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Coolant Leak

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Old 06-27-2020 | 04:14 AM
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Default Coolant Leak

Hello Rennlist friends. Long time no see!

i now only own the 2015 Macan S. Went to the garage today and as soon as I started the car, I got a coolant level warning. Turned it off, popped the hood and the reservoir was empty. I had just taken it to the gas station yesterday and all was well. Puzzled, I checked the garage floor and lo and behold, coolant! The car has barely gone over 60K miles. Anyone else experience this?

I checked under but couldn’t tell due to the cover. I have to remove the cover to see things up close. But my gut tells me, it’s either the coolant reservoir tank itself or some hose fitting somewhere. Any help would be appreciated.

Last edited by Rubik; 06-27-2020 at 04:18 AM. Reason: Typo
Old 06-27-2020 | 10:04 AM
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I bought a CPO car last month. Within 2 weeks I had an engine temp warning telling me to pull over and shut off car. Luckily I was around 3 miles from home... I pull over shut off car and pop hood and low and behold empty coolant reservoir. Towed to nearest dealer. A coolant hose had failed near the intake... apparently this is a known but rare issue. The car was fixed within 2 days under warranty...
Old 06-27-2020 | 11:18 AM
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Thanks! I also think it should be something simple. I think it would be best if the cooling system is pressure tested.

I live in Burbank, CA, if anyone reading this thread knows a good, trustworthy, independent mechanic, please drop his name here. Thank you!

Old 06-27-2020 | 02:16 PM
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With car on ground open hood and take off the beauty cover on top of the engine. Get a strong light (cell phone light is not good enough) and start looking for coolant leak. Feel underneath the the round reservoir tank on driver's side. If you find coolant there's probably a crack in it and that'd be a fairly simple DIY job. If you're not able to see any obvious leaks you're going to have to get the car up and remove the bottom cover to find the culprit. Make sure you clean the bottom cover while it's off the car so residual coolant doesn't show up again and fool you.
Old 06-28-2020 | 10:58 PM
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I had some time today to do some investigative assessment of the situation. I popped the hood and there had not been any additional leak since I topped off the reservoir. Then I decided to take it for a spin to warm up the engine and build up some pressure in the cooling system. After the coolant and oil had reached normal operational temp, I came back, popped the hood, lifted one side with a floor jack, removed the beauty cover in the hood, removed the under carriage cover and checked everything. Hoses and fittings looked ok. I had wiped dry the reservoir and I did notice a few drops underneath. Then I went under the car and looked at things. The thermostat housing and the hose attachments looked fine. However, there were some drops dripping behind the engine between the tranny and the engine. I think, it's leaking from somewhere down there but but not where the drops are showing up; the drops need to be traced back to where it's coming from. I couldn't see where it's coming from because there is so much sh*t crammed in that spot. Any ideas what it could be? I'm beginning to dread this but it may be beyond a simple "DIY" job. I probably have to take it in to an independent and if I can't find a decent one then to the dealer. I don't suspect it to be anything catastrophic but I can't see it.

Last edited by Rubik; 06-29-2020 at 12:32 AM. Reason: Typo
Old 06-29-2020 | 11:55 AM
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I found, bookmarked this place for future service appts: https://www.yelp.com/biz/house-autom...t_by=date_desc

Good luck.
Old 06-29-2020 | 05:31 PM
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My car was in the shop for two solid weeks for drop engine, and two new valve cover gaskets, and remove dash for air conditioning condenser replacement.
I drove the car for one day and 44 kms, And it catastrophically ejected all the coolant out. I noticed a burning coolant smell when my wife returned home from a shop.
Intrigued, I popped the hook to take a look. Empty expansion tank, HUGE puddle on the floor. Back the car out into the driveway, it was pumping out of the engine.
Clearly not a drip leak, it was being helped. With the engine being out last week, I surmise the rear of the engine bumped the firewall upon lowering the car back onto its engine.
The coolant pipe off the rear intake and hot V, 90 degree elbow is cracked. Apparently the intake does not need to be taken off, but they have to order a part. That will take 3-4 days, its a short week here, so the car should be repaired next week.
All covered under warranty. But really, they have had the car for 3 weeks, plus an additional week? That is four weeks I''m getting cranky.

o/p - A drip? A loss of a lot of fluid? Any burning coolant smell? If it is burning smell, then it is leaking above something hot, like an exhaust pipe or turbo.





Last edited by BIG smoke; 06-30-2020 at 08:47 AM.
Old 10-06-2022 | 05:35 PM
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Originally Posted by Rubik
I had some time today to do some investigative assessment of the situation. I popped the hood and there had not been any additional leak since I topped off the reservoir. Then I decided to take it for a spin to warm up the engine and build up some pressure in the cooling system. After the coolant and oil had reached normal operational temp, I came back, popped the hood, lifted one side with a floor jack, removed the beauty cover in the hood, removed the under carriage cover and checked everything. Hoses and fittings looked ok. I had wiped dry the reservoir and I did notice a few drops underneath. Then I went under the car and looked at things. The thermostat housing and the hose attachments looked fine. However, there were some drops dripping behind the engine between the tranny and the engine. I think, it's leaking from somewhere down there but but not where the drops are showing up; the drops need to be traced back to where it's coming from. I couldn't see where it's coming from because there is so much sh*t crammed in that spot. Any ideas what it could be? I'm beginning to dread this but it may be beyond a simple "DIY" job. I probably have to take it in to an independent and if I can't find a decent one then to the dealer. I don't suspect it to be anything catastrophic but I can't see it.
i have the exact same symptoms (leak is showing between engine and transmission).
what was the culprit in your case?
Old 10-06-2022 | 11:40 PM
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coolant leak due to cracked Y pipe between the V is very common on first gen Macan,
a relative cheap prat but pretty labor intensive, I think dealer quote 3-4hr labor, a skillful mechanic can do it in an hour.
Old 10-07-2022 | 12:18 AM
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Originally Posted by Faust T.
coolant leak due to cracked Y pipe between the V is very common on first gen Macan,
a relative cheap prat but pretty labor intensive, I think dealer quote 3-4hr labor, a skillful mechanic can do it in an hour.
thanks.
I assume that is the coolant vent under the intake manifold?
Old 04-05-2023 | 07:40 AM
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Car alerted me that about coolant level. There was a pool under it. Took it to my buddy's shop pulled off the cover and determined the leak was between the engine and transmission. Dropped it off at the dealership hopefully they can turn it around shortly. It's a 2017 GTS with 87k I guess things are prone to fail at this point
Old 04-05-2023 | 09:09 AM
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It ended up being the Y pipe in my case.
needed to remove the intake to replace it.





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Old 05-23-2023 | 03:29 PM
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have the exact same issue - any idea what something like this should be quoted?
Old 05-23-2023 | 05:58 PM
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Prices can vary a lot but generally around 4 hours of labor and $300 in parts. I paid $1500, which I think is kind of high for 4-5 hours of labor, but it seems others have paid similar prices.

Last edited by ozziegt; 05-23-2023 at 06:03 PM.
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Old 05-13-2024 | 01:07 PM
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Maybe this is helpful…

How could Porsche get this so WRONG! The Coolant Vent Tubing Story & the EASY FIX... Macan 1st GEN
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