Coolant system woes (first issue after buying car)
 

Does anyone recognize what this dripping port is for/ what should be at the end of it? I parked the car today (left it running as I was waiting to pick someone up) and all of a sudden there was the familiar smell of coolant, and subsequent leakage on the ground (a lot). After taking care of business, I came back to do some investigating.

Findings:
-my coolant cap has coolant around it and is (if I'm not mistaken) the original with last digits of 00

-coolant tank looks OK (not super yellow, no coolant under trunk carpet)

-when I poured water into the coolant tank, since I was pretty sure almost all the coolant came out, I found it dripping here (see pic)

I'm not familiar enough to know what should be there or what it should look like, but to me, it looks like there's a hose or something missing.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...72a52ee864.jpg

Thanks for helping. (First Porsche I've owned, and only had it a month or so)

-Ben

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More info: it's the end of a hose and it's got some kind of (broken) plastic clip on it near the end. Is it one of the many hoses that go to the coolant tank?

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Could be a cracked bleeder valve. Search. Easy fix.
Could be a faulty coolant cap. Search. Test, replace. Easy fix.

Thanks I'm definitely getting a new cap. I'll look into the bleeder valve.

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coolant issue
 

Looks like the overflow drain line for the reservoir. Look at the reservoir from the top and you will see a small hole (about as thick as a pencil). It connects to one of those lines on the side of the reservoir and from there through the firewall and then just down. it's simply a drain line. Check it out with the car off. Just pour some water at the top of that valve and if it comes out ONLY through that one tube, then it is the drainage valve. if that is it, then you have a pressure relief valve problem. If not, then you have a tank leak which can only be solved by replacement.
Don't know what would cause that pressure relief valve to fail, but i guess it could happen. Check the screws (8 I think) that hold the cap down and make sure they're tight. Be careful, they are screwed into plastic - do not torque too much - just "lightly tight". If that's not it, there is an o-ring under that valve. Maybe it could have failed but that is also a long shot.
Other than that, it's beyond my expertise.
And I know about that pressure relief situation because I just went through it. Good luck.

Many thanks!

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This can happen to a pressure relief valve aka bleeder valve:
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1489066493.jpg

Since you're a new Boxster owner, I'd recommend you buy a Bentley Boxster repair manual. Even if you don't wrench on the car, you can look up all sorts of stuff and figure out what's what.

I enjoy reading mine from time to time, even when I don't have an issue, just to learn more about my car.

Thanks, I'm going to follow that advice.

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The bleeder valve doesn't look broken....https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...10afa99a5e.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...c9a0a0916a.jpg

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I was able to get to the disconnected house from above, but I still don't know what it goes to.... I'm thinking about plugging it and filling up with distilled water, then seeing if it'll hold until I get home to my garage. Any thoughts? We're above freezing temps right now, and I plan to reconnect the hose, replace the cap and flush the whole system once parts arrive.

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I was able to find the end of the hose from the engine compartment this time. It seems like pilot Ray was correct, as I can't find anything it goes to and it seems like it's the drain hose that goes thru the firewall and then down to the ground.

So I filled up with distilled water since it's well above freezing here and let the car warm up. No leaks, no nothing all the way up to 180°. So my plan is to drive it home tonight (25 minute drive max) and then get going on a coolant flush, vent cap and relief valve once the parts come in. I'm wondering if the cap failing was enough to actuate the relief valve and then basically everything that was supposed to happen in that case happened?

Edit: and get a good repair manual!

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Be aware that you might now have an air bubble in the system which will cause the coolant to puke out again on your run home.
You can prevent that by lifting the chromed D ring on the bleeder valve into the vertical position to help burp the air out of the system before your drive. This is how you can get rid of excess air when you get round to changing out the coolant.

Thanks, I did this warming the car up and proceeded to make it home without issue.

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That overflow tube basically drains the cavity above the expansion tank. There is a hole between the Bleeder value and the Fill. So any excess that comes up out of either Cap or Bleeder can drain out that hole, down the tube just in front of the right rear tire.
Are you getting any condensation on the trunk lid above the expansion tank??

I have used sandwich bags over the fill cap and Bleeder to try and isolate which one was causing condensation for me.
For me it was the Bleeder and I was able to replace just the (2) 'O' rings and that solved it.

I was getting enough condensation that when everything cooled, I would see a few drops worth from the overflow on the floor

I've not noticed any condensation, but I've also not looked for any. Thanks for the tip.

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And on a related subject, there had been a couple of entries re: putting some kind of screen at the air vents in front of the radiators. When I got mine a couple of months ago, I pulled the bumper to clean the radiators. Glad I did. They desperately needed it. So, I also wanted to screen those vents to help protect it in the future. Ended up pulling the vents off the bumper and zip tieing some 1/2 inch wire mesh to the inside of the vent. Keep the zip ties as far to the sides as possible. When i put it back on the bumper you can only see two of the eight ties I used - and you sort of have to look for them. It really wasn't that hard. Spent more time thinking about it than doing it. Which means I can easily change it if need be. So hopefully that will be the end of my cooling saga.

When I first bought mine and topped off the coolant, I basically cross threaded the cap screwing it back on and the coolant puked out. I was freaked out until I realized what had happened.

Been there, done that.

Just wanted to give an update: got the new coolant cap and fluids, did the flush, put the new on, bled system and all seems to be well. I can hear the new cap venting a little after car is shut off and I open the rear trunk. There's no condensation above the cap or overflow leakage. There was green coolant (clean) in the car but I replaced with the pink (oem I think) stuff.

Also, started detailing the car in preparation for Water by the Bridge, my local big euro car show this Saturday in Louisville on the river. Should be a great time, especially since in the past three haven't been many Porsche's there. If anyone's local or close to Louisville, it's a great show to check out with typically lots of cool and unique "older" stuff and plenty of air cooled VW's.

Detailing the car for the show includes: carpet cleaning, windows, leather treatment, cleaning door jambs and all those often neglected areas, convertible top treatment, clay bar, rubbing compound, polish, wax, and wheel and tire treatment. Got the first 4 items done this evening, and will get the rest tomorrow and Friday.

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