Fun guy

Hi everyone,

I am the recent new owner of a 2017 718 BS but unfortunately it’s been at the shop for the past 10 days due to a cooling system fault alarm. I understand this is not a totally uncommon issue - Car and Driver had this issue with their long term Boxster S as well.

Just wondering, if anyone else has had this issue and how long it took for it to get repaired. Also, this unfortunately occurred right after purchasing my car. Does this tend to be an isolated issue that is solved with a faulty part replacement or does this tend to be a chronic issue on some cars?

Thanks!

colnagoG60

I had this same error on my 981 GT4, purchased CPO last July, w/30k miles. I was told it was a bad "check valve", and was replaced under warranty.

crw

I posted a thread - do a search

718 cars built in 2017 have a defective coolant level sensor that needs to be upgraded by the dealer.

911CSC

Also before shutting car off you should run your heater for a few minutes and rev the car up. Let the car cool down and then open the cap and check the level.

This has helped many that live in warm areas that never turn the heater on. You have to run the entire system to get correct level

FazedChicken

What's your mileage at? I also have a 2017 and I'm hoping that this happens under warranty (if it does). So far no coolant issues in 3yrs and 35,000km.

Anyone know if there's a service bulletin to get this done before it actually happens?

crw

Do a search under "crw"

I posted the official Porsche service memo regarding this.

Apparently, there is an upgraded sensor - the old one had a tendency to disconnect.

The engine has to come out to replace this part to the tune of $3,500 so you don't want to have this done out of warranty.

If you complain that you keep getting a low coolant warning they will address it - otherwise they won't.

Murphy's law will rear its ugly head once you are out of warranty.

NiteCrawlr

..

FazedChicken

Thanks for all the info. Good to hear the new part is upgraded and shouldn't fail in the future.

oups59

I got the same message last week....Went to the dealership and they noticed a small coolant leak and replaced the water pump.

Drove for 30 minutes and the warning is back again.. I will need to go back to the dealership. At least, it is still under warranty

Dkritz944

Did they fix the issue. Had a leaky water pump and heater valve. Replaced and this message came up. No message before the service.

DaveNJ

I recently had the same issue after a water pump replacement. Actually, I got a low coolant level message and then on the way back to the dealer, I got the cooling system malfunction. Turned out to be one of the rubber elbows in the vacuum system had a crack in it and was causing the COV to not operate properly. However, the crack was mostly under a clamp so it passed the test several times until it finally didn't. It also probably explains the low coolant since the valve most likely did not open correctly during re-filling of the coolant and there was trapped air. Once the air worked its way out, the coolant level dropped.

LehmanZ06

I had this with my former 2018 cayman. They had to replace a faulty sensor. Hard to get to the sensor but no big deal. Maybe had to drop engine.....don’t remember exactly,, but no big deal

Dkritz944

do you know what sensor? You have your work order?

Brian Davis

I hope this relates enough to this thread that someone may know a bit more about my issue/problem. In short, I think I have a release valve that is sticking, briefly, on my 2018 Cayman base. On very cold mornings, and after it has been running for about 5-10 minutes (the time on the road before I hit the highway speeds), the temp holds at the normal 194. But when I hit freeway speed and load on the engine, the temp will jump to 248+ and set off a warning light for about 5+/- minutes running. At that point, it seems the valve opens and immediately the temp drops to the normal 194. In other words, I think it is just sticking for a bit. I recently had to change out a leaking water pump (not cheap to do so either) but that did not resolve this problem. Anyone had a similar experience? Thanks!

Dkritz944

Sounds like you’re having the same problem I had. One of 2 things.
1)There is air being introduced into your system via a leak. When they were replacing the water pump they should’ve also replaced the thermostat and heater valve. My issue was the heater valve so we replaced all three while we were in there.
2). If there is no leak in the system it is very possible you still have air trapped in there. It’s a self bleeding system so it should bleed out the air automatically. If not take it back to Porsche and tell him to do the proper bleeding procedure. There is a specific bleeding process that involves releasing the little valve at the base of the coolant reso. and resetting the computer afterwards.