Coolant flush necessary?

Hi, I have 2010 Cayman with 30k miles. The manual says the coolant is a sealed lifetime system, however my independent dealer says it should be replaced every 4 years. I would rather do per the manual, and wonder if doing the coolant flush could even do more harm than good. Any advise would be appreciated. Has anyone else gone without the coolant flush or had any problems from not doing this. thanks

I'm doing what Porsche recommends, which is accepting it is as a lifetime coolant. My 2008 has never had one, coolant level has remained full and I suspect Porsche knows more about their own cars than a local mechanic, all due respect because i use one.

Always a manufacturer's claim (especially for automatic transmissions). [emoji15] Lifetime = "when it dies" So they are technically correct [emoji848]

My doctor gives a lifetime guaranty on all his work! Parts and labor.

I've read a couple articles explaining why no change is necessary - something to do with self-annealing of aluminum - don't recall where. On this one I'm going with Porsche so don't intend to replace it. There was a thread within the last month from someone who took his car to the Porsche dealer for some unrelated service and asked them to replace the coolant; the Porsche service guy told him to not waste his money and wouldn't do it. That all being said, if you're convinced it needs to be done I am not going to argue strongly against it as I'm only slightly on the "don't change it" side of the fence. My niece's Prius calls for coolant to be changed at 150k miles (as I recall). Maybe if I still have my car at 150k I'll replace it, but at the (slow) rate I'm putting miles on my car, I'll be well over 100 so might have to take it in to be done.

Since I'll probably preemptively replace my water pump in the next year (new one is setting in the garage), I'll end-up draining a lot of coolant. I have no intention of flushing, but I have about 1 1/2 gallons of Porsche concentrate so I might drain-off and replace up to 3 gallons to "freshen" it up a bit.

A couple of months ago I was at the dealer and while I was there I asked the Service Advisor when the coolant needed to be replaced. One of the mechanics/technicians was standing there and he said they never replace the coolant unless they have to crack the system open for some reason.

IIRC, three gallons is exactly how much coolant you'll drain when replacing the coolant pump, if you pinch off the two hoses going forward towards the radiators. I've successfully replaced both the coolant pump and thermostat, twice, on my 987 this way, measuring the volume of fluid drained and using a (slow) gravity fill to replace it before removing the pinch-off pliers. Edit: I just realized that this is a 718 forum, and IDK if my 987 method works for this particular model, so YMMV. Proceed at your own risk... Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

Yeah, this whole thread is about a 987. OP has a 2010. Mods should move it.

To continue this non 718 discussion; when my 2000 BS was 8 years old I questioned PCA and our local region tech director who was the Porsche Zone Technical Director at the time about what I should do to my 8 year old Porsche . It was agreed the I should change the spark plugs and change the coolant. I only drained and refilled the coolant - no flush method used. Lifetime is not define in Porsche Owners Manual. I have been told by many dealer SA and techs that it is the life of the part; not your lifetime or the car's life. Once it breaks or no longer functions properly it lifetime is over. To me trans, brake, and coolant are to be replaced. Be it 2 years for brake fluid; 30k miles for transmission fluid or x years/miles for coolant. If any of you read the BMW Roundel Mike Miller's Tech Talk he has a great approach to car care. He has a set procedure for many BMW models of exactly work has to be done at what time/mileage. I like his approach. While my almost 4 years ownership of my 981 Spyder is probably my max today I still do regular maintenance. Too many people only do what the factory pays for or requires.

Every 4 years - no way !!! Porsche's red fluid is good for much more. For 10 years old car i would consider replacing coolant. Not sure what i would do, since replacing coolant is not that easy procedure and it can create more problems than good. If dealer does it properly (probably with the vacuum style) it should be fine. But even in this case close attention to engine temp is necessary during first week. And don't trust dashboard temp gauge - it's lying. Connect OBD reader and monitor the real temperature situation.

lifetime is what average cars last 10 years. Not never.

As was suggested above - this thread is about a 987, and that's where it's heading. Hang on while I drag it over..

I have an '09 Cayman 2.9L (89K miles) and just spoke with my independent Porsche mechanic yesterday. He said he wouldn't change the coolant unless he was already doing a repair that would have had him drain the coolant (e.g., water pump replacement). It sounds logical - and probably cost effective. Thoughts? And I'm still not clear on when to replace the water pump on a 987.2 . Is it a different part or process than on the 987.1 ? That wasn't clear to me in the water pump replacement threads.

The base ethylene-glycol in automotive coolants doesn't wear out, doesn't really age, and if there aren't leaks, isn't diluted. In theory, it could be considered a "lifetime" coolant, except (there is always an "except") there are additive packages that make up the rest of the automotive coolant, and those additive packages can age, can wear out. In most cases - if you never have a leak, if you never need to "top-up" your system (which means you have a leak that hasn't made itself evident to you - it's supposed to be a sealed system) you're pretty safe in following your Porsche mechanic's recommendations. If you do have leaks, or you don't know the actual concentration of your coolant, or you've been topping it up - once you solve the leak issue it might be good to replace at least what you drained from the system to do the repair, with a 50/50 mix of full-strength coolant and distilled/deionized water. Water pumps? To tell the truth, I replaced mine at around 60,000 miles, "just because". The one that came out appeared to be in perfect condition, no signs whatsoever of any wear or possible failure. We have heard of failures of water pumps on 987.1 engines - I can't recall hearing of any actual failures on 987.2 engines. The pump designs ARE different.. and the pump on a 987.2 won't destroy the block (by milling itself into it) on a 9A1 engine - the 987.2 pump mounts to a replaceable plate on the engine, instead of directly to the block as the 987.1 engines did. Knowing what I know now - would I still redo the cooling system on my '09 Boxster at 60,000 miles as I did once? Well, I'm not actually planning on doing it at 120,000 miles - so the answer is probably no. That said - since there is a belt replacement due at 120,000 miles, while the belt is off (and I'm replacing the tensioner wheel/bearing), I'd check the water pump for any sign of impending failure - endplay, sideplay, smooth-turning? If any of those appeared like they might be a future problem - it would then get a new pump. HTH,