Car troubles, all my coolant drained out this weekend. Any advice?

[SoK]

Thanks for the details guys! My boxster has 66k miles and I put about 8 or 9k a year on it, so it gets driven a lot.

NKY is Northern Kentucky. I'm about 10 minutes from Cincinnati.

I'll look around for an indi Porsche mechanic and see if I can just have it towed there this weekend or next week.

From what I've read so far, the bleeding process is a pain in the ass, so I don't want to have to mess with it. Hopefully it's just a hose or a clamp they can replace and refill/bleed in an hour or so.

[SoK]

Cars on the way to a local referred shop. I'll update when they figure out what happened... Fingers crossed.

[SoK]

From what I've read here and the diagnosis from the shop, the water pump "went bad" (I'm guessing the impellers have worn down".

This caused the overheating which led to the coolant overflowing as it wasn't being circulated properly.

So they're doing the waterpump, the thermostat while they're in there, some gaskets, new porsche coolant and labor for a total of $1k.

It's all oem parts from the porsche dealer up in Ohio. It'll be done by the end of the day which is pretty surprising. I just had the car towed there and dropped off at 530 and it'll be completely finished within 24 hours.

What's your thoughts? Seem like a fair bill for what's being done? The waterpump was something like $384 alone.

[thom4782]

$1K is a fair price. I just paid $1.2K a couple of days ago.

If the impeller had broken pieces, ask the shop to do what they can to find the missing ones. If they get in the engine, they can clog the coolant passages.

[SoK]

I'll let them know to call me if the WP had any broken fins.

Wish I had been prepared with an aftermarket pump with metal fins, but oh well. I shouldn't have to worry about this for another 8 years if it lasts as long as the first.

And to answer an earlier question, I have almost 67,000 miles on the car. It's been rock solid in the 3 years I've owned it, so I'm not upset about this. I had the 60k service and then some done at 42k miles when i bought it, so hopefully this is all I have to deal with for another 3 or 4 years.

And I still love driving this car every day. Putting the top down on the way home from work on a friday and letting the engine rev out is awesome

[thom4782]

The word is that aftermarket pumps tend to fail after about a year's use.

I've seen a lot of debate on metal v. composite water pumps. The risk with metal impellers is that they can eat into the engine block if the water pump bearing fails in such a way as to allow the impeller to wobble.

After reading up on the water pump issue across the forums, I've come to the conclusion that the Porsche pump is the only way to go. The aftermarket / metal impeller risk is not worth the money saved.

[lacrosse1]

Where did you wind-up going for service?? I'm also looking for a good independent in the Cincinnati area.

[deptotpr]

Water pump, and replace the thermostat too.

[seventythree]

Originally Posted by SoK

This caused the overheating which led to the coolant overflowing as it wasn't being circulated properly.

That is a little bit of wishful thinking. There is a good chance your coolant reservoir has cracked due to being over-pressurized.

Originally Posted by SoK

What's your thoughts?

Even if the coolant tank has not failed yet, there is an excellent chance that it will soon due to the fresh coolant and/or being stressed during the bleeding process.

[trimer]

Originally Posted by SoK

Thanks for the details guys! My boxster has 66k miles and I put about 8 or 9k a year on it, so it gets driven a lot.

NKY is Northern Kentucky. I'm about 10 minutes from Cincinnati.

I'll look around for an indi Porsche mechanic and see if I can just have it towed there this weekend or next week.

From what I've read so far, the bleeding process is a pain in the ass, so I don't want to have to mess with it. Hopefully it's just a hose or a clamp they can replace and refill/bleed in an hour or so.

I moved to Jacksonville Fl about 3 years ago from Cincinnati. Lived in Maineville and could see the fireworks every night from our house at Kings Island. I really miss me some Skyline! Did you take it to the Kings Automall Porsche shop?