Strange?
 

Last week I was reading of another forum member's woes of coolant leaking everywhere. Then another member stated that it may be his coolant cap and that there were updated caps available with part # ending in .02, .03 etc. I was thinking I should check mine. Sure enough mine had a pn# ending in .00. This was last Wed. or Thurs. Anyway... I decided it was cheap preventative maintenance and I hadn't spent any $ on the Boxster lately so I ordered an updated cap from suncoast. It should be here today. Ok, for the unbelievable part. I drove the car last night for the first time in approx. 3 weeks. When I came to a stop in my driveway it leaked coolant in front of the RR tire all over the driveway. I immediately opened the rear trunk and sure enough I had coolant around the cap in the service tray. Crap! I'm sure this is the culprit as it is not leaking anywhere else but there. So I'm thinking how weird that I ordered a part for something that hadn't even failed yet. So give me some logical explanation here guys... Did I disrupt something by removing the cap to look at it last week? Is it just a coincidence? It's a '00 S with 38k mi. So a lot of garage-queen time. I checked/removed the cap last week when the engine was completely cold and had been sitting for 2 weeks so no harm in altering pressure in the system or anything. I think the cap probably hadn't been "disturbed" in years. Also, I took the trim piece out of the service tray to reveal the other relief valve etc. I wanted to know where the coolant all went. Is that a tiny drain hole in there? I just wanted to make sure coolant didn't go somewhere undesirable in the trunk or cabin. So thank-you to whomever had the coolant cap problem last week. You prompted me to order an updated one and to fix a problem I hadn't even had yet!

sean

Don't you know that the act of reading a thread on a car forum will cause the same thing in the thread to happen to your car. You were just lucky that you had ordered the part because the damage was done by that point.

What was the part number because now I am screwed for posting this.

The newest version ends in .04.

Here:
http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/smart/more_info.cgi?pn=996-106-447-04-M100&catalog_description=Radiator%20Cap%2C%20Boxst er%2FBoxster%20S%20%28%31%39%39%37%2D%30%34%29%2C% 20Each%20%20%20

I checked my cap today just out of curiosity...ends with .01. Everything I've read seems to indicate I should replace it, but I've never had an issue. Very odd that yours had problems out of the blue (no pun intended). Mine has been off numerous times since I replaced my coolant last spring, upon installing the LN low temp t-stat...you'd think if it were to fail, it would have done so by now?

Go check, I would be willing to bet it failed while you were typing.

o Rings
 

If you are still have a coolant issue after repacing the cap replace the seals on the release valve you noticed unders the plastic trim piece. The two rings are not but a couple of dollars each.
You will find a post on how to replace the rings within the forum.

thanks for the replies
 

My cap still hasn't come in yet. I haven't driven the car since it puked it's coolant out on the driveway. Probably not enough loss to do any damage. Is the little drain hole next to the relief valve where it all goes out at? Also I know I should just do a search on this, but do I HAAAAVE to buy the Porsche coolant stuff? My closest dealership is 1 1/2 hrs away. I'm sure, like oil threads, everyone has an opinion on this...

thanks!
sean

Suncoast has the 03 cap for $15.20 verus $23.50 at pelicanparts.com

http://www.****************************************************.com/product/99610644703.html?Category_Code=986Cooling