alpine003

I really hope this is a lol moment. But how can a shop do thousands of dollars worth of work and not go over everything? Any repairs should be followed up by a thorough test drive by the mechanic. Really surprised these things weren't caught by mechanic.

Good luck

patou55

I meant the car down hill and the motor in the back i.e.. I pushed down the burped valve this owning and went for a drive. The burped valve popped up by itself.

The temperature is still OK. Still a smell of coolant. The level has not changed from last night. I was planning to add more coolant later on today and park the car on a slope again and with the burp valve up let the motor run (do what is suggested) and then go for a drive. However, now my engine light just came up. I do not know if it is related.

I will need to have it check. I have a bad feeling.

patou55

Just an update. I have been driving the car for the last few days around town. No loss of coolant. Temperature still between the 8 and the 0 of the 180. However, can still smell coolant near back left side of the car. But coolant level when I stop is below the minimum. Did not drive the car one day. Next day, level below minimum. I opened the blue lid, I hear pressure and then the level goes up right away to the maximum level.

1) Should we hear a pressure hiss sound when we open the coolant lid after one day?
2) Can hose expand?
3) can it still be air in the cooling system
4) let's face it cylinder head or sleeves?

Byprodriver

2000 & 2001 heads crack very easily, have the coolant system pressure tested. Head gaskets never fail.

Ahsai

+1 on pressure test. Stant has a good tester for about $70.
Does your coolant CAP part number end with .4 (the latest)?
That black bleeder valve will pop up by itself whenever the reservoir pressure is around 14PSIG or higher.

What error codes are there now that you have a CEL?

patou55

Black bleeder valve popped up again.

Temperature still between the 8 and o when I drove the car RPM around 2000. Will it make a difference if I increase the RPM

I do not have a cell.

Ahsai

Black bleeder value popping up is normal and it's not a problem. Two posts above you said your check engine light is ON? Are you able to retrieve any error codes?

alpine003

I'm gonna laugh if this ends up being an overly paranoid moment much to do about nothing. I hope I'm wrong.

patou55

The code was for a O2 sensor. Was told by garage (porsche mechanic in Canada) that it has nothing to do with coolant system. Cost of the potential repair to replace sensor around cdn$1000. Told them I wanted to resolve my coolant problem. I asked them to reset. I have driven the car two days, the light has not come back.

However, my problem still remain. Slight coolant odor when I drive. Pressurized tank (hiss sound) the next morning when I open the blue lid.

Was told by the other Porsche mechanic that there is a lot of coolant in the system (gallons) which explains that the temperature can remain at 180, but that the motor is toast.

Does that make sense?

Can i still simply have an air bubble in the system? Or I need to face reality.

Can someone answer my three questions above.

Flat six post thinks it is the cylinder heads. I am told by both mechanics in Canada to replace the motor.
The car is 106000 miles. I am thinking to do an engine rebuilt ($7500) instead as buying an unknown motor could be more problems.

Is there a Porsche shop around Bellingham Washington that could help me to make my decision. If not i will ship the car to California for an engine rebuilt. (Around $7500).

mattie_k

Coolant odor at the back drivers side when hot is usually a cracked coolant tank. It will squirt some out when hot, does your drivers side exhaust tip have dried coolant on it?
Have you checked your oil lately? Has the level gone up or down?

Macster

The odor of anti-freeze is almost always from a leak. "Almost" in that I smelled this after having the radiators replaced in my Turbo and the smell was from some coolant that got spilled when the tech added some to the tank after the radiator replacement.

I finally got rid of the smell after putting up with it on a 2K mile drive back home by flushing the coolant tank area with 2 buckets of hot water. (The engine was pretty cool.)

The tank can develop a bit of a low pressure. I would not concern myself with that.

Unless you tell me the coolant tank was replaced my WAG is the tank is leaking. I smelled a faint odor of anti-freeze for a long time with no real sign of a leak that eventually proved to be a coolant tank. A hot pressure "test" I did allowed the tank leak to make itself known in a dramatic way.

The system has a lot of coolant. This fact is immaterial in what the tech says. An engine can suffer from overheating while the coolant temp gage remains rather stable.

One scenario is a leak prevents the system from building pressure. It is the pressure that prevents the coolant from boiling. At the hottest spots the coolant can flash to steam and this steam can form pockets of steam that prevent the coolant from making contact with the hot surface. Localized overheating and possibly severe engine damage can result and yet the coolant temp gage needle doesn't register any real increase in temperature.

Another scenario has the coolant flow interrupted. This can be from a failed water pump impeller or a failed T-stat or the system just doesn't have any coolant in it. With no coolant to absorb the heat and flow past the sensor the coolant temp gage can remain unchanged, low even, while the engine runs and heats up to the point the engine suffers damage.

Based on what you have posted I do not think the engine is toast. Absent any scary noises, low oil pressure light/warning, etc., the engine I believe is fine.

I suspect there is a coolant leak and the tank seems the most likely source. A good mechanic should be able to diagnose a coolant leak without much difficultly.

Sorry, but I have no knowledge of any Porsche shops in Bellingham Wash.

patou55

Thank you for your response.

In California, the Porsche mechanic replaced the water pump, spark plug, coolant. He tested the car 70 miles. Apparently the car was working fine. When I picked up the car in Bellingham (it was towed), it was smoking ( like in some of the You Tube video), but we only let it run for 1 mn. The first Porsche mechanic in Canada replaced the AOS and the coolant tank (was told it was fixed). Picked up the car, but then within 10 miles, 4 gallon of coolant disappeared. Returned car to first mechanic. Was told me the motor was toast (coolant in the exhaust). Towed the car to a second known Porsche mechanic. They replaced front radiator hose, refill coolant, checked for leak run engine and bleed air, but he told me that exhaust gasses are super-pressurizing cooling system and suspect major motor repair work or replacement. (however, no coolant in exhaust)

I drove the car the next day and have been driving a few miles almost every day and trying to burp the coolant in case. (I start my day on a hill trying to burp any air from the coolant reservoir)

Many people on this site keep thinking like me. The motor run nice, start no problem, run smooth. But I keep smelling coolant on the back left of car.

and, the coolant tank pressure remains overnight. When I drive there is no increase in temperature past the 0 of 180. No loss of coolant, but level below minimum when I drive. Also oil pressure just below 1 after 30 mn drive at idle (start the day at 5, pressure normal when I accelerate). Level going up to normal level after I open the lid of the coolant reservoir the next day (after a hiss sound)..

I like the idea to throw water from a bucket to check if it could remove smell.

I think these are my options:
1) if smell =a) leak b) coolant around motor outside reservoir
2) if pressure remains in the coolant tank overnight = a) air pocket, b) bad tank c)broken hose d) cylinder heads and/or cylinder sleeves.

Note: re. the engine light mentioned in previous post: The sensor was P1130 oxygen adaptation, idle range 2 - Above limit Suspect mass air Flow metre is starting to fail. As mentioned so far the engine light has not come back yet.

If it is bad tank, could it damage the motor or just keep pressure in the tank and then leak coolant?

Now, I am not a mechanic, but I would think that a simple pressure test should eliminate all problems other than 2 d) Am I right?

Ahsai

You mentioned you had coolant coming out from the exhaust? Did you see if it's sprayed out from the inside the exhaust or the coolant just dripped onto the exhaust? Did you check if there's coolant in your engine oil (froth) or oil in your coolant (milkshake)?

911661

I can only begin to wonder the amount of frustration and money this will end up causing. Good luck! Sorry for not providing and further help than what has been discussed.

Paul Waterloo

I would think that if the head was cracked and pressurizing the system, that pressure would be reduced very quickly once the car was off and then the engine cooling down, it would become a wick to the coolant.

So when I hear there is pressure that remains in the system over night, that doesn't seem like a head crack/leak. I would think it would totally come to atmospheric pressure over night through that crack.

This is just $0.02 as I am just thinking out loud, have not been around these cars long.