I just replaced a 20 year old waterpump...

[Rob175]

Please DON'T RELY on seeing or feeling a "wet carpet" in the truck in order to determine IF the coolant tank is leaking! In my case the carpet was bone dry and the tank was still leaking (actually weeping from it's bottom when up to temp and pressurized).

The trunk in my 1998 has a masonite type of raised flooring that sits 1 inch above and between the metal trunk floor and the carpet....that allowed the coolant to collect below the masonite raised floor and just slosh around until it eventually found a way to drip a few drops on my garage floor.

I suggest you removed ALL the fabric lining in the rear trunk (bottom & sides)....(easy to do but time consuming). Then lift up the raised floor boards and drive the car for a day or two and just keep opening the truck to look for coolant collecting. I took rolled up paper towel and placed it all around the tanks sides and bottom, drove the car for a bit, and saw the paper towel began getting wet.

[pilot4fn]

Thank you Rob175 and NewArt for this very good info. I'm back from travels and will open up the carpets on the wekend to come. I've had the car only 2 months and can see now that the water in the reservoir is at the lower mark now when the car warm... can't remember how it was at the time of purchase

Originally Posted by NewArt

Check under the carpet/liner in the trunk near the tank for wetness.
Replacing the tank with an original Porsche part is recommended. Aftermarket tanks have often proved to be unreliable; you don't want to do the job twice!
DIY tips and videos abound. You might want to tackle this job, it's not as daunting as many make you believe!

Originally Posted by Rob175

Please DON'T RELY on seeing or feeling a "wet carpet" in the truck in order to determine IF the coolant tank is leaking! In my case the carpet was bone dry and the tank was still leaking (actually weeping from it's bottom when up to temp and pressurized).

The trunk in my 1998 has a masonite type of raised flooring that sits 1 inch above and between the metal trunk floor and the carpet....that allowed the coolant to collect below the masonite raised floor and just slosh around until it eventually found a way to drip a few drops on my garage floor.

I suggest you removed ALL the fabric lining in the rear trunk (bottom & sides)....(easy to do but time consuming). Then lift up the raised floor boards and drive the car for a day or two and just keep opening the truck to look for coolant collecting. I took rolled up paper towel and placed it all around the tanks sides and bottom, drove the car for a bit, and saw the paper towel began getting wet.

[Rob175]

From what I've seen, the DIY job of replacing the tank is VERY difficult unless you can raise the car and work underneath in addition to from the top. Remember there is also the connections for the oil dip stick and oil filler in addition to coolant connection. For me, I didn't want to tackle the job because failure or any difficulties encountered in the process would render the car un-drivable......and the cost to have it towed in would exceed the price of my "indy" doing the job AND guaranteeing the work. But, having said that, there are some that do tackle it, just not me.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Ciao]

Originally Posted by Rob175

From what I've seen, the DIY job of replacing the tank is VERY difficult unless you can raise the car and work underneath in addition to from the top. Remember there is also the connections for the oil dip stick and oil filler in addition to coolant connection. For me, I didn't want to tackle the job because failure or any difficulties encountered in the process would render the car un-drivable......and the cost to have it towed in would exceed the price of my "indy" doing the job AND guaranteeing the work. But, having said that, there are some that do tackle it, just not me.

Good luck and keep us posted.

That's one DIY I would probably have the Indy do; there are many others that will save me $ equalizing the cost of having the tank done by the Indy.