Go Back   986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners > Porsche Boxster & Cayman Forums > Boxster General Discussions

Post Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 07-30-2009, 03:26 PM   #1
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: WA
Posts: 9
Hot day...100+

I pulled into the driveway after work today, went in the house, came out and there's antifreeze all over the driveway. The low coolant warning light is on too.

Any thoughts? Are there hoses that are prone to blow?

The car's a 2002 Boxster S with 52K miles.

Rich Lambert

Granitehead is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2009, 03:28 PM   #2
Registered User
 
tonycarreon's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Frederick, MD
Posts: 1,396
Quote:
Originally Posted by Granitehead
I pulled into the driveway after work today, went in the house, came out and there's antifreeze all over the driveway. The low coolant warning light is on too.

Any thoughts? Are there hoses that are prone to blow?

The car's a 2002 Boxster S with 52K miles.

Rich Lambert
coolant tank
tonycarreon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2009, 03:29 PM   #3
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: WA
Posts: 9
I forgot to mention, it's coming out of the rear of the car. Is that where the coolant tank is located?
__________________
Rich Lambert
2002 Boxster S
Granitehead is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2009, 04:04 PM   #4
Registered User
 
tonycarreon's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Frederick, MD
Posts: 1,396
rear trunk.

check the carpet see if it's wet. check around the cap, pull off the plastic holder. pull up the carpet, see if there's coolant in there.
tonycarreon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2009, 05:12 PM   #5
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: WA
Posts: 9
It was wet around the cap. The carpet's dry, but it was really warm back there so maybe it dried out by now?

I put some water in, started it up, and it's not dripping anywhere.

I don't know...this can't be a good thing. Lots of people probably drive Boxsters in extreme heat without the car boiling over.
__________________
Rich Lambert
2002 Boxster S
Granitehead is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2009, 05:13 PM   #6
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 7,243
It could be just a hose or hose clamp or the crappy overflow tank caps Porsche put on our cars from the factory. However, it's common on our cars for the coolant overflow tank to crack with age.

Everything but the cap is hard to see and get to. You probably need to get it towed to a porsche mechanic for closer examination.
RandallNeighbour is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2009, 05:58 PM   #7
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Kingwood, TX
Posts: 2
Coolant Leak

Granitehead,

I bought a 2002 base model with 34K miles just last May. A few weeks later while driving down the freeway on a very hot Texas day, I had an engine light come on. I didn't hear anything unusual and did not see a change in the engine temp, but got off the freeway at the next exit. I shut off the engine at the stop light and restarted it after about a minute. The engine light went out and stayed out for about half a mile, then came on again and the temp started to rise slightly. I pulled over immediately and shut it down. Thirty seconds later, about half a gallon of coolant spilled out on the ground, near my right rear wheel.

I had the car towed to a Porsche dealership. After a complete diagnostic checkup, they said everything was normal, no leaks, and good coolant pressure. They thought that the non-Porsche dealer that serviced the car before I bought it had allowed air into the coolant system and that it may have caused it to boil over and dump out the overflow. This is my first Porsche and I don't know enough to say for sure that it could cause an overflow. I have never had another incident even though it has been very hot here in Houston. The total cost at the Porsche dealership was only $179. So maybe something similar happened to you. Good luck!
SubVet is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2009, 08:26 PM   #8
There Is No Substitute.
 
rick3000's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: West Coast
Posts: 3,253
Garage
If it is above the passenger rear wheel and the trunk is not wet, then the coolant most likely came out of the coolant overflow.
This happened to me and the entire coolant tank drained out. After a trip to the dealer and $600 later it turned out to be nothing. Basically, they told me an air bubble or something can just cause the coolant to come out of the overflow and it really does not mean anything is wrong with the car.
Hope this helps!
__________________
1999 Ocean Blue Metallic Boxster - blueboxster.com
rick3000 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-31-2009, 05:15 AM   #9
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: In the garage...
Posts: 1,702
Could easily just be a bad cap. What are the last 2 numbers on it? If .00, know they changed the flange design on it from rounded to squared up which retains the pressure threshold better so the overflow bleed valve acts as it's supposed to (become the lowest pressure relief for the system at 19psi (IIRC).

I understand Porsche has a .03 revision available but at the least get the .01 part if you have the .00 currently (should be $15 or so - 996 106 447 01)

Old cap on left, new cap on right:
Burg Boxster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-31-2009, 06:52 AM   #10
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 7,243
the local stealerships want $29 or MORE for that revised cap! EEEK!

If yours wants more than about $15, buy it from Sunset Imports in Oregon. They charge 10-15% over hard cost for Porsche parts from their parts counter for out of state customers.
RandallNeighbour is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-31-2009, 06:58 AM   #11
Registered User
 
9eighty6's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: South FL
Posts: 253
Here in Buffalo, we haven't even hit 90 once this summer ... sheesh
__________________
1984 - 944 - The first one.
1984 - 928S - The loudest one.
2001 - Boxster - The best one.
9eighty6 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-31-2009, 07:21 AM   #12
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 7,243
Buffalo does seem to get a lot closer to 90 below in the winter though! Man the place you live is frigid in the winter. Of course, I've got the opposite here... it's rarely below 90 degrees above zero in Houston.

I cannot wait to move away from this traffic-laden inferno.
RandallNeighbour is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-03-2009, 09:37 AM   #13
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: WA
Posts: 9
Thanks for all the replies!

After refilling the the tank, it hasn't leaked anything out. I'm going to take the car out for a drive this afternoon and we'll see what happens. I'll check the cap out too.
__________________
Rich Lambert
2002 Boxster S
Granitehead is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-03-2009, 09:49 AM   #14
Registered User
 
Keith Newby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: San Diego
Posts: 200
It's a ninety percent chance it's the coolant cap. The latest version ends in 04 although the 03 is still being sold.

Keith Newby is offline   Reply With Quote
Post Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On




All times are GMT -8. The time now is 12:58 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0
Copyright 2024 Pelican Parts, LLC - Posts may be archived for display on the Pelican Parts Website -    DMCA Registered Agent Contact Page