chris87944

Hi All,

I have an 2007 Boxster with around 55,000 miles on it.

The other day, I noticed my coolant was low. I had some Porsche
concentrated coolant in my garage, but no distilled water. I went to
several stores and couldn't find any. I therefore made a 50/50 mix of
filtered water (I have an undersink carbon filter) and the concentrated coolant. I ended up pouring in about 2 pints of this mix into the
resovoir before I had the level above minimum. I figured filtered
water probably wasn't that different than distilled water. However,
now that I think about it, I'm a little concerned. I have my 60,000
mile maintenance coming up next week: do you think I should have
the dealer flush the coolant given that it now has a pint of filtered
water in it? The water where I live is very good quality, and the filter
removes all the chlorine taste. However, it's possible some of the
mineral content isn't removed by the filter.

I asked the dealer to look for coolant leaks (particularly from the water
pump, since it's original) during the 60k inspection.

Thanks!


Chris

Croc999

IMO tap water, evet a filtered one, is not good for the coolnat system.
all the minerals and salts inside will stick inside the system.
at least you can hope that filtering has removed all the sand.
Water pump check and pressure test is the way to go.
also the blue cap of the coolant tank located inside the engine compartment is getting weak and better be replaced.

ocularguy

My local Porsche dealerships use tap water. They really shouldn't be doing that, but they simply don't care. There are some anti-corrosion chemicals in the antifreeze, so this is not quite as bad as it seems (at least as long as they actually put the right amount of antifreeze in there), but it's still bad. I now go to an independent who uses de-ionized water when I change coolant.

chris87944

Hi All,

Thanks for the replies. Dealer pressured tested the system and looked at the water pump: they didn't find any issues. While I was there I talked to the service manager who indicated 1 pint of filtered water (1/2 of a the 2 pint 50/50 mix) probably isn't enough to worry about. If there are dealers using tap water then I guess I really shouldn't be concerned, but I will be sure to use distilled water next time! I guess I should keep an unopened container of it in basement once I find some.

Thanks again.


Chris