tbarcelo

I have been noticing a very slight coolant smell when shutting off the car. I have not seen any coolant drips, but I did check the level and it was below the min line when warmed up.

Two questions -

1. Where are the likely leak locations?
2. Where do you guys buy coolant?

Thanks.

jimq

I was losing it out of my expansion tank cap. Check to see if you have a white flaky looking residue around the top of the tank. The caps have been superseded a couple of times.

Land Jet

Plus 1 on the cap. You may have some weeping at the front radiators that hasn't gotten to the drip stage yet.

dantzig

Check the manual for the proper way to check coolant level. (Sorry - I am away from my car at the moment and can't look it up.)

When the system is warm, it is under pressure and the rubber hoses expand. There is a lot of plumbing on these cars. That makes the level appear low in that state.

If you can smell coolant, it's leaking from somewhere. The best thing to do is to pressure test it, find the leak and fix it. If you have a big coolant loss, it never happens at a convenient time or place, and could cause loss of control if it dumps under a wheel.

Jon

tbarcelo

Thanks for all of the inputs. I'll double-check the reservoir, but I don't recall any obvious deposits. I'm wondering if I have some weeping somewhere.

Manual states - "When the engine is cold and the car is level the fluid level must lie between the "Min." and "Max." markings."

I also plan to check the level when cold, but I agree that if I'm smelling coolant then there must be some kind of leak.

For pressure testing - does it make sense to pull the front bumper first? How hard is it to pull the front bumper (I have pulled the rear bumper, and that was super-easy).

Thanks.

tbarcelo

Here's what I found. The level is definitely low (even after letting the car cool for several hours). There are definitely white deposits around the top of the tank (and on the "lower" portion of the cap). The cap was, however, still holding pressure after four+ hours. At this stage I'll probably add some distilled water, replace the cap and figure out how to pull the front bumper.

Thanks for the input.

jpflip

If the expansion tank is brownish may be it is time to replace it....Here a picture I've found on Sharwerk of the expansion tank removed (plastic don't like heat) and the new one..... And you can found a very good DIY from Keithbeats here: http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/9...ank-996tt.html

tbarcelo

I think my expansion tank is in pretty good shape, but I'll double-check it tonight. It may not be totally clear (like the new one), but I think it looks much closer to the new one than the other one in the pic.

Macster

The cap will hold pressure but only after it allows some pressure to escape. IOWs, the cap doesn't leak all the time, but only under higher pressure conditions. Once the pressure has been bled off -- along with some water vapor which over time will have the coolant level dropping -- does the cap recover and retain pressure.

This repeats over and over again.

If the cap has a part # of '00' or '01' I would advise you to just replace the cap.

Next, removing the front bumper cover is not hard. I've never removed the Turbo's cover though, but I watched a tech do it and it took him just a few minutes and as he was working he was talking to me, answering my questions and pointing out other things of interest under the front of the car.

You really need a good DIY though to know how to remove the cover and you need to be very careful about noting what fasteners came from where and how the cover and the underbody panels interleave with each other. Take high res pics and make a drawing and keep track of the hardware/fasteners.

Or, if you don't want to remove the cover, you can still test for a leak up there. Make sure the coolant tank is not empty. Clean the cap and wipe down the tank where the cap screws on to to make sure the cap holds tight and seals as good as it can.

Turn off the A/C. Drive the car. Drive it long enough to get the engine fully up to operating temperature.

Pull into a work space and raise the rpms up to 2K although with the turbos 1500 or even 1200 is enough. What you want to do is raise the coolant temperature high enough the radiator fans come on. When they come on you know the coolant temp is 212F. Continue to let the engine idle until the fans shut off. They shut off at 205F.

Now raise teh rpms again until the fans come on and for a while after. Say 30 seconds. Then shut off the engine.

Have the engine compartment cover open and the engine compartment exposed.

Be careful in the unlikely event (but not impossible nevertheless) a coolant tank or cap or hose fails you do not get sprayed by hot coolant.

Also, be aware the engine compartment fan might come on at any time so keep your hands away from it.

Check for leaks. You can lay a sheet of foid over the cap and tank and every once in a while lift it up to check for condensation.

Of course look at the tank with a light to see if you can see any seeps/leaks. Most often though the leak is at the bottom of the tank.

Of course check the front of the car, look at all 3 radiators for any signs of leaks. Trouble is the leak may be a vapor leak so use your nose.

Only if you confirm there's a leak at one of the radiators then do you need to remove the cover to figure out which one and to replace it if you decide to do the work yourself.

Sincerely,

Macster.

tbarcelo

Macster - thanks for the detailed response.

I actually have access to a pressure tester tool that should allow me to pressurize the system with everything cool (a bit safer).

I have removed some of those underbody panels up front in the past, and I do have a service manual; that should help. I do like your idea of trying without removing anything, first. I'll also double-check the cap part number.

Thanks.

dantzig

Anytime I have had a coolant leak, pumping the pressure up to around 15 psi left no doubt about where it was.

You can see the side radiators pretty well by removing the inner fender liners. That takes 6-8 torx head screws plus prying out the press-in plastic connector behind the side marker light. That reveals the rear of the radiators, including the hose connections. I recently replaced the O-rings in those hoses. Bumper cover is a similar set of torx heads IIRC.

Jon

tbarcelo

Well, the cap does end in 01 (996.106.447.01), but my nose tells me that it is most definitely coming from the front of the car on the passenger's side. I'll try pulling the inner fender liner and pressure-testing before getting too radical.

Thanks again for all of the suggestions.

tbarcelo

Update for anyone that is interested - the passenger side radiator was weeping. I ordered a replacement and installed everything (including a new cap) last Friday. So far so good. The project was pretty easy - even the bleed procedure. I used the Airlift tool from Uview and have had no trouble so far. I only managed to add about 4 - 4.5 gallons of distilled water, so I know I didn't get everything out of the system. I'm going to drain as much as I can from the drain plugs under the engine, add more water, then eventually get some coolant in there. Thanks to all for the inputs.

Land Jet

I don't know where you live but if winters comes there, remember to put antifreeze back in the car. I once bought and owned a car in Miami. I drove it north for a visit and of course the temperature fell way below freezing one night. The engine blew out its expansion plugs and trashed it. Luckily it was an old beater to begin with.

tbarcelo

Larry - absolutely! I added water mainly because I wanted to flush the system and also because I wasn't convinced I would be able to get all of the air out. My back-up plan was to take it to a dealer / indy for a bleed, and I didn't want to put pricey coolant in it twice. Now that I know I can do it, I'll go ahead and get the good stuff in there.