Boxster Started Overheating at 40° - Help!

Rick, if you don't want to pull off the front bumper, you can try doing some cleaning of the radiators by doing it with the leaf blower. Blow out as much as you can when everything is dry. Then wash everything down, and blow them out again.

With all due respect, a vacuum makes more sense although it will never get the packed debris. The radiators are sealed in a closed, briefcase like pocket, a blower wont help at all and may even drive more dirt into the sensitive fins, no dis to B mussanti at all intended..peace boys good luck with the project..

[rick3000]

Thanks for the advice. I have the Bentley manual to guide me. I am going to try using a leaf blower and see if still heats up so much, then I may opt to remove the bumper. I've read about doing it, and I don't have to much else to do this weekend.
Just as long as running the engine above 180, isn't going to hurt anything.

[kabel]

Two things, have your mechanic test the fan resistor, it may have blown casing your fans to not come on which could account for the slight temp increase. Second, if your not going to do a full disassembly to clean out the radiators (see below) then don't bother with the blower as mentioned above. It will do nothing except, well, blow a bunch of air.

Check out this previous thread on cleaning out the radiators:
How much dirt could really be in there?

a lot of debris can collect in there:

[insite]

you're getting good advice; check the fans, burp the coolant reservoir, pull the bumper & clean the radiators. the car's normal temp in hot weather is what you show in your pic. that may be a little high for 40° days, but nothing that will damage your car.

as for being concerned w/ running it up to 6k RPM's? dude, it's a PORSCHE. it's designed to be driven hard. they even stay nice and cool on the race track. don't worry about putting your foot in it now and then.

[rick3000]

I finally got some time, and checked the front radiators today. They are completely clean, there is nothing wrong with them. Which, from what I have read narrows it down to three things the engine fan fuse, right/left radiator fan fuse, or the coolant.

I checked the coolant and it is about 1" below the minimum mark, which is bad. According to the guy I talked to at the Porsche dealer, if the coolant level is low the engine could be heating up more than the gauge is showing. Is that true?
Also, should I just add coolant, or should I flush it?
Thanks!

Originally Posted by rick3000

I finally got some time, and checked the front radiators today. They are completely clean, there is nothing wrong with them. Which, from what I have read narrows it down to three things the engine fan fuse, right/left radiator fan fuse, or the coolant.

I checked the coolant and it is about 1" below the minimum mark, which is bad. According to the guy I talked to at the Porsche dealer, if the coolant level is low the engine could be heating up more than the gauge is showing. Is that true?
Also, should I just add coolant, or should I flush it?
Thanks!

How old is the coolant? If more than 4-5 years, I'd flush it. Till then, add some distilled water, and see how the temp reacts.

[insite]

Originally Posted by rick3000

I finally got some time, and checked the front radiators today. They are completely clean, there is nothing wrong with them. Which, from what I have read narrows it down to three things the engine fan fuse, right/left radiator fan fuse, or the coolant.

I checked the coolant and it is about 1" below the minimum mark, which is bad. According to the guy I talked to at the Porsche dealer, if the coolant level is low the engine could be heating up more than the gauge is showing. Is that true?
Also, should I just add coolant, or should I flush it?
Thanks!

don't worry about the low coolant; what the mechanic is talking about only occurs when the engine is full of vapor rather than liquid. this only occurs when you're almost out of coolant. if there is any coolant in your reservoir at ALL, this is not occuring.