crackerfeet

Just got my first 928, a 1985 a/t, brown metallic/cashmere(i think). Any way PO said car had no leaks. When I took delivery from the carrier I drove car approx 1 mi home, wife took it around neighboorhood once (approx 1/2 mi), parked car in driveway and went back to work. After work I came home and started it in approx 13 degree weather let it run, it revved and lowerd to almost a stall, then after a couple of cycles of this it smoothed out.There were no wet spots in the driveway after I pulled into garage and shut engine off. Left car for 2 days because of work, went back and had approx. 6 oz of coolant on floor.

The car came with receipts for work done in 1996 at 81348 mi. it now has 85k with working speedo. It is imperitave that it needs TB and pump.The car sat for 3 years in a heated warehouse before he bought it. SO! Three questions.

1. What happened to the cooling system?

2. New or rebuilt water pump?

3 Porsche or Continental Belt?

Any advice would be appreciated!

jpitman2

Coolant loss needs some digging - could be anyone of many places. (How do you guess 6oz anyway - do you have a rule of thumb for x sq inches of puddle = y oz?). Try to localize which part of engine it is under next time you see some. Dont get into the religious aspects of stuff like rebuilt vs new yet please. Just get the belt and pump done, or at least check its condition and tension asap.
jp 83 Euro S AT 49k

hupp

I agree with jpitman. Do a little digging. Could be as simple as a hose connection.

Schocki

Cooling System with such a small leak is most likely a hose connection. I just had to retighten my heater valve because of a small leak. I would recommend a leak detector kit from Autozone. It uses some dye and an UV-Lamp to pinpoint the leak. Works great!!!

WP? Look for posts here or talk to 928 Intl.

I use a Continental belt for my GTS and it is just fine.

Joe F

Yes it could. Or,...it could be:
1. A leaking side tank or seal on your radiator. Don't ask me how I know this.
2. Waterpump going bad. Please don't ask about this either.

Bottom line, find out where the problem is. Pressure check your system and look for leaks. In my case, I could not find the leak for a while on the radiator problem. I just knew it was there because every couple of days I would have to add 2 liters of water to system. The water pump leaked slowly at first and again I could not find the problem. Even with pressure test, I couldn't find it. Until one day, major gusher and then it was easy to see. Fortunately, the gushing happened without anyone getting stranded.

Like the other guys said, keep looking. The car drippling coolant on the floor is telling you there is a problem.

Good luck,
JF

mark kibort

time for some barrs stop leak

mk

crackerfeet

Thanks for the input. The decision has been made to forgo the leak detection methods descriped, at least for the very short term. I ordered new pump and belt today as this is of the utmost importance, if I let it set till the weekend maybe I can get out of draining the system, it might already be done for me. Will install new H2O pump and see if that stops it, then go from there.

marton

Try lifting out the air filter and checking the heater valve underneath it. Wherever the coolant is coming from. it should leave some sort of coloured trace on the leaking part that you can find.

Garth S

To replace the belt is a good decision: along with that, you should include carrier arm pivot bushings, tensioner roller, the $25 of tensioner rebuild parts, standard size bearings to press into the two idlers - and maybe a pivot bolt. When it is stripped down, the four drive gears need be checked for wear. For the reassembly, get your hands on a Kempf belt tension tool.
Replacing the pump will do nothing to fix the leak - unless you have identified it as the leaker: If that is not the case, it is far easier to find the leak now, with all the hoses and coolant in place. There is a good chance you'll want to drive the new toy after the TB job - so why be 20 miles down the road squirting antifreeze around?
BTW, pump replacement when not leaking is a very subjective issue. If you pay shop rates, do the pump - if you turn the wrenches, consider that the pump may have another 10 years, or more ( I have one 25 year old pump that still doesn't know that it should have been replaced at least five times by now - and I'm not telling ).

Jim bailey - 928 International

It really would be best to find out what is leaking before doing the pump and refilling with new coolant then discovering a leak. It is very likely that many of the coolant hoses are original 20 years old especially the hoses at the back of the engine (out of sight out of mind) . It is also very common for cars which have been "stored" to have had the changing of the coolant neglected as one year turns into two ,then three .... There is no question that the timing belt does need to be changed many people remove the radiator for better access and to limit the risk of damaging it as you work to get the front crank bolt loose. As mentioned there are some "should dos" while you are in there changing the belt. Be sure you understand the significance of having the engine at 45 degrees off TDC when removing the belt as well as setting the tension with a tensioning tool ($59) . The factory flywheel lock tool is very helpful to keep the engine from turning as you remove and then install and torque the big crank crank bolt back to 295 NM or about 225 ft lbs .

crackerfeet

Jim,
I heard of the 45 degree off TDC, but do not know the reason, could you explain?
You are probably boxing up the afore mentioned tools as we write. I will take the time to go under the car to locate the leak tomorrow. Just too damn cold up here, no heat in the garage, yet!!! Probably buy a salamander tomorrow, heard Lowe's has them 50% off. Get me some new metric wrenches also.

ErnestSw

At 45 degrees off TDC the valves are all off the cams and the pistons are all in a non interference position.

slate blue

If I can have a guess I think it will be the radiator. They don't like to sit like that. My sat for 1 year and is now stuffed. How much are radiators in the states? They cost $1700 AUD or about $1350 USD.

crackerfeet

Hello guys from what i can tell all of the hoses are good, the leak appears to be coming from the top front it looks like it is coming from the thermostat housing after the bend where it meets the block, does this sound right? Is there an o-ring in that part where the housing goes into the block?

SharkSkin

You can just about get two Devek radiators for that... aluminum end tanks, welded construction.