Car wants to be dehydrated instead
Thread Starter
Rennlist Member
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 642
Likes: 1
From: Kaneohe, Hawaii
Car wants to be dehydrated instead
Went out to catch a quick surf session this afternoon before having to head into my late work night. When I returned to my house pulling my car partially into the garage, I noticed a line of drips in my driveway that matches the turn I took with my car. Walked over to the back of the car and as I did I noticed my car starting to rain down coolant into my driveway, about maybe a gallon. It was coming out right ontop of my drivers side tailpipe. For the past few months the car has had a very, very slight coolant leak. Maybe a tiny drip in the garage after a long drive. Never had to add any coolant, was always at the max line in the reservoir that i checked often, figured it was just a seep somewhere that I could check out later.
I didn't have much of a chance to look in there, had to quickly get ready for work and borrow the wifes X5 to drive in. From what I saw, I'm assuming it's the coolant reservoir that finally cracked. It appeared wet underneath the reservoir, and I know it's a common issue. Looks like when I get home in the morning it'll be time to start pulling things apart to check it out. What else could dump all my coolant on that side? All hoses seemed to still be good/ connected from what I could see at quick glance.
The car never went over the 1/2 way mark on the temp gauge, and from what it looks like it just started to dump coolant as I pulled into my driveway (Some pretty good luck)
The good news is at least I have a good arguing point for the Wife on getting a 3rd car. I miss having 2 cars, having a backup while you do projects, have problems is always a nice thing to have...
I didn't have much of a chance to look in there, had to quickly get ready for work and borrow the wifes X5 to drive in. From what I saw, I'm assuming it's the coolant reservoir that finally cracked. It appeared wet underneath the reservoir, and I know it's a common issue. Looks like when I get home in the morning it'll be time to start pulling things apart to check it out. What else could dump all my coolant on that side? All hoses seemed to still be good/ connected from what I could see at quick glance.
The car never went over the 1/2 way mark on the temp gauge, and from what it looks like it just started to dump coolant as I pulled into my driveway (Some pretty good luck)
The good news is at least I have a good arguing point for the Wife on getting a 3rd car. I miss having 2 cars, having a backup while you do projects, have problems is always a nice thing to have...
Thread Starter
Rennlist Member
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 642
Likes: 1
From: Kaneohe, Hawaii
So after some research I found out that I have the larger tank (more of a PITA to install), although $100 cheaper. Also that it is pretty much impossible to properly bleed and replace the coolant in a 996 without a special tool, and that is supposed to be a huge PITA to do as well. All job's I've done with coolant systems, Radiators, Water pumps etc have been really straightfoward including the bleeding of the entire system. I hate having to bring my car into a shop... anyone have a part # or name of this tool?
Nordschleife Master
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 7,326
Likes: 77
Uview airlift coolant filler. You need a compressor. It's a joy to use.
Econ version
Pro version
Econ version
Pro version
Thread Starter
Rennlist Member
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 642
Likes: 1
From: Kaneohe, Hawaii
is purging my whole system neccessary for the replacement of the expansion tank? could I get by just replacing the tank, filling back up with coolant, and do a full bleed in the future? I'm sure the coolant wouldn't hurt being replaced, but it has only been a year since the water pump was done (previous owner) so it's reasonably fresh.
Basically if I can avoid having to do that, I can just replace the tank myself, and get my car back on the road sooner.
Basically if I can avoid having to do that, I can just replace the tank myself, and get my car back on the road sooner.
Drifting
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 3,086
Likes: 27
From: Ephrata, PA, USA now. Originally from the UK
Yes you could manage without anything but to get rid of air in the system you have to leave the purge valve on top of the tank in the open position. Run the car for a while and then top up again with the correct mixture of coolant and water. Keep doing that until the system if free of air.
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Race Director
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 10,424
Likes: 229
From: SOcialist republic of CALifornia
It sounds like you're certain it's the coolant tank - but if you're not... it's the coolant tank. That's precisely where the coolant drains - onto the driver-side exhaust tip - when the tank is leaking.
While it's easy enough to bleed the system without the Airlift device, the Airlift has the added bonus of working as a pressure tester. Once the system is under vacuum, you can wait a while and see if the vacuum reading changes. But if you're not eager to spend the $80-100 for it, the burp valve works just fine.
While it's easy enough to bleed the system without the Airlift device, the Airlift has the added bonus of working as a pressure tester. Once the system is under vacuum, you can wait a while and see if the vacuum reading changes. But if you're not eager to spend the $80-100 for it, the burp valve works just fine.
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