Guys,

Just arrived home from a 30 min. drive and noticed that the car was leaking coolant. It was dripping out from where the driveshaft exits on the left side if the gearbox/engine. Any idea what it could be and how serious it is? Itīs almost midnight here and this means a sleepless night untill I can call the workshop first thing tomorrow morning.

Ciao,

Johannes E.

 

I'm no expert, but could it be a ruptured hose or tank squirting coolant onto that part of the engine/gearbox...?

 

I had a coolant leak in my car. Apparantly the "coolant control valve" going to the engine was the source of the coolant leak. I am told that it controls the rate of the coolant entering the engine... sort of like a thermostat. Be sure to let us know what you find out.

 

Sloth,

Was your car leaking from around the same are as I described?

Ciao,

Johannes E.

 

I believe so, though I am not 100% sure.

 

Check the clamp where the alum cooling line joins the rubber hose. Theres one on each side, the spring clamps don't hold that well. Porsche used to use only screw clamps on water lines I'm sure they saved $0.10 on each one with the spring clamps and less labor!!I had to add a screw clamp to the right side of mine because the hose would keep pulling away. You have to get under the car to acess them. hope this helps carl

 

Though on a completely different car, I had a leak around the shaft area on my 928 that was ATF. Turns out it was a ruptured hose that had been cut into by the clamp causing ATF to spill all over my clean garage floor and stain it. Chances are your issue could be the same, possibly a ruptured hose, loose clamp, or even a cut hose. Check under the car and see if you can pin point it. Run it and check and see if the leak happens when the motor's running and not running. Good Luck. BTW, can you take it to dealer too? still under warranty?

Andy

 

I just spoke to the technical manager of the Porsche/Audi/Volkswagen dealer and he was confident it was either the coolant reservoir or the bleeder valve, which is leaking and dripping down on to the side of the engine and then appeared as if it was coming out of the side of the gearbox where the driveshaft exits.

He also had a point when he said, "there is no water anywhere near the gearbox/driveshafts and if there was water in the gearbox or engine which made it **** out like it was last night, you would have known!".

According to him it is safe to drive the car to the workshop after having topped up with water and with an eye on the temp gauge, since the water is circulating eventhough the reservoir is cracked or a hose is bad.

It is about an hours drive to the workshop. What do you think? Or shall I get a recovery truck?

Ciao,

Johannes E.

 

Just rememberd that I have my AAA (Arabian Automotive Association)recovery membership so a low-bed recovery truck is booked for tomorrow morning (complimentary), instead of risking running dry. Looked around with a flashlight again today and there are no evidence of a cracked coolant reservoir so Iīm hoping for a bad hose and/or clamp.

Ciao,

Johannes E.

 

Hi Johannes,

Your problem is almost certainly a split coolant tank. I had a 2000 GT3 here in NZ and mine did exactly what yours has done. Apparently its a bit of a design fault - the plastic cannot handle the constant thermal expansion/contraction and eventually the compound hardens and it cracks. I could not visibly see the crack in mine either.

My dealer told me the same as yours and said that almost all the GT3's they sold here have had the tank replaced. We have a GT3 cup series here and my mechanic works on those cars and confirmed they had mostly all had the same issue!

You can drive the car - just keep an eye on the water. I drove mine for 250km with no issues. The tank is circa $500 USD and about $150 USD to fit. They may not have the tank in stock so check first.

Overall its all straight forward - dont loose any sleep....

Cheers

macca the Kiwi

 

Just got a call from the workshop and luckily it was only a hose that needed replacement. Unfortunantely the hose was not available and is now ordered from Germany. Don't know exactly which hose it was and they had at the same time changed the infamous coolant reservoir. I guess it is normal that a hose goes after 4 years in a high temp country like this.

Ciao,

Johannes E.

 

There was a recal to replace all the hoses on GT3's a few years ago. Get them to check and replace them all.

P.

 

Mr. RS,

Do you happen to have the recall number? Is the coolant reservoir a recall as well? This would be good to know when picking up the car!

Ciao,

Johannes E.

 

Sorry Johannes I don't.

It was not an official recall as such, more a case of if it fails change them all.

Mine had the hoses all changed but not the reservoir, after I had a similair problem to the one you describe.

Good luck!

P.