Creamy light brown/tan gunk in coolant tank - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Boxtaboy · 08-15-2010, 03:25 AM

The oil is mixed with a lot of coolant (the coolant tank you see is only the coolant overflow tank, so it shows only a small fraction of the overall coolant in the system), so the oil in the tank you see will not be all black like oil itself. Instead, it would look like what you're looking at now...a frothy tan colored milkshake-like mix. Hate to say it, but it's almost certainly an oil/coolant intermix, and you can't keep driving the car without addressing it because you will really damage the engine.

If you can't afford to fix the car at a dealer or independent shop right now, buy a Bentley Repair manual and you can perhaps try to replace the oil cooler/heat exchanger yourself to see if that was the cause of your intermix. Of course, you'll also have to flush and refill/burp your coolant system tank as well. If that doesn't do it, you'll really need to take it to shop that knows Porsches.

Repair manual:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d.html/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/185-9993856-2479431?redirect=true&tag=porschepetesboxs&a=0837613337

gcorteen · 08-15-2010, 09:48 AM

UPDATE: Found a guy a few miles away that has done work on boxsters. Car ran fine on the trip there at speeds up to 75. Car temp was good and no funny smells when I got there. First thing noticed was one radiator hose was warm and one was not. Also, fan was not blowing warm air from radiator. He thinks I should just replace thermostat to start. Does this sound right to everyone? Thanks again for all the help.

New problem. Got the car home and smoke (not a lot) was coming out of the vent by passenger side door. Any thoughts?

Boxtaboy · 08-15-2010, 10:09 AM

Lol. How is changing the thermostat going to fix the oil intermix problem you have in your coolant tank? Smoke coming out of your engine vent could mean some loose connections that lead to your coolant tank, among other things.

Two people on this board (one, a repair shop owner), have recommended you not drive the car anymore until you fix the oil intermix problem, but you ignore it and drive your car up to 75mph anyway. Lol. I think you should now drive it up to 100mph just for fun!

gcorteen · 08-15-2010, 10:16 AM

I did just get the name of a good local independent Porsche repair shop, I will get it there.

Frodo · 08-15-2010, 10:31 AM

Take the scenic route!

Boxtaboy · 08-15-2010, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frodo

Take the scenic route!

Now that's funny!

JFP in PA · 08-15-2010, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gcorteen

UPDATE: Found a guy a few miles away that has done work on boxsters. Car ran fine on the trip there at speeds up to 75. Car temp was good and no funny smells when I got there. First thing noticed was one radiator hose was warm and one was not. Also, fan was not blowing warm air from radiator. He thinks I should just replace thermostat to start. Does this sound right to everyone? Thanks again for all the help.

New problem. Got the car home and smoke (not a lot) was coming out of the vent by passenger side door. Any thoughts?

Yeah, you have a major league issue and yet are not paying attention............if you think your funds are limited now, just keep driving it………….

Cloudsurfer · 08-15-2010, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gcorteen

UPDATE: Found a guy a few miles away that has done work on boxsters. Car ran fine on the trip there at speeds up to 75. Car temp was good and no funny smells when I got there. First thing noticed was one radiator hose was warm and one was not. Also, fan was not blowing warm air from radiator. He thinks I should just replace thermostat to start. Does this sound right to everyone? Thanks again for all the help.

New problem. Got the car home and smoke (not a lot) was coming out of the vent by passenger side door. Any thoughts?

Find a shop who knows what they are doing, and DO NOT drive the car until you get this solved (unless, of course, you'd like to buy a new motor).

BYprodriver · 08-17-2010, 09:22 AM

Hmmm, how can I convert my limited funds to depleted...

Cloudsurfer · 08-17-2010, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BYprodriver

Hmmm, how can I convert my limited funds to depleted...

I'll second that...

BYprodriver · 08-20-2010, 10:32 AM

Ran across the factory procedure for cleaning oil from coolant system in service manual Group 1 part 2 way in back of manual printed in 2002. Interesting that intermix is common enough problem to require update in manual with specialized equipment but not until 2002. I would be sure & have this procedure done after intermix repair.

JFP in PA · 08-20-2010, 12:12 PM

Good luck trying to find the listed cleaning agent to add to the cooling system; fortunately, Prestone make a good one that works fine for this...........