Just went to take the car for a spin and it cranked and ran fine. Then I noticed the red light blinking on the temperature gauge. I opened the coolant tank and it basically doesn't have any in it.
I'm too new on this board to know exactly what this means, but I will wait and hope someone can tell me and hope it's not too bad. I have already been paranoid about something happening (engine related) and now it has.

Thanks in advance!
Orrin

 

Sounds to me like you just need to add coolant and then monitor to see if you have any leaks.

 

Can I use regular anti-freeze and water?

 

And by the way, my service tech told me it is normal to have some coolant loss over a long period of time. Have you ever noticed the level (visually) before?

 

ABSOLUTELY NOT! Make sure you read your manual...it will tell you what to use. Putting in the wrong antifreeze will harm the engine.

 

The car was just serviced at a P dealer around 300 miles ago.....60,000 mile service.

 

Did they flush and refill the cooling system at that service?

If so, your problem could be very simple and minor: these cars are notorious for burping air bubbles out of the cooling system for miles after they've been refilled. Mine took more than a liter more coolant after a refill before it was really full.

 

Hmmm...after you add the right type of coolant watch look for leaks before you start the car.

 

Isn't the coolant "lifetime" and not usually changed?

 

No, they just did a brake flush. Also, I've only owned it for 8 months, so not too experienced with coolant levels yet. I've only put 800 miles on it so far.

 

I think that's true, but it doesn't stop lots of guys from doing it. I had mine done after I bought the car and started to realize what a hard life it had led. I don't know how soon I'll do it again, but it's been my habit to change coolant and brake fluid on my vehicles every two years.

 

There was a little bit of stuff around the base of the coolant cap as well. Not sure if it is anything. it looked like a little bit of coolant that had hardened into a whip cream like texture.

 

If your car is an older one (3.4L), and that you have residue around the base of the reservoir cap, you may still have the original reservoir cap. These are notorious for failure. They lose ability to withstand the pressure of the system, and the coolant purges in large quantities. There is an updated cap, and you can find the part number by searching the forum for threads about coolant cap (or call your dealer), then check the part number on your existing cap to see if it's the old one or updated. I would check this first, and add/top off with the proper coolant mixture.

 

My money is on a cracked coolant tank. Have it checked for leaks.

 

fill it up with porsche coolant and keep an eye on it.