tigerbite84

I was driving around, not long, then I came back to park the car in the garage and saw the engine smoking. I open the lid and saw steam, and looked underneath the car and saw coolant leaking.

Could this be the bad cap that everyone has or a water pump?



Thanks!

sulu911

I had a slow dripping coolant leak that progressively got worst in 18 hours and it was the water pump. Hope yours is just the cap.

chris.hanle

Check around this site to see water pump leaks, should be fairly easy to determine between the two when it is cooled off.

BIG smoke

My water pump was leaking and the tank had a leak in the side. Replaced both at the same time, and the belt. Good for another 1ook.

pump
FYI- porsche part $8oo
oem part $268

Porsche605

Do the water pump issues just apply to 997.1 or did Porsche design a better water pump in 997.2's to resolve these issues?

kdurg

There is a two part mini coolant line that runs up from the engine case behind the serpentine belt and to the right of the oil fill tube and feeds into the AOS. The lines are joined by a plastic connection that over time gets brittle and deteriorates. If this piece cracks the lines will spill coolant hard throughout the engine bay. Ask me how I know.....

See pic for reference. If it's not the water pump or reservoir tank it's this piece that's let go.

As a point of preventative maintenance, I'd replace this plastic connection (Part # 996-106-226-52 ) for $12.00 and have added peace of mind.

Rotmilky

Just like Big Smoke, I had a water pump leak followed by a cracked coolant reservoir shortly thereafter. Mine is an 05 with about 70K miles.

For a cracked reservoir, seeing the crack is really nearly impossible if it's very far back on the reservoir. Even with a mirror, you just can't see the side of it very well. Notice the white crusty stuff on the side of Big Smoke's reservoir. I had some similar crusty, spongy stuff on the side of my tank in the area of the crack. So, I'd try to see if you can find any foamy, crusty stuff clinging to the side of your reservoir to indicate you might have a crack near there. I think the foamy stuff is bits of leftover dried coolant. Also, when mine leaked, it shot out of the tank and hit the engine. So, there was a little bit of foam on some of the hoses between the reservoir and the motor. If the crack is on the other side of the reservoir, you probably can't see it. However, since the reservoir sits above the muffler, if it leaks on that side, it'll drip down on the muffler and evaporate. So maybe that was the cause of all the smoke you saw? Did you happen to note where the smoke was coming from?

My water pump leak looked to be coming from somewhere a little above the hoses coming out of the water pump. Maybe it was coming out of the shaft? Anyway, check the area around the water pump. From the bottom of the car, look for the lowest pulley. There should be two hoses coming out of the bottom of it toward the driver side (US car). Look for any signs of leaks around those hoses, on top of the hoses or dripping off the bottom of the water pump.

Best of luck.

--Von

BIG smoke

Forget the mirror trick. On a cool engine, push a smart phone in there on Video, with light on. Or a small camera. I have found lots of stuff on reviewing video, stuffing my hand up a heating vent in the house? Around a corner that I can't see?
eyeballs can only see in a straight line.

PelicanParts.com

Did you figure out where the leak was coming from?
Mark/Pelican Parts