Evian

Yes, I am new to the forum and a first time Porsche owner. Thanks for the great replies. It is good to be among 928 owners who take the time to help out other 928 owners. My 928 is a 1980 European model. It looks like steam not smoke. When I drive the car around I notice the temperature gauge raising to the center. It doesn't go all the way up to hot. When I parked the car I notice that the reserve tank was boiling and steam was coming out. I saw steam coming from around the tank near the hoses. I just purchased an owner's manual on Ebay to help me figure out what is what. I now need a repair manual with a good troubleshooting section in it. Any suggestiions? Someone mentioned the fan, that made me realize that I hadn't seen the front fan working. I noticed that the fan that rotates with the engine works but the fan by the nose cone isn't working when the car is overheating. Is there a fuse I need to look at or a relay? Does it need both fans front and rear working in order to stop the overheating?

Big Dave

First of all, what year is your car?

Is your antifreeze level correct? Do you see fluid anywhere?

The water pump is on the front of the engine, behind the timing belt covers (#4 in the picture). It sounds like you've got a pretty good leak, so find the leak first.

Drewster67

Eric - First of all - welcome aboard.

The best thing you can do is to purchase a set of manuals for your shark. We can point you in the right direction if requested. Also, in order to help you out - we need more info on your shark. Mainly the model year.

Smoking ?. Are you talking about steam or an oil type smoke?.

If steam - check all your hoses, clamps and reservoir cap - you may just need a simple fix.

The archives holds a wealth of information - do a search and see what comes back.

Good Luck!

Jim_H

I can't help much but the people who can will want to know-
year/auto/manual/miles? Be as specific as you can, maybe even recent work done.

Here is where I always go.

http://www.nichols.nu/cat22.htm

SharkSkin

Evian, the 928 has a unique thermostat. Unlike other cars, the 928's thermostat CLOSES at temperature. Just thought I'd throw that in there.... if you don't know where the waterpump is, this detail may have escaped you as well.

Nicole

Hi Eric: Welcome to THE 928 message board. I can't help but have to ask if this is a black S4 and if you got this car through ebay from a dealer on the East coast...

perrys4

I had this simliar problem. Turned out to be a small 3-4 inch hose that is located top middle of the backside of engine between intake and firewall (not connected to firewall). Mine was split and would leak a small amount...then it blew. Looked like my car was on fire. Sorry I cant give a better description.

Steve J.

That little section of hose between the heater valve and the firewall is smaller at one end than the other. It is common for people to try and substitue a short section of ordinary heater hose. They try to squeeze down what would be the small end with a clamp extra tight but it still leaks or eventually ruptures. It is easy to check by removing the air filter box.

mspiegle

I just dealt with a crapload of coolant issues on my '86.5.

If you get white smoke from the hood while driving, that's probably the coolant hitting something hot. If it happens, pull over real quick and see if there is coolant in the engine bay. Squeeze your hoses firmly to see if any coolant seeps out of them. Also check around the edges of the radiator tanks to see if they are leaking at all.

If you don't find any leaks in the front of the engine-bay, look towards the heater valve. If you have smoke comming from the back of the engine bay on the pssgr side, it might be the hose that leads to the heater valve. Mine was very old and burst while driving.

Make sure you have enough coolant in your tank at all times. Once i got all these issues sorted out, my car runs much better/cooler and never smokes. My coolant tank also holds its coolant from day-to-day.

Garth S

Evian,
First things first ... there's a big difference between smoke and steam! Is the car running hot hot, or just making steam from a coolant leak. If the former, shut it down and add more detail to your Renlisters:
If the leak seems to be antifreeze/water from the coolant circuit, get a cheapy rad cap type pressure tester - with this, you can track down most coolant leaks on an engine, even a head gasket.
To test the water pump, with a warm eng and an open rad cap (Expansion tank cap) , open a top rad hose and crank the eng. A gush of coolant is good news.
good luck

Ispeed

It's probably an s4 with bad electric fans. If they don't kick on, the car gets hotter and hotter right away and overheats, steam coming from around the coolant reservoir. Those fans don't last forever, and get a lot of use in warm weather. My '89 needed fans.

Randy V

Evian edited his post to include the model year.

Evian, next time, please post a follow-up message indicating the change(s) you make in your post.

This sounds like one of three things - faulty thermostat, failing water pump or a split/leaking hose or radiator tank.

If you want a better guess, you'll have to give us more details.

Garth S

Evian,
With your update, I also think your pb to be a thermostat or water pump issue as Randy noted. Test the pump output as per the earlier post - even easier when you remove the thermostat. Test and/or replace the thermostat and O-ring.
If the water pump doesn't produce that 'gush' of coolant, STOP! It's time now to check the condition of the timing belt! If the pump seizes, the timing belt rapidly gets chewed up: Best to be avoided. On an '80, remove the right cam drive cover to examine the belt. You can get a preview by looking thru the 1" holes on top that feed into the air breather tubes, but the cam cover removal is better.

maddox

Hi Evian, welcome to the list and the joys of 928 ownership. Workshop manuals and a parts catalogue are essential. There is a lot of info out there and it makes it easier to diagnose/ work on the car yourself.