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Originally Posted by milist
I just bought a 2000 Boxster (tip. w/11,000 miles) and I noticed the coolant is below the "minimum" mark. I am wondering why it is so low. It doesn't appear to be leaking. Also my antifreeze tester had 4 of 5 balls dropping. Do I need a special tester for this type of antifreeze, or has it really lost that much protection in 11,000 miles? Should I add or replace and where is the drain located. Thanks in advance. Any ideas?
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Hi,
It's not unusual for some seepage, rather than leakage, to occur over time. Porsche used Spring Clamps on all the Coolant Hoses rather than the traditional
Worm Clamps (screw type), these don't seal especially well and Porsche has issued a TSB to replace these Spring Clamps with Worm Clamps if doing any work to the Coolant System.
Also, Porsche revised their Coolant Recovery Tank Cap, improving the seal, to prevent loss of Coolant as
Steam. The Recovery Tank itself which could crack due to Heat Cycling, again, these may be the issue. If the Cap was changed, it too can fail simply from it's Service Life, although with 11k mi., this is somewhat unlikely.
Porsche claims the Coolant is Lifetime, but don't believe it, if it truly is Lifetime, it is the only known one in all of
Autodom, even BMW and MB
Lifetime Fluids are changed. Porsche uses a Silicate-Free Coolant such as Prestone 5/150 or Sierra. These need changing every 5 years or 150k mi., so I would go with this. Don't mix traditional Ethylene-Glycol because it will react with the OEM Coolant and the Silicates will coagulate into a gel and fall from solution blocking vital Coolant Passages.
Since the Car is new to you, it would probably be a wise investment to have these items checked and the System Flushed and changed (50/50 solution). This way, you'll have a trouble-free baseline from which to start the clock over again. Hope this helps...
Happy Motoring!... Jim'99