Coolant Leak Question

[elav]

Hello! I have a '98 986 Boxster that was backed into nearly 5 months ago. I brought it to a body shop that has a good reputation and they replaced the passenger side radiator (mounting clip was damaged), fixed the front quarter panel, front bumper, etc. I decided to have the entire car painted while it was in there and just picked up the car after 5 months. The final bill shows a new radiator and coolant.

Driving the car home, the coolant light started flashing and I noticed the coolant was a bit below the min line. The car is way over due to be smogged and because the shop disconnected the battery, I needed to drive it 40 - 50 miles to get the sensors registering before smogging it. I did so and while it was being smogged it started leaking coolant from in front of the rear wheel on the passenger side (US car). Needless to say the smog tech was not happy that the rollers on the machine was covered in coolant.

Further investigation shows that there is moisture at the top of the rear trunk lid and a the top where the cap is was wet. My guess is the body shop had no idea that there is the bleeder valve under the cover in the coolant/oil AOS. What are the thoughts that this was caused by them not removing air in the system vs. something more? Should I simply fill it up with the vent open, warm it up, etc. to purge the air or should I check something else out first?

I should mention that the cap has already been updated to the -04 model

[jrj3rd]

check radiator fans. they are two speed controlled with a resistor on the fan unit. Could have caused your overheating and fluid loss.

[elav]

Thanks for the guidance. I checked it out and the fans are working perfectly. I actually bled the system and all seems good. So I guess the body shop doesn't know how to bleed Boxsters...

Originally Posted by jrj3rd

check radiator fans. they are two speed controlled with a resistor on the fan unit. Could have caused your overheating and fluid loss.

[Bush Pilot]

When I changed my coolant the light flashed for a few drives while I drove around with the bleeder valve open. The directions say to idle but I felt that was wasteful. I’m not convinced you don’t have a leaking expansion tank. What is your explanation for the coolant leak?

[Starter986]

Originally Posted by elav

Hello! I have a '98 986 Boxster that was backed into nearly 5 months ago. I brought it to a body shop that has a good reputation and they replaced the passenger side radiator (mounting clip was damaged), fixed the front quarter panel, front bumper, etc. I decided to have the entire car painted while it was in there and just picked up the car after 5 months. The final bill shows a new radiator and coolant.

Driving the car home, the coolant light started flashing and I noticed the coolant was a bit below the min line. The car is way over due to be smogged and because the shop disconnected the battery, I needed to drive it 40 - 50 miles to get the sensors registering before smogging it. I did so and while it was being smogged it started leaking coolant from in front of the rear wheel on the passenger side (US car). Needless to say the smog tech was not happy that the rollers on the machine was covered in coolant.

Further investigation shows that there is moisture at the top of the rear trunk lid and a the top where the cap is was wet. My guess is the body shop had no idea that there is the bleeder valve under the cover in the coolant/oil AOS. What are the thoughts that this was caused by them not removing air in the system vs. something more? Should I simply fill it up with the vent open, warm it up, etc. to purge the air or should I check something else out first?

I should mention that the cap has already been updated to the -04 model

That.

,,,,,

[Bush Pilot]

Good luck fixing the leak when it appears again.