OK, Longtime view, first time caller.

So I'm systematically replacing/upgrading all the soft parts and buttoning up all the drips and leaks on my 1986 944 Turbo.

While under the turbo-side of the car, looking for the source of a fairly consistent loss of coolant, I notice the alternator cooling duct hose had a few drips on its underside. I guessed that the drips have migrated from further up the hose, perhaps starting at the turbo aux coolant pump area. When I disconnected the hose from the nose duct, at least a half pint of coolant poured out from the fabric covered hose (!?). Since the duct is a closed system from the nose to the alternator, this seemed pretty odd.

My only thought would be that the duct hose or the alternator shroud in punctured or perished and coolant is spraying into the hose from a leaking source somewhere adjacent to it.

Stay tuned, as I sort out this oddity.

 

Best bet is to get a coolant pressure tester (Sears, harbor freight, etc.) and pressurize the system to see where it's leaking. You'll find every last little leak with it, with relative ease.

 

Agreed.

Many auto parts stores will loan out a pressure tester. Don't go over 10 psi, 5 or 6 should have things flowing.

 

Oh man that sucks. Is the gasket still between the plastic shroud and the alternator? If not it could have somehow been dripping down that gap every time your engine built up coolant pressure and eventually made a pond of coolant, coolant doesn't evaporate that easily. Maybe just a loose hose clamp? It's not like the altornator blew a coolant hose.

 

OT: I once had all the vents on one side of my house stop blowing air. I assumed one of the hvac ducts under the house got disconnected. Instead, the AC condenser drain clogged and all the water was going down the ducting. Once section just started filling up and sagging. The more water it collected the more it sagged, until eventually is was like a drain trap and no air could get through. 100 gallons of nasty stagnant water went everywhere when I poked at it -- flashlight stopped working and left me in a huge muddy mess in a shallow crawl space under the middle of the house. I called a guy to fix it and haven't been under the house since...

Back on topic: The gasket between the alt and the shroud is kind of a foam material and almost certainly not water tight... Also check where the main power cable goes in to make sure that seal is good. If water is leaking onto that cable, the water could be running down the cable into the back of the alternator and then down the duct. Some guys modify that cable's entry point in the shroud to make room for a bigger turbo -- if yours is modified I'd look closely at it...