RallyJon

Pulling into the driveway last night I heard a rattling noise from the engine. IMS detector was not red, so good there. Did some reading here last night and figured it might be the coolant pump. When I went out this morning, there was a little puddle under the back of the engine.

Mechanic is about 15 miles away. Safe to drive or should I call a flatbed?

Invius

If you can confirm it's the water pump (crawl under there and see if you can see it dripping from the bottom of the water pump...it may also look like it's dripping from the coolant hose, but more than likely it's the pump itself). If you can confirm, your leak appears very small at this point. I just replaced mine about a week or so ago myself. I noticed it dripping about like yours at my office, and drove it home (about 15 miles) keeping an eye on the temp needle, no radio to make sure I could hear if something happened, etc.,) and it was fine...fwiw, I never got above about 45 on that trip, as I took all local roads, and kept the RPM's pretty low. Good luck with everything.

DS

Macster

When my Boxster's water pump started making noise and as best I could tell it wasn't even leaking, I had the car flat bedded 20 miles to a dealer to have the water pump replaced.

The cost was IIRC around $100 vs. possibly very serious engine should the pump decide to come apart or the impeller blades shred themselves and the pump stop pumping.

If the pump loses its impellers since the coolant isn't being pumped through the engine/radiators it is not flowing past the coolant temp sensor and then usually the first indication you have there's any problem is when someone drives up along side of your car with the horn honking and a frantic waving of arms to get you to look back and see the huge billowing clouds of steam coming from your car.

Then the warning light comes on.

But, too late.

Sincerely,

Macster.

kromdom

agree 1000% with Macster's points above. Comes down to cost of tow vs. cost of new engine? IMHO, I will pay the tow.

KrazyK

Would you rather just replace it yourself and use the tow money towards the parts? These cars are fun to work on and a great experience if you have the time.

RallyJon

Free tow with AAA. Hasn't been to a Porsche specialist in a year, so just as soon have them do it and give the car a once over while they're in there.

Akshun

the DIY for these water pumps looks a little difficult for the average person.
i have noticed a trace of coolant on the outside of my pump, but its not dripping, just gathered on the lower part of the casing.
Maybe this is a sign of the water pump on its way out and im trying to decide whether or not to try and replace it myself or have a local shop do it for me.

San Rensho

Don't star the car. a failing water pump can send plastic impeller pieces into the cooling system, which can block the very narrow cooling passages in the head, leading to blockage and cracked heads. Do not fool with this very serious condition.

Invius

Valid points, I assume like anything else there are different stages of failure. Although mine had leaked a bit of coolant during the day from when I first noticed it to when I parked it before removing and replacing it, the impeller was totally intact when I pulled it off, but obviously we have all heard stories of impeller fragment totally screwing up an engine.

Glad AAA towed it for free, nothing wrong with that. Curious what your indy charges for the replacement, as mine was around $900, and dealer was about $950.

@Akshun, I wouldn't say that it is beyond the average person's capabilities, I had the renntech writeup on it, as well as the youtube video of another guy doing it. For me, I couldn't get the coolant hose that connects to the thermostat housing off (others have had similar issues) so I took the T-stat housing off, and needed a new gasket for it which I didn't have readily available, that was the only part of the job that I had to improvise on, everything else was as advertised.

Cheers,

DS

Shark Attack

just do it your self?

Flat6 Innovations

If the pump is failing you'll just send more debris into the cooling system from the pump impeller.. Then in a few months you'll end up with a cracked head from a localized hot spot created by the flow of coolant being blocked by said debris.

tow it, don't drive it to death.

Macster

When I talked to the techs about water pumps I was told they can leak, a bit. A tiny bit.

I was told that a bit of coolant stain/dried residue on the pump casting is ok, but there is a limit on how much is ok. The techs did not share with me the details but indicated how far down or how big the stain was is important.

But they both said there should not be any signs of wet coolant.

If you are seeing coolant fluid under the pump that can't be coming from some place else the pump is leaking and should be replaced.

There is a risk to letting this go. The issue is the pump can suffer a mechanical failure that has the impeller blades contacting the engine casting surfaces which can lead to a non-functioning pump with disastrous consequences.

Or the shaft snaps again with very likely disastrous consequences.

I have to stress this again that with older cars it is not always an engine blowing up that takes a car off the road for good, but letting a little thing like this water pump go until the engine suffers serious overheating.

An older Porsche that needs a new engine from a failed IMSB is just as expensive to fix as one that needs a new engine due to an overheating that ruined the heads, or the block.

And because of this expense just as likely to be lost for good.

Sincerely,

Macster.

JMLavoie

Use AAA and get it towed ... tout de suite, mon ami!
Mine broke on 25 Oct. It took about 15 secs and it feels just like a broken fan.
I happened to be 300m from home. The impeller (seems to be made of carbon fiber rather than plastic but very brittle) broke in mainly 3 big chunks from the shaft and the tips of the impeller rattled against the wall and broke in a few small bits.
Managed to catch a few of these bits right at the pump but I'll never be sure if a few more are lying in wait somewhere in the cooling canals.
A new pump is in and the car is working great. Hopefully I won't get further issues down the road.
You're lucky you had a warning. Put it to good use!
Martin

kromdom

In case other readers missed the POST #16 above by the OP: he played it safe and got it towed.

JMLavoie

Here is a picture of my failed water pump and impeller beside it for general interest. My car had 141k kms (about 87k mi) when it happened.
Nice to hear he got it towed!
Martin