coolant leak

Has anybody had a problem with coolant leakage? My S has been in twice in the last month for a leak near the passenger side rear wheel. The first service repair included changing a clamp and hose and pressure testing. The second repair has taken a week (waiting for parts from Europe) and is still not complete.

the car had the coolant leak twice in the first week , its a 07 CS . they replaced some valves . and said it will be fine . its 1500 miles now and its fine .

i have a boxter and i take it there every couple of months and have them test everything for leaks boy do they hate it! if they find any small leak they have to fix it a pressure test

I just had them replace the pump cos the coolant was consistantly low even after they had topped it up a couple of times. G.

lost all coolant today. first the clutch, now this. hooray for porsche initial quality!

As a driving instructor on the track (in a 996 Turbo 4x4 this past January) I had the car dump ALL of its cooland fluid and kill two hours of track time for everybody - when we talked to the dealer they did not seem surprised that clamp came off - they said that this happens due to the nature of the type of clamps used - a spring fit - non screw type that does work their way off - hmm....never had this happen with a BMW...but I'm still not even interested in an M3 anymore after owning a Cayman S ...for that matter - I am not even interested in a 911 regardless of whether its a turbo or 4x4...bad hose connectors aside! Cayman S Rules !!!

Ugh, I joined this club today too. Lost coolant. Will see what the verdict is tomorrow. Porsched service arranged for the tow.

Coolant Leak I, too, had a coolant leak near the passenger rear tire. The dealership determined it was from the fill cap. They replaced the cap and I no longer have the problem. It was a small amount of coolant. I hope this helps.

I'm a little alarmed that it seems Porsche is aware there may be a problem with these clamps and are doing nothing about it like create a TSB on this issue and come up with a solution. It would be such a simple fix. Just replace the type of clamp used and be done with it.

Mechanic says the water pump seal was to blame and they are replacing. Nothing with the clamps of hoses in my particular case.

Well, I previously reported a little rattle in the engine, but could not track it down. Now that they replaced the water pump and belt, rattle is gone. Hmmmmmm.

Dealer Admits to issue - Not Porsche Please note, that a "DEALER" admitted to this issue - not Porsche AG

ok, this makes sense. i was hearing a rattle occasionally, then almost constant. next thing that happened was i got a low coolant warning. dealer rep tells me it's a faulty coolant pump. car has been in shop now 2 days and no further word.

Coolant problems... Mine had a mis-aligned internal seal from the factory, and required a complete engine replacement. (Coolant leaking into crankcase) Rumor round the campfire is that by ramping up production Porsche's taken a hit in quality control. Of course, in my experience, the dealer service was excellent and they were committed to fixing the issue.

I smell coolant on and off when I park my car in the garage @ work, however I have yet to see the fluid.... So I always thought it was someone ealses car. Does the fluid keep from being seen sometimes because of the plastic membrane below the car or have you guys always seen fluid??

I have a 2008 Cayman S , purchased in Oct07. Everyting was wonderful until I found what appears to be coolant near the passenger side rear tire. Hopefully only a clamp - but somewhat dissapointing nonetheless...

I smell coolant when I park the car in the garage at home but I have never seen coolant on the ground. So today my car is at the dealership getting checked out. I did get a low coolant level light come on when the seasons changed and got cooler outisde. I took it to the dealer and they topped off the tank as I didn't have time for them to actually check the car over.

At my 40K service - the car went in with NO ISSUES at all and came out with a leak of radiator fluid just behind the passenger rear wheel and smoked out of the right side vent as well. When I took it back in they put pressure on the system and found that the radiator fluid reservoir had a small crack in the side where the blow mold had formed the plastic part. It had apparentl been there for some while but the leak was slow enough that i never noticed it...however....upon a full topping off of fluids requireda the 40K this was neough to put extra stress on the system and leak more noticably that before. They ordered the part and had me out the next day no questions asked. On another note - they also found THREE CRACKED COILS at this same service....car was close to a real problem as one of the three coils was about to completely explode. "Controlled Obselensence" at its finest. Z

...oh yeah - the AC compressor had to be replaced as well due to a faulty bearing inside of it...at least no rebuild was required. On Porsche's behalf...at no time did anything ever quit working...and I surely put the car through its paces! Long live Porsche! Z

I had my 40K service 3 weeks ago and the exact problem you mention Zeitgeist happened to me today. I've never had a problem beyond this so I hope they go easy on me since I imagine it's something they could have found when they replaced my main radiator during the 40k.

Mine is due for service...I've been putting it off, as the Porsche dealer is a PITA to get to. I've had to top my coolant off a couple of time in its 15000 miles, and I smell coolant regularly without a drip. I've checked the coolant cap (leaks) but now I'm wondering about the whole coolant system. Is a "thanks" in order?

I didn't start getting leaks until I started watching my coolant level and keeping the fluid topped off. It's been suggested before that a topped off tank may not have the room to handle expansion during hard driving. I also had a leak when I failed to tighten the filler cap - apparently the fluid gets dumped on the ground rather than into the car ... To keep me sane I replaced the cap and stopped watching the level, living with it being a bit low. maybe your leaks after the 40K service came from the car being topped up. ymmv, -PM.

OK, I have one for you. I bought a 2008 CS with ~14Kmi in March. After the first couple of weeks, got the low coolant message. I topped off (took about a gallon of coolant) and 3 weeks later got the message again. Took it in to the dealer and they said there was no sign of a leak anywhere in the engine bay so they postulated may have been an air bubble when I filled it last (?!). At the time, I asked if the leak could be internal to the engine and they assured me that I'd see blue smoke if that was the case. They topped off the coolant again and that lasted another 3 weeks. I again went to the dealer. After an hour or two of me watching them scratch their heads, they sent me off in a loaner (2010 Panamera S!). This was over 2 weeks ago. Since then, they said they've opened up the engine but still can't find signs of a coolant leak. I checked the previous owner's records and he had it in 3 times for this same issue before over the past 4 years. Each time the dealer said they "fixed" the problem by replacing the coolant bottle or the cap, etc. I'm getting nervous because the warranty expires next week. Any suggestions as to what I should be doing differently to get this issue resolved?

This is clearly an old issue they never fixed, I would ask them for an extended warranty or they can keep the car. Or they can put a new engine in it, now. Cheers

It could be an o ring or some other seal leaking. Had it happen to me after it was at the mechanic for a few days, he noticed the coolant on the ground where my car was parked while he waited for parts to fix something else that I can't think of now. Only a few drops on the ground and it never showed up on computer saying low coolant. Good luck!

Update: after tearing the engine apart and multiple pressure tests, the dealership has been unable to find coolant in the oil or the crankcase. They postulate the coolant leak is being caused by a "porous block". The bottom line is that the Porsche TFM has approved replacing the engine. So 10 days to ship the motor and another week to install (holiday week) and I'm better than new. I thought about asking if they could put in a GT3 motor, but figured I'd be pushing my luck! Thanks for the encouragement and advice.

I own an 06 987 BS. I have had to top off the coolant multiple times over the past year of ownership. Nothing leaked on the garage floor but a frequent antifreeze smell when I stop the engine. The mechanic has looked for signs of a leak a couple of times and guessed I had a small crack in the coolant tank. He did a pressure test but it passed. When he dropped the transmission to look at a potential IMS failure (see my thread on a misdiagnosis of IMS failure due to metal flakes in the filter)' he found I had a leaking transmission cooling valve. Apparently this is tied into the engine cooling system to cool the transmission and it had been leaking long enough that it partially resealed itself so there was not any substantial fluid release when it was not pressurized. Who knew! This is not something that would necessarily be picked up in a pressure test because circulation to the transmission is controlled by a temperature activated valve. This is another potential cause of these undiagnosed coolant losses. Unfortunately I think you have to drop the transmission to diagnose and repair it.

I owned 2005 BS 35k miles, previous user meda only 4k miles within 2 years and when i bought the car it gave coolant level alert after 300 miles. I topped the the coolant but it warned again after 200 miles. Sometime i was seeing some leaks under right back of the car, next to the tire but when we lift the car there isn't any leakage. Also seeing humidity on tailgate, right above water tank. The problem even made engine temp to go 110 degrees celcious and the car overheated. We start with changing cap of the coolant tank, unresolved; changing a plug over the coolant tank but unresolved; made a pressure test to coolant tank but it isnt any problem;so we decided to remove the engine and make an entire check. When we opened the engine, saw that cylinder head gasket damaged and send pistons to test them to learn if needed also change them but result is there is no need to change pistons. We changed also spark plugs, engine oil, air filters, transmission oil, all cooling water (learned that 987s takin nearly 28 liter cooling water into the tank and into all hoses) and also we rectified the engine. When i started to use the car, serviceman informed me that while running-in period (1000 miles) i must fulfill the coolant constantly. I took a road trip and made 1000 miles, leakage decreased but not over. After a month, we decided to change the coolant tank, new tank came from Germany, we installed it but coolant continued to decrease. We lifted up the car again and observe it for any drip. At last, we found that transmission cooling system which use engine coolant, makes some drops while engine running. Last week, we changed the part that i attached its picture (water pump or vacuum they said) and now the car stopped to decrease coolant finally. It was a difficult process but i didn't lose my hope I share the story with you to give an idea whom has leaking problem.

I assume these transmission cooling issues are only a problem for automatics (Tip/ PDK ). True?

Does anyone recall what pressure was used to test the cooling system? Alldata says 26 PSI and the Bentley 986 book says 21 PSI? Thanks, Rob VN

I seem to remember a recommendation of no more than 20PSI - due to the complexity of the system - if you over pressurize it you're likely to blow some of the snap-in hoses out of their fittings. If it will hold 20PSI overnight you're in fine shape.