CaseyH

I took my car to get the oil changed today. As soon as they finished and pulled it out of the garage I noticed what appeared to be a massive leak on the passenger side behind the tire. The guy said he had added too much oil and sprayed it off with some water and that's all it was. After driving a couple minutes I noticed the coolant warning light was on. I made it back to my house which fortunately is pretty close, and it started steaming as I pulled in. I noticed coolant all along my driveway and when I checked it, it was completely empty.

After filling it up with water and waiting a few hours, I took it back to the place that changed my oil. They checked and said the pressure was fine, but the block was completely dry. It seems like a massive coincidence to me, but they claim they didn't do anything with the radiator. He suggested replacing the thermostat before trying anything else. Is there any reason I shouldn't buy a non-Porsche thermostat? (Murray, Gates, ACDelco)

Thanks

Maleficio

Check the smaller hoses for your reservoir. They get old and bust open.

Mrmerlin

Do this first, remove the aircleaner, look at it for pieces of belt, tap it onto a piece of white cardboard, if you find belt debris suspect a seizing waterpump.

Moving on, with the aircleaner base removed
inspect the right hand rear side of the cylinder head look for a failed short hose or failed heater control valve,

also its possible the bolted onto the head connector port has failed .

if yours HCV is over 5 years old replace both the short hose and the valve, also get a new coolant cap.

Inspect the coolant bottle if yours is tan or brown then replace the bottle

fraggle

might want to perform a compression check to get some readings at this point.

James Bailey

Very important information.."They checked and said the pressure was fine, but the block was completely dry. " If they did pressure check the cooling system and it shows no leaks. Odds are your water pump has seized and stopped turning. The car will get quite warm very quickly and blow steam out the overflow.
The thermostat needs to be the right style to work and the 928 CAN NOT run with no thermostat !

the flyin' scotsman

You want to double check the block coolant drains.......perhaps they took the wrong drain plug out?

James Bailey

Highly unlikely you can barely find them if you are looking for them plus they are probably frozen in place anyway.

Landseer

They sprayed the extra oil off with water?

CaseyH

I guess I'm not sure what exactly they used to spray off the oil, I thought he said water but I might be mistaken.

I'll start with the thermostat first since it's cheap and easy to replace. Would this one work?

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...3442&ppt=C0331

Mrmerlin

Hold on here partner.....
First I would suggest to use the vendors on this board for parts,
you will need a new O ring as well.
That way you get the right parts
I suggest to call Roger.
Second the thermostat may not be your problem,

that said before you start buying things you need to follow the suggestions to find the leak and then post your results for further diagnosis

Landseer

How much do you drive your 928?

Just went back through your posts and you expressed concern with overheating in 09 and 08.

Sure hope you didn't OReilly yourself a $99 waterpump thats boring a chunnel towards your car's rear bumper.

James Bailey

If you do try changing the thermostat there is a high probability one or both of the bolts which hold the thermostat housing together will break off....so soak them ( penetrating oil ) and apply heat BEFORE trying to turn them.

928mac

I see red flags all over the first post and I don't know what to tell you because you don't seem to have a lot of mechanical knowledge. (no insult intended)

1. I would not! go back to that shop
2. the leak he SAID he sprayed off on the passenger side was more then likely coolant from the over flow.
(There is no oil fill there or a place for oil to spill from, he lied)
The coolant would be from overheating before you got there.
So this brings to light the answers above as it may be the stat or the pump.

Let it sit till the engine is cold and dont run it!.
Remove the coolant lid from the overflow bottle, fill it 3/4 full and leave it for a few hours or a day with the cap off.
Check that it is dry under the car so you can check for leaks on the floor/driveway the next day.
Check if the level went down and if there are NO leaks, fill the bottle to 3/4 again and report back.
If you are not sure of something, take a picture and ask.

Oh good luck and take your time.

Brad

CaseyH

I drive my car on a daily basis, and school just started back up this week so I don't have a lot of time to mess around with it (16 credits, all upper level science classes). I would gladly order from one of the vendors here (and actually checked 928Intl first thing), except I have an O'Reilly's here in town and I'd like to try to resolve this thing ASAP as it's my only car, and relying on somebody else to get me to and from class is an inconvenience for both of us. Also, I've got a mechanically inclined relative who's in town for only for the weekend. I'll do some inspecting tomorrow afternoon when I get out of class and let ya know what I find.

Thanks

Edit: Also, he added a lot of coolant when I went back the second time, and I made it home without it overheating, although it did seem like it was running hotter than normal. As of about 5 hours later it hasn't leaked at all sitting in the garage, if that helps at all.

928mac

Well, if you over heat it you will be walking, just so you no, and it would cost 10 grand or more to fix it unless you drop in a used engine, another week or two not running.

Top up the coolant bottle to 3/4, leave the lid off and see if it has gone down in the morning.
If it has top it up again.
I would not drive it more then 15-20 mins to school.
Keep a close eye on the temp and if it goes above 3/4 find a station to pull into as it may have leaked out.

DO NOT OPEN THE RAD CAP WELL THE ENGINE IS WARM!!!

All of this is assuming that the coolant pump has not failed, and if it has, it will overheat and damage the engine.
If its the stat it may just cycle at a higher temp but that also may damage things.

Take our advice as you will.
Its your car

Brad

BTW maybe there is someone from here that lives close and can help.