Shock28

1st post.

TLDR: Low Coolant Warning, Engine Temp pinned, turned off for 30 min, Coolant measurement showed low, now running fine.

2009 987.2 base (Cayman). 43,000km. Drove this afternoon, no issues. Started it 4 hours later in my driveway (was fully cooled down), within 10 seconds got a Low Coolant warning. Then I watched the temp go from 0 to 200 (80% of the gauge) in 2 seconds flat before I shut her down. Checked coolant - lower than MIN, could not see liquid (had the car serviced 1 year ago, assume it was fine then...). Googled for 30 min. Started car again (just to pull in into the garage, will get coolant tomorrow). Car acted 100% fine.... No warning, no overheating ( it took the usual 5 min at idle to come up to normal temp / 50% temp gauge).

Anyone see this before or have any thoughts? My only guess at this moment is that :

A) My water pump stopped working momentarily
or
B) Coolant is so low that having my car parked in the driveway (slight slant, rear elevated) brought the coolant level just below where the coolant "intake" is, and somehow restarting the car got it flowing again.

Thanks in advance!!!

Shock28

Topped up coolant today, took about 1.7L to get it back to between MIN and MAX... Has not gone down after a few warm up cycles (have still yet to drive it, only idled in the garage). Will continue to monitor. Cant find an indication of any leaks which is disconcerting, and have not had any white smoke. Wish there was a dipstick to see if there is coolant in the oil!

tomhartzell

My '12 Cayman S had similar warnings when I parked on a slant while traveling. It had been 3-4 months since the water pump was replaced under the CPO warranty -- but it had always been parked on a flat surface since then with no warnings being displayed. Dealer told me it could take weeks (or even months) to have the air in the system bleed out. Topped off the coolant with tap water per their recommendations, and the coolant level has been consistent since then.

TMc993

If this were my car, I'd be attempting to determine what caused the coolant level to be almost two quarts low. Water-cooled engines in good working order don't generally "use" coolant and 1.7 liters a lot of coolant.

Shock28

@tomhartzell My issue sounds EXACTLY like this. I've only had the car for a year, and the service records don't indicate a water pump replacement, but I am going to assume that when I got the car it was already low... I'm usually all over maintenance, but I let checking the coolant level slide here. 0 damage done, but lesson learned. Lots of driving since the top up, everything is fine.

@TMc993 Totally agree, that's why I mentioned that it's disconcerting that everything is fine and I've not found the cause. I'm changing the oil in the next week or two before she goes away for the winter, so I'll look for any coolant in the oil, but other than seeing 0 white smoke, I have no idea where it could have gone.... 1.7 (it's almost at max now so say 1.4) is a lot of coolant... Any advice on how/what to check?

tomhartzell

+1 for TMc993's recommendation. The dealership replaced my water pump while conducting a tech inspection for an upcoming HPDE; I had never received a warning prior to having the water pump replaced. It wasn't leaking badly, but couldn't be driven on the track with a known leak. (And coolant was never seen on the garage floor.) Water pump replacements aren't uncommon with these cars. I would have a dealer or indy with Cayman experience inspect your car real soon. (Especially if the water pump has never been replaced.)

Shock28

Follow up 1.5 years later for anyone else who may run into this. The coolant has remained between the MIN and MAX line ever since the top up 1.5yr ago. Sounds like whatever cooling system was done in the previous 9 years, there was air in the system and it was ~1.5l low ever since (and it took this particular slant of a driveway to have that air bubble go to the engine block and temporarily overheat/trip the coolant level warning). That's the best synopsis I can provide... Cheers all

Viper pilot

Thanks for the update. Glad it turned out well.

Foaadgucci

I have the problem about cayenne 2016 oil its come to water and now High temperature come for me i don’t know this problem