busted radiator

[ranbar2]

Well, for a while now I have been getting a whiff of coolant after driving a while. Then Friday my low coolant light starts flashing. I get home and open the trunk and coolant is leaking from the cap. I take it in to the dealer, because the indie porsche shop is backlogged, and they say it is:

1) a bad cap (duh). Funny thing is that they replaced the cap 6 months ago when I first took it in about smelling coolant. Anyway, I get a new cap gratis.

2) a small leak from a seam in the right radiator. $875 to fix. Ouch. I have a call in to the indie shop to see what they will charge.

Now, has anyone ever experienced something like this? I have heard of lots of complaints about the resevoir cracking, but the radiator itself? Also, I have been getting the occassional coolant whiff for at least 8 months. Could that have been caused by something other then this leaky radiator seam? Finally, if the leak is at a seam, can it be repaired instead of replacing the entire radiator?

[deliriousga]

Yuck! Sorry to hear about your trouble.

The leak can be caused by several things, from a leaky hose (there are tons of them in there) to the reservoir to the radiator. If it is the seam, I don't believe it can be fixed.

The $875 price tag is about on par with most. It's an expensive part.

If you want to save some $$$, try Sunset Porsche for the radiator itself. It will probably be about 60% of the local dealer's cost. Then you can get the local specialist to put it in.

It seems to be a pretty easy DIY if you're game. There's a great write-up for adding a third radiator at http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?act=diy&code=diy_rad You can use that to see what it takes to get to the radiator that needs to be replaced if you're interested.

Heck, to save some labor cost, fly me down there for $200 and I'll help you with it over the weekend of the 10th or it's $150 for the weekend of the 17th.

Hope it goes well!