose? Maybe this is simple but long range troubleshooting and assumptions don't work. You can verify by having someone pour water into this area while you observe it draining out the hose from below.

In this image I am pointing to the drain. As you can see the only sources (normally) are the cap and the purge/bleed valve.


In this image you can see the tank is two pieces bonded together. The forward nipple is the nipple for the drain to the manifold where it passes thru the trunk. If you look closely you can see that this nipple has very little clearance between it and the tank. There is a possibility this seam has failed here from the overpressure and is leaking coolant. If you can with engine running,and coolant leaking, look down into that hole and see if coolant is coming between the seam. As long as the cap and purge assembly are not leaking, then this really is the only point coolant can drain to that hose.

Originally Posted by robdelorenzo

To bring this story to a close, two coolant tanks later (I was warned about not getting a Porsche tank after the first one which was not) the problem was solved.
The original tank went bad.
I had an "off-brand" one installed, which has a hairline crack in the seam on the side and sprayed a fine mist of coolant onto that "pad" in the trunk.
I then had a Porsche tank installed (#2) and that problem went away.
Lesson learned - the $100 I saved by not buying The Porsche Tank cost me a lot more than that to have it replaced.

And a lot of time spent chasing tail...this was post #80. Thanks for the closure.

[Austinsweet01]

Ok-here is my story and my ultimate question-hopefully in a nutshell. I usually consult past posts on this forum when tying to trouble shoot, this is my first quest for actual advice/info/expert opinion

So I had my local guy replace my water pump mid November. It was an obvious diagnosis-turned out it had disentigrated and the blade was pretty much shredded like most impellers in these old gals. Opted to go ahead and replace thermostat at the same time, upgraded that a bit, had some hoses replaced, necessary seals, connectors, etc since we were in there...
I felt comfortable with a few really good engine flushes as we were able to get almost a complete impeller from the pieces-felt that what was left was most likely going to get shredded to bits and given the history...I feel good about it. Anyway-get her back and she is dropping some liquid. After scouring the forum I realize that it might be a pressure issue.

The long and short of it. After my attempts at bleeding and re-bleeding I am first convinced that I still have a leak-probably some additional hosing that needs to be replaced or perhaps a cracked water resevoir. Every 2-3 days, I drop approx. 1/2 a gallon of what appears to be only the distilled water that I am topping off-not coolant...although I feel like I can smell a little bit of coolant after a good drive.

I've been dealing with this, biding my time for the last couple of months-just topping off-making sure that my resoviour is not low-planning to get her back to my guy to trouble shoot the remaining issue.

Very late on Sunday after a less than climatic superbowl-I am heading home and go to top off my water resevoir and accidentally overfill-it's crazy dark and my friend is slow on the draw with the cell phone flash light. Anyway-it's the first time with an over fill since the work has been done. I shrug it off saying-it's going to leak out fairly quickly anyway. Here's the rub-it's now Tuesday night, and NO CHANGE IN WATER LEVEL!!!

What the heck-could that really have been the problem? Could a pressure issue really have resulted in a coolant/water leakage issue of 1/2 gallon per each 2-3 days? Oh and also my engine light HAD come back on about 5 weeks after the work was completed only to go off on it's own about 4 weeks after that ( which was like 2 weeks ago).

Thoughts? PS. Thank you for taking the time to read and hopefully to respond and PPS. I love my Porche!

[robdelorenzo]

I also had a bleeder valve go bad. It took a while for it to get bad enough to where I could actually see the leakage around the valve. Until that happened, it would spray out a fine mist of coolant under a certain pressure and then stop when the engine was shut off and the pressure dropped. The crack had to get wide enough to be seen in action to find it. Try a pressure test. Auto Zone will loan you a tester if you don't have one.

[Austinsweet01]

Thanks robdelorenzo.
I will definately try to tackle the pressure test-I'm intimidated by auto-projects that have more than about 10 steps but the pressure test sounds like something I might be able to brag about having done myself .
I am trying not to be too optomistic-at this point-about the dry spot under my car in case I start seeing evidence of leakage again.

To give an idea of how significant the leaking was-this is what I'd find each day at 5pm. My officeparking spot is on a slight incline which I guess was allowing the liquid to drain from the under-carriage cover...

[dghii]

So here's something you can do that will take a bit of effort but with no real risk.

Your pic looks like it coolant coming from the forward part of the motor but because of the under panel, who knows.

Here's what I'd do. Slide your seats forward and remove the carpet from the firewall. There are great instructions on this site and others on how to remove the carpet. Look for instructions on water pump or alternator removal. Once removed, remove the metal firewall panel. Don't be intimidated, its just some nuts and bolts that are easy to get at. Once the panel is removed, visually locate your water pump. The pump is located down low on the the passenger side of the car.

Start your car and look for signs of a leak. Be patient, it may be very small, even from around a fastener. Water pump bolts only require 7 ft-lbs of torque, which isn't much. Just see if you can locate anything obvious.

Again, this exercise will be helpful, wether you find the source of you leak or not. At the minimum, you'll know how to access the front of the motor, which will allow you to change your own alternator or pulleys or serpentine belt...all easy DYI's that will save you some bucks.