whylose

Howdy, all. I have a '00 C2 which I've now had for 15 months, and in the last 3 months, the low coolant warning light has come on three times.

1st time: Refilled the system, since I never personally checked before, and waited
2nd time: Refilled and burped the system
3rd time: Refilled and am typing this

The system holds pressure, as evidenced by the sound of equilizing air pressure, when the cap is unscrewed while still warm. There is no smell and no drips or leaks that I can see, so I'd like to pressure test the system. I have the equipment, but only have BMW adapters. I was surprised that I couldn't find a Porsche adapter. Leitenberger seems to have some parts, but may be a commercial only source...I'll check when it's not midnight here :-) Can anyone help locate a source?

Tool Pants

The plastic tank is known to leak. It is sometimes a slow leak so the cap holds pressure.

There is an adapter for a Stant type tester. You need one for a VW.

gota911

Do a "search" on coolant or coolant tank and you will find a lot of threads about the leak issue Tool Pants referenced. There is a DIY on how to replace the tank on Renntech.org. (link below) However, you will have to sign up on Renntech to get access to the DIY section.

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showforum=116

BTW, it is customary for newbies to introduce themselves and post pics of their cars on the Forum.

1999Porsche911

If your system is leak free, it should hold pressure overnight. Check by removing the cap in the morning.

whylose

Thanks for the help. All the posts that I found regarding the leaking tank were for MY99 vehicles, so I wasn't sure that it applied.

And now for the introduction...
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and this is my first Porsche, having been primarily a BMW guy prior to this. Coming from a racing background, I felt that this was the worst handling car that I had driven in quite some time, until I installed the rear GT3 sway bar and tuned the neutrality to my liking. I just never expected that the factory settings could be that bad. Anway, it's a joy to drive now and is certainly high on my list of favorite cars. I haven't seen the track with this car, and probably won't, but there are plenty of places on my path to work, to have some fun.

I look forward to being part of the community, and here are some pics of the Porsche, as well as some of my historical purchases.

http://boom.net/~tlane/images/Porsche/

Thanks!

whylose

Long overdue, but I'm closing the loop here. End result -> porous block. It explains the symptoms nicely (holds pressure, no visible drips or leaks. I have an aftermarket warranty with Western General and they paid for a full and complete factory Porsche engine to the tune of about $14k. There is some paperwork somewhere which suggests that the engine cannot be called new, but there is also paperwork which states that none of the parts have ever been used *scratches head* I believe it took about six weeks from the beginning of the teardown to me driving away. As per the warranty language, the cooling system was not covered so I came up with about $5k out of pocket for a brand new complete cooling system.

Apparently, Porsche has seen enough of these to not blink. The instructions are clear; box up the engine and ship it back to Germany and we will not inform you further on the status of this engine.

Tool Pants

Who replaced the engine?

whylose

Fletcher Jones Motorcars in Fremont, previously called Fremont Porsche is the Porsche dealer who performed the engine replacement.

Chuck Jones

Whylose: Liked he picture of your car...but also noticed your Rhodesian Ridgeback...as you can see....mine goes with me too. He doesn't do well at concours!!

Chuck

whylose

Thanks Chuck. Glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks it's perfectly appropriate to use a 911 as a dog hauler :-)