cb4

I bought a 2008 cayman S a few months ago and had my first de event with it a couple of weeks ago. On my last run I lost all of my coolant on the track. Luckily no one was hurt but cleanup took a while.

I had it towed home and recently had a porsche specialist check it out. Apparently a hose clamp came loose. I told the mechanic that the engine had recently been replaced and perhaps the dealership didn't fasten the hose clamp properly. He seemed to think the cause was something else. Coolant temp was normal after this happened so not sure what else could have caused this.

Anyone experience this? Should I just get it clamped back on and forget it happened?

Cheers!

TXE36

It's possible a loose clamp could do this, but more detail could help:

1) Does your car have a normal temperature gauge or does it have an "analog idiot light" where the needle only goes up if it gets really hot?

2) Did you get a hot indication before the track spill?

3) How did you know you lost coolant? Low coolant warning? Black flag?

4) What was the ambient temp?

5) Is the all the ducting for the radiator all in place?

6) Is there any plastic in the cooling system? Cooling system plastics can crack due to age and leak under stress?

7) Did the mechanic find evidence of a loose clamp afterwards? Your mechanic's story sounds odd, find a loose clamp and then think the cause is something else?

8) Did you dump all the coolant in a small area as implied by your description?

The reason for the questions is what could have caused the leak was an overheat event and you need to rule that out or at least be on the lookout the next time you are on the track. Street driving isn't enough as it doesn't tax the cooling system like driving on the track.

It is also quite possible that a loose clamp could do this. How long between the engine change and the track event? I would expect a loose clamp to show itself fairly quickly after the work is done and I would expect it to leak on the street as the cooling system pressure is regulated. If the coolant dump was sudden and the engine temp normal, a clamp could quite well be the culprit.

An overheat event could also be an explanation, so the engine temp just before the event is critical. Do you remember looking at the gauge during the session?

I'm also not that familiar with Caymans, but I am familiar with BMW E36's, which are notorious for cooling system issues.

Not to scare you, but it could also be head gasket issues, but I would rule out the simple stuff first. The bottom line is you need to get to the bottom of this. I've spun on coolant and it is not fun - you don't want to be responsible for doing this to someone else on the track and you don't want to damage an expensive motor.

-Mike

mglobe

Two likely possibilities. Either the hose clamp was not properly installed, or the dealer failed to get all of the air out of the cooling system. The latter will cause you to boil the system and pop off connections.

dgmark

I vote for the most obvious, the clamp was not installed correctly, mistakes can be made.

cb4

1) Does your car have a normal temperature gauge or does it have an "analog idiot light" where the needle only goes up if it gets really hot?

Normal temp gauge and it read 175, dead center as soon as the low coolant light came on.

2) Did you get a hot indication before the track spill?

Nope.

3) How did you know you lost coolant? Low coolant warning? Black flag?

Tire slippage, followed by low coolant indicator, followed by black flag.

4) What was the ambient temp?

50 or so.

5) Is the all the ducting for the radiator all in place?

Yep, as far as I know.

6) Is there any plastic in the cooling system? Cooling system plastics can crack due to age and leak under stress?

Not sure.

7) Did the mechanic find evidence of a loose clamp afterwards? Your mechanic's story sounds odd, find a loose clamp and then think the cause is something else?

Yes he rue confirmed it today clamp was down further on the hose. Hose was disconnected.

8) Did you dump all the coolant in a small area as implied by your description?

One big dump followed by a dosage here and there.

It is also quite possible that a loose clamp could do this. How long between the engine change and the track event?

6 months.

An overheat event could also be an explanation, so the engine temp just before the event is critical. Do you remember looking at the gauge during the session?

Yes. Gauge read normal.

I

Bob Rouleau

The DFI engines are not known for coolant dumps - unlike the Mezger engines. I'd call this one an exception caused by a faulty installation.

dan212

I think this is where we all should remind ourselves to flush coolant systems for track season and put water + water wetter in. No antifreeze. Because SH$t happens.

NJ-GT

It is a Cayman S. The dashboard coolant gauge can read in the middle, the real oil temp and coolant temp are a different tell. Check video below, my dashboard temperature gauge was in the middle, and the car was obviously overheated.

Overheated cars build pressure on the coolant and oil lines.

Add a third radiator and problem solved. There is a long list of problem to be solved in the 2006-2008 Cayman for DE or track day use (ps cooler, trans cooler, brake cooling, oil separator, oil pan, under drive pulley, bigger front rotors, bigger rear rotors, 3rd radiator, use more water in the coolant mix, vents on front bumper cover).

So, get it clamped, add the 3rd radiator, use more water in the mix, check the other clamps. you should be fine.

TXE36

This is what I was getting at with the term "analog idiot light". Many factory water temp gauges are designed not to move until the motor gets *very* hot. On the BMW E36 the temp gauge reads centered from 160F to ~230F. 230F is enough to blow a head gasket on the straight six.

I'm sure the operation of the Cayman's gauge is known, just do a search. The post above tells me it's not very informative.

What you don't want to do is just forget it happened. It may be just the clamp - keep an eye on it and take extra care at the next event.

One fairly easy way to monitor water temp is with a scangauge that connects to the OBD port. You can get an accurate temp reading from there.

One thing really bad about these damped gauges is they provide no trend data. One second its good, the next its in full overheat. With a real gauge you can see how fast it is climbing. Barring a loss of coolant, it takes time for an overheat to occur. With a real gauge you can see this happening before it becomes catastrophic.

-Mike

cb4

Thanks everybody! I have some more research to do. Will be talking to my mechanic on Monday and will let everyone know what we find.

cb4

Diagnosis was that the hose must not have been clamped properly. So I'll try not to let it bother me the next track day. I probably should consider flushing the coolant and going with water the next time to be on the safe side.

Damn that coolant is expensive.

Cheers and thanks all for the information. I learned s lot about my Cayman.

Beantown Kman

cb4: Where did this happen? I was at a de event at NHMS a couple of weeks ago when someone in a CS lost all coolant. Just wondering if that was you.

BTW, this happened to me in my '06 Cayman S at Watkins Glen a few years ago. In that instance, a motor mount bolt was chafing against a coolant hose and it wore through. It was not a pleasant experience, to say the least. And it was not the easiest repair to make in the paddock. I've never heard of this happening with anyone else's Cayman.

cb4

Yes that was me. I remember talking to you about your 06. You have the cayman R now right?

I'll be at NHMS on Friday for the bmwcca event. I hope to see you there.

And sorry for the late response

Martin S.

I'd be installing a data logger tapped into the OBD system, incorporating a very visible warning light when temps, oil and otherwise, hit values you feel are critical.

Personally I use a RLC Micro Pod on my 993, OBDII data not workable, so I have an oil temp probe programmed to flash red at 220 degrees F. That's not super hot on a 993 motor, but I want to know what's going on with the engine...I also have a low oil pressure monitor.

wwwrlcracing.com Note if you buy one of these units, there is no technical phone support to speak of, they want you to diagnose your problems with their library of videos.

txhokie4life

What is a good/economical solution for connecting to our 996/Boxster/Cayman DMEs?

I love the idea of dumping OBDII data streaming to my cell phone so I can monitor engine data.

I already have the duramatic.

thanks,

Mike