955CTS

Hello

I was out test driving a Cayenne Turbo (5/2005 - 85.000 miles) for the 2nd time yesterday prior to purchase. All of a sudden accelerating uphill i se a lot of white smoke in the rear-view mirror and I slow down a bit. A minute after I see the "Check Coolant Level" in the instrument and pull over immediately.

I exit the vehicle and the smell of coolant i obvious, it's most-likely (?) the classic coolant pipes problem since the car still has the plastic ones. The thing that worries me, is 3-5 minutes after stopping light white smoke was still coming up from the engine bay. I could see on the road behind me, that quite a lot of fluid have been drained from the car. It was towed to the seller (private party) who just had it serviced.

At first I though no biggie, I've read about this and seller agreed to discount me to cost of the repair. But now I've read hours of threads with coolant leak and see many having problems with Torque Convertes, Starters and even Engine Replacements !!??

Should I worry, and walk away though I've agreed to buy it (nothing in writing luckily)

Thank you so much!

ArneeA

I say cross the bridge when you get there. Otherwise it will make you go crazy worrying. Just make sure you are prepared for the worst, financial-wise.

955CTS

When you say cross the bridge, do mean replacing torque converter, starter etc. Because from I've read that is a lot of $$$ compared to finding a newer/pricier truck having replace the coolant pipes before the "leak" ?

JohnnyBahamas

Aaah... well, I....

Never mind.

955CTS

Please elaborate?

cdawg21

I had to replace my water pump a day after I had my pipes fixed and my torque converter seal a week later. Just had to replace the starter (3 years after the pipes went out) I was actually surprised it lasted this long. All went out because of the coolant leaking on these parts. I hear water pump usually fails when the pipes fail but am not completely sure on that one. The torque converter seal is pretty pricey because you have to drop the engine/tranny in order to fix it. You will need a special tool that I believe only the dealership has. You should have the seller fix all of this first or drop the asking price of the car so that it helps with the repair cost.

Renn 951

Walk away. Plenty of other good vehicles out there without so many questions. And get a PPI done first on the next one you think you want to purchase. Be patient; you'll find the right one.

mudman2

Run don't walk

ltc

ltc

Clearly you've demonstrated that you do not have a fear of heights ...

Km1.8t

Keep shopping.

Slow Guy

The thought of having to replace the starter down the road doesn't scare me so much (talking strictly the difficulty factor, not starter $$$) but the thought of dropping the tranny to replace the seal would scare the daylights out of me.

I would run far and run fast.

Cole

There are no guarantees that any other Cayenne will be any better. 95% of the owners don't preventively replace the coolant pipes. They wait until exactly what you described happens.

So unless the other Cayenne options show receipts for coolant pipes, TC seal, etc. they really aren't any better off than having this one fixed. Now might be a good time to make a deal on it!! Get it fixed right and you should feel good about it.

I'd negotiate the cost of the TC seal into the deal, just in case. If it goes, it's pretty quickly after the pipes break. The other stuff is all speculation. There really is no reason coolant pipes breaking should cause the other failures.

The waterpump should only go bad if someone drove it for a substantial amount of time with no fluid lubricating it. I've submerged starters in all sorts of crappy stuff 4 wheeling for 30 years and never killed one. Constantly amazed how well some of them work even with excessive corrosion. So unless someone let it sit for a very lengthy amount of time in the coolant it shouldn't be an issue.

Slow Guy

Cole, have you seen what that coolant does when it drys on exposed metal? Running a starter through mud/water is nothing compared to bathing it in this coolant.

Good points about the unknown factors of other potential replacements though.

Cole

Yep, I've seen it. Nasty coral looking stuff. But you bring up the point that it must be left to dry on the stuff. A proper, speedy, rinse and repair of the coolant pipes and spill area should save the starter.

The problem with the torque converter seal is that its hard to rinse off and takes a few miles of driving to tear up the seal and cause a leak.