sauregurke

Hi all, for some context my '01 C4 cabriolet (produced August 2000) has been sitting in the garage for three-ish months during a clutch job. It has 87,000 miles, and I've put 210 miles on the new clutch.

Yesterday, I was seeing little wisps of steam emitting from the driver's side of the engine bay. I thought it was just too much coolant. But after a short drive and idle, a massive plume of steam billowed out of the engine bay and it poured about 1 1/2 gallons of coolant onto the concrete. Just before I shut the engine down, the temp gauge showed normal temp.

Right now, oddly enough, it's holding distilled water and otherwise behaving; this morning I drove it 5 miles to school and so far, all is normal. I personally haven't had the car for very long so I'm not sure if the engine sounds different or if it's just paranoia.

My fear is that the water pump disintegrated. The thing is the coolant/water in the reservoir changed colors from clear to orange, which makes me think the water pump is at least functional enough to circulate water through the car.

I need to replace the somewhat leaky water pump; the problem is that my dad's garage is an hour and forty minutes away. Should I risk it and drive it there, checking the coolant level every 10 minutes or so? Do I even have anything to worry about, or is it just the old coolant cap?

Is there perhaps some way I can check the oil temp to make sure the car isn't overheating?

Thanks for the help. Sucks that I just got the car from my dad and it's already acting up, but I guess you come to expect this in a 20 year old car.

sasilverbullet

DO NOT DRIVE IT!!!! HAVE IT TOWED!!!

wyovino

If your water pump is bad, you risk destroying your engine if the impeller breaks apart and spreads small pieces through the coolant passageways.

billh1963

Coolant tanks are known to crack and the caps can leak as well.

if the water pump is leaking you should be able to tell that pretty easily.

Pull the oil cap and make sure you don't have a milkshake in there. I'm not going to fill your head with fears about a cracked cylinder or head pressurizing the coolant system causing the coolant blowout.....yet.

Check the simple stuff first.

And, NO, I wouldn't drive it until you know the cause.

jllphan

I would tow it, but just to clarify: where was the steam coming from And where was the leak coming from. Right side of the engine could be the coolant tank (upper) or the WP (lower) or any one of the hoses. That would help you determine if it’s the water pump or some other component(s) that need to be replaced.

Elumere

I had a similar problem just two weeks ago. Car ran fine, then when stopping to refuel on our desert trip, it dropped a lot of coolant at the gas station.

Turned out I had a major air bubble in the system after a recent flush (I didn’t do the flush, garage did it), which brought the pressure up higher than the cap can handle.

It’s been running good since. Had it checked by two different mechanics, car behaves normal.

ZuffenZeus

Most common problem with these car are cracks in the coolant expansion tanks. Over time, they will crack ... this is because they're under pressure and in constant exposure to chemical and heat. Replace ONLY with a genuine OEM Porsche expansion. Be ready for the Porsche tax, because they charge a lot more for the mk1 Porsche 996 than they do for the mk2 Porsche 996 expansion tank.

Watch this if you want to try to install it yourself...


Driving with a coolant problem is risky and if it's a crack on the tank, it will only get worse. Depends on the length of the drive too. If you try to drive it to the shop, you better keep a close eye on engine temps.

Cheers!

shft22

In my opinion the cost of the tow will be peanuts compared to the cost of the repairs you will need. So either try to find the cause yourself, or tow it to the mechanic.

sauregurke

The steam was coming clearly from the left side of the engine bay. Couldn’t tell where the massive spill was coming from but Which oil cap, the filler nozzle or the oil pan? Btw the left side of the engine has always had oil leaking, maybe it has something to do with it? Hopefully not. We just changed the oil 200 miles ago (had to inspect IMS) and it looked fine with no shavings or milkshake. I’ll take off the air box tonight and look at the pump.

sauregurke

I agree. The thing is it’s holding (currently) distilled water, it isn’t losing coolant, and the temp gauge shows nothing unusual. There’s definitely a bit of pressure released when I take off the coolant cap, so I’ll try to inspect the expansion tank but I don’t think it is the problem. I’m not pushing it hard anymore until I get it solved but I don’t really have another car as of now. Any chance you know how to check the oil temperature?

hatchetf15

OP - If you want to try to detect the issue yourself, you want to pressurize the cooling system, without running the motor, to find leak points. If you can’t find the issue, do not drive the car. Even a $300 tow is massively less expensive than a multi-thousand dollar repair/replace of an M96.

DBJoe996

Only Durametric will show you the oil temperature. Hope you find your leak.

MikeinBloomfield

Obviously, the coolant tank is on the driver side so that's the likely culprit. The coolant tank cap is a known issue, and on my car at least it has to be tightened past where I'm comfortable to get it not to leak. When I don't really tighten it, it leaks and makes white steam.Did you recently check the coolant level and then not tighten the cap enough? That happened to me last week. The indicator that this is not a major issue is that the coolant loss didn't seem to come from the car overheating. Meaning the steam was likely caused by an issue in the cooling system, not an issue with the engine getting too hot.

All that said, don't drive it until you figure out why and where its leaking. Overheating your engine even temporarily can cause permanent damage.

ZuffenZeus

When you get a hairline crack in a pressurized tank, it will still retain pressure, but overtime it will spew lots of coolant out. Don't be fooled. More than likely, it's the plastic tank. Also, don't be fooled into purchasing an aftermarket tank, buy it from Porsche.

Also, the steam is more than likely from the expansion tank spraying coolant/water onto the exhaust which of course is extremely hot and will create the steam you describe.

Personally, I wouldn't drive the car in this condition, but as I said before, if you make the trip, keep a close eye on the temps. Overheating these engines is very bad. That's why it's better to err on the side of caution and protect your car.

sauregurke

thank you for the help. How can I ensure the temp gauge is accurate? Is there any chance the water pump can fail entirely, not circulating water, thus overheating the engine while seeming normal?