KPexEA

Lost coolant Friday night and had to get it towed home.

I live a fair distance from my local Porsche dealer (Porsche Center Vancouver, a 1/2 hour drive, 40 minute ferry ride and another 1/2 hour drive, tow companies want $650-$700) and already have an appointment for a service in a few weeks.

I found a coolant hose has separated just below the oil cap (see photo).

Is this something I can fix myself at least temporarily enough to drive to my dealer for a proper fix.



Coolant hose just below the oil cap has separated (on 2002 996 turbo),

Also if I can get it fixed myself, is it OK to fill with distilled water for a few weeks and then get it flushed and replaced with proper coolant when I have it in at the dealer.

Thanks!
Kevin

Macster

You should not run the engine/drive the car if the cooling system is leaking and can't hold pressure.

The lack of pressure can result in steam pockets forming in the heads leading to localized overheating which can cause a head gasket to fail or a head to crack.

If the hose is just off possibly you can reattach the hose and secure it with a good hose clamp to make the system fluid/pressure tight.

You can top up with distilled water and with a test strip check the coolant to see how well it would do in cold weather.

If the leak is due to a hose coolant fititng becoming loose then you will need to get the car towed to a place that is qualifed to fix this. The fix requires dropping the engine and then all the hose fittings -- there are 6 I think of these -- need to be taken care of.

If you just fix one and put the engine back in the car and you can bet on it that shortly thereafter another one will leak and you'll wish you had done all of them at once.

fpb111

It depends on what you want the dealer to do $$. You can pull the fitting, sand it and the hole clean and glue it and pin it yourself. Or glue it and have the dealer pull the engine and pin all of the glued in spigots. Maybe find an independent to do the job for less. Or...?
Some searching will find Utube vids, recommended glue, pinning vids, pinning kits etc... I would fix it myself.
If you diy make sure to mark the relationship of the spigot/hole as it looks like that one is angled.

fpb111

Here is one way. Engine out.
http://sharkwerks.com/porsche/techni...urbo-cars.html
Another
There is also a pinning vid that shows pinning with the engine in the car.

fpb111

Engine in the car
https://rennlist.com/forums/997-gt2-...n-the-car.html

I am the Walrus

If you have to bring it in, you should go to Scan automotive in north Vancouver, they are very good, a much more pleasant experience than going to the Porsche center in Vancouver, and will be more cost effective. They have a PIWIS, they can fix anything without having to call Germany, and they return your Porsche with stuff like tires still inflated and the issue actually fixed, etc.

911mhawk

You need the fitting fixed properly and if you're a capable DIY type could be a good frustrating time consuming project, otherwise drop it off and have them all welded. While you do either, a bunch of other while it's out stuff is possible if you plan to keep it long term.

KPexEA

Thanks everyone for the information.

I've booked it in at Scan Automotive to get all the cooling connectors pinned.

Now I just need to arrange getting it towed from Sechelt to Vancouver.

Turbodan

get CAA premium. they will even give you a rental car

I am the Walrus

I was thinking that also, call BCAA @1-888-268-BCAA

They have exceptional service and it's about $110 a year iirc.

KPexEA

I have BCAA Plus and used it to tow the car from Roberts Creek to my home in Sechelt. Unfortunately they only cover subsequent tows on a break-down event for 5kms and in no way cover the ferry trip.

996TWINS

Here is my "while the engine is out list".

Coolant pipe fix
Expansion tank
Water pump
Check valves (I thought there was only one, but there are two)
Oil pressure sending unit
Metal turbo oil feed lines checked
Waste gate vacuum lines
5 bar fuel pressure regulator
Clutch kit w/LWFW
Slave cylinder (found it was leaking a bit with the engine removal. Bad news/good news)
Pressure accumulator
Spark plugs
Water hoses
Fuel filter
Air filter
Crankshaft seal
Boost pressure test
Wastegate adjust
Throttle body seal
Coil packs
Solenoid brackets
Engine mounts (RSS)
Trans mount (997 version)
Multi-rib belt
2nd gear detent

So after all this, no more thoughts about blowing a coolant fitting at the track.

manimal

Yikes, saving this list. And also a couple pennies for the occasion.

I am the Walrus

Yeah that's a long tow trip! Good luck with the outcome

fpb111

Rent a truck and trailer?