2004-911 carrera

I had a spirited 3 hour drive Friday from the coast to Rants Pss Oregon yesterday--65-100 degrees had fun in the corners, but never pushed the engine that hard. When I check into the motel someone told me I had coolant coming out of my Exhaust pipe on the left side. I checked the temp and it was only slightly above 180 NO white smoke and the car starts good and seems to run fine The next day I added coolant and drove the 30 miles to Medford--It never got hot, but seemed to go thru the 50/50 coolant I was so looking forward to my second autocross this weekend. my first was last month, but knowing how expensive putting a new or used motor in it I think I'm going to have it towed back home to my mechanic. I joined AAA premium yesterday for $119 and it give me one 200 mile tow and up to 3 100 mile tows.
I started a new chemo recently and have been feeling like crap---never thought it would be the car that held me up. I drove 25 miles to Medford yesterday after adding more coolant. I never got hot but seemed to go thru the coolant. NO white smoke and the car seems to run fine

02Z06

Have yo checked for intermix?

Ahsai

^+1 Check the oil dipstick to see if the oil looks clear. If there's no coolant leak and coolant is disappearing, either it's burnt or it went into the crankcase.

JimmyB

Is it coming out of your left exhaust pipe, or burning off on your left exhaust pipe? Could be something as simple as a duff coolant reservoir cap causing coolant to leak onto the exhaust. Which is exactly what happened to me - replaced the cap and all was fine.

mattie_k

Yup check the simple things first, cracked tank (very common) and cap for signs of leakage. Then maybe check around thermostat housing and water pump. Hopefully it's one of the easy fixes and you're happily motoring again soon!

2004-911 carrera

Thanks--I/m not very mechanically inclined__ n MY dip stick and OIL FILLER cap show NO Signs OF Water ..the coolant just drips out of the exhaust after I shut it off--don't know if its coming out as I'm driving--the cap seems fine--I had a hard time getting it off. What is intermix and how do I check that?-- IM going to top it off and head out to the autocross track-about 12 miles-I was the only Porsche last month, but I'm sure there are a few out there a lot more knowledgeable then me--Like everybody--lol-- thanks everybody---sure would be nice if I could race tomorrow--but I don't want to take any chances--was pretty slow last month--but my time did improve with each lap

wyovino

If your oil looks free from coolant it is probably a leaking tank or cap as others have said. However, I would refrain from doing any Autocrossing until it is solved.

2004-911 carrera

went to the autocross track and nothing came out of my exhaust when I got there--no white smoke see nothing leaking out of the cap or any leaks in the tank--going to check tomarrow to see how mmmmmmmmmuch fluid I went thru and the way back----put more in it this time---my eys are bd and I couldn't see the upper level mark---but filled it to the lower level. nothing dripping when I got back to the motel latter. WAs feeling to o sick to hang out at the track very long---but there was another Porsche taking practice laps a Boxter My buddy leases rhe shop to the mechanics qn==their dy off. but he called them t home and I was advised not to race or try to drive home I'm going to have AAA tow the car home from the autocross tomorrow and get a ride home from my friend saw no drip age out of the exhaust today--the tank oor the cap

Kalashnikov

99/100 it is your coolant tank leaking. Coolant tank leak will come down to the exhaust and will leak from the tip.

Hurdigurdiman

check around your water pump. That's my guess. Mine leaked an egg cup full when I stopped and switched off. From around the bearing of the water pump. At 78000 miles. That is very near to the left exhaust.

Paul Waterloo

Best of luck....probably the tank or cap. I had a cracked tank after replacing the cap, then the non-OEM tank that I installed cracked again in about 8 months, bought an OEM tank and replaced it in March, all is good now.

Here's some more details of the first failure:

https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...ant-issue.html

Best of luck with your health issues! Hopefully both you and your car will be in better health soon!

Chiamac

FWIW when my pump went out it was more like the car was peeing from more or less the center of the car and in a bit, not on the side by the exhaust. Not that this couldn't happen at speed, but I'm willing to bet if it was leaking that much it would be pretty noticeable.

Guessing it's on the tank or something, and that the leak stopped due to there being less fluid to leak. =)

For instance my 98 Jeep Cherokee has a leak right below the coolant tank. Runs file, maybe slightly hot, but put any coolant in and within a day or two it's gone. On my long list of things that need attention.

Flat6 Innovations

Cracked cylinder...
This will hardly ever give intermix, as it occurs above the flame ring, and only allows coolant to escape into the chamber thats effected, then leak into the exhaust from open intake valves..

It may not always leak from the exhaust, as the engine has to stop at a point where the exhaust valves from the afflicted cylinder are open.

I've disassembled two engines in a row that had two cracked cylinders each, one on each bank of the engine. Neither of these had intermix, both ran 'ok" and had no other symptoms. Its become the most common of modes of failure that we see, obviously due to time in service for the cylinder materials.
Small crack on bank 2




Huge crack on bank 1




Close up of bank 1 crack.

Woodman71

roadsession

to the OP. You have 99.9999% a simple cracked coolant overflow tank or leaky cap.
At rest, the coolant won't leak. Under high pressure in spirited driving - you will get the leak.
It's not an expensive fix.

Please ignore the doom sayers for now.