short term replacement of coolant w/ distilled water

Hey guys, My ride is a base 08 Cayman w/ 48k miles. Coolant light just went on this morning, checked the level and there was literally no coolant to be found on the low-max levels. I just ordered a gallon of Porsche coolant from Suncoast , but for the meantime is it safe to pour some distilled water in there until the coolant arrives? and if so how much should I pour in? Thanks in advance

Distilled?? Just fill it from the hose. It won’t hurt anything so long as it doesn't freeze. Hopefully you're not in northern California. Edit: Ok... I wasn't positive so I checked and you really should use distilled water if you have it available. In a pinch you can fill it from the tap to get you home but then should flush it and fill it properly.

lol im from Socal, but ive been reading on these forums to use distilled, but i guess it wont matter. So how much water should i pour in sir? because if i fill it all the way how would i be able to pour coolant when it arrives? sorry im new to this.

See my edit. I double checked for completeness. As for how much to add... if you need to drive it, I'd fill it right up. Do a bit of Googling as I don't recall off hand whether you check coolant levels hot or cold. When the new stuff comes, flush and refill but first make sure you figure out where it went.

what is the ratio of the Porsche concentrate w/ water?

Thanks. any suggestions as to where i would look to see where the coolant went? does coolant normally evaporate over time which is why it needs to be filled? or perhaps a leak is involved..ugh.

i think its 50/50

Add distilled water until you at least get to the Min level. Also keep track of how much you add because if it's not too much you really wouldn't have to swap out the coolant. Don't recall what the capacity of our system is but if you have to add only a small percentage the protection level will still be fine. And of course look for leaks. :cheers:

distilled water for short term. You really need the lubrication provided by the Porsche coolant for the water pump to stay healthy (they are already weak on these cars). I've noticed two things about all german cars in general, their water pumps and wheel bearings are garbage compared to the Japaneese who make parts that last twice to three times longer for 1/2 the cost. I just did a coolant and thermostat swap in a 1999 Toyota Camry V6 with 254,000 miles on it, on its second water pump at that mileage. The last time I lost that much coolant that fast was on an Audi TT where the seal on the water pump failed, and then again a year later, but you can see the water pour out when you run the car... oh and the plastic impeller broke so I had to fish parts of it throughout the cooling system FAIL

KwS_987, Check the top of your rear under tray for signs of dried coolant from the water pump. It is a white-ish color when dry. I'm on water pump #3. Sometimes the coolant tank or the cap can develop a leak. The coolant tank cap should have a 4 in the last digit to be the latest. +1 on distilled water. Good Luck, Rob

The cooling system on a 987 holds about 6 gallons, so even a quart of distilled water isn't going to dilute the mixture significantly. But, as has been stated, where did it go? If the coolant has been flushed or any other cooling related maintenance has occurred (water pump is likely) in recent history, then it may just be some air in the system - not a leak. It's hard to completely bleed the system, So often there is need of adding coolant later.

Am having the same problem. My Cayman S 2008 is giving me warning for more coolant. My Porsche shop recommended time add distilled water. Or he can fill it up for me but I have to leave the car overnight . It needs to cool Down for 4 hours before we can put more water. Am really confused , I just need to add distilled water for Porsche coolant? Neni Shriver

Coolant is mixed with water in the cooling system, usually in a 50/50 mix. Since the cooling system holds around 6 gallons adding a little distilled water to top up doesn't really effect the mix ratio much. The real question is where is the coolant going. Unless you've had work done on your cooling system recently any trapped air should have burped out long ago. Something to have your dealer check out. You can top up with distilled water in the interim. Just make sure that the system is cold as it's under pressure when hot. It's good practice to put a rag over the cap when opening just in case. When it says Caution Hot it's for real.

you can spot a coolant leak pretty easy under the car. It will look like dried ice cream and it kinda builds up, white or red or pink depending on the coolant used. Its usually a sign the water pump needs to be replaced.

Make note of this: Cooling systems are NOT DESIGNED to CONSUME ANY COOLANT. If you're having coolant disappearing there is a leak somewhere. The leak might be minor and might not get worse - but chances are it WILL get worse at the most inopportune time in the most dangerous place. If you aren't skilled enough to really dig into the engine and cooling system I'd strongly suggest handing this off to a pro.

I wouldn't totally agree with that statement and here's why: If you over fill a cold engine or put more than the min in; when it gets hot it will dump the excess out the overflow. So the next time you check it cold; the level will be lower but not because you have a leak but because level was higher than where it the system wants it to be. My experience has been only fill it to min since that's where the system is going to adjust it to. My guess is that these people who find that their car is 2 quarts low after 50k miles is probably because the car overheated at various points during that time and the owner just never checked it until the dash light came on. ? make sense ? Power steering in pre electric steering cars suddenly have a problem and start burning parts up because people don't open the engine cover and ever check the fluid level plus Porsche stupidly puts the power steering where you can't easily check it and doesn't put a sensor on it to let the driver know - hey your PS's low, add some fluid. And they never did anything about it even after years of burning power steering racks and pumps etc. Their reply was "we are not seeing any problem with power steering" while websites like this were reporting - I burnt up my power steering rack, melted the lines and there is fluid all over the engine and it's burning when it hits the headers . Well that's because in just normal street driving you probably will never use any fluid but once you start over taxing the system with bigger stickier tires and track events you do burn it up. Once I started checking my PS after every DE and added that maybe 1 once it was down then I never had a problem with it again. No special fluid or coolers or different pulleys needed. Just a splash of fluid needed.

Augie is correct. Coolant system fluid expands when heated into the expansion tank and all expansion tanks have overflow tubes. If the expansion exceeds the expansion tanks capacity, it will overflow. There is no leak. It's designed to work that way. Therefore it's technically NOT a closed system. Particularly hot climates and with slight overfills, I live in southern Florida for example, can cause it to happen often. I add a little distilled water to my system, usually annually, and I do not have any leaks. I've had to do this every year for the past 12 years. The amount is negligible when capacity is considered. Agree completely with the power steering fluid issue.

Fooey.. what you're not addressing is my simple statement: Cooling systems are NOT DESIGNED to CONSUME ANY COOLANT. No engineer designed a cooling system that was made to consume coolant. A properly filled system that is working correctly IS a sealed system. Auto manufacturers test for things like this by running their cars around the California deserts looking for inadequately sized expansion tanks. Will overfilled systems burp some coolant - possibly - most manufacturers allow for minor overfilling when they size the expansion tank. In any case - that overfilled system is being used in a manner it wasn't designed for. There are 2 ways the expansion of coolant would exceed the capacity of the expansion tank: (1) Too much coolant to start with (2) Coolant (and engine) has overheated. BUT - that's not what was being discussed here. We're talking about a vehicle that had NO coolant showing in the intake tube (which doubles as a level indicator.) This system HAS A LEAK. Filling it and ignoring it isn't fixing it. The leak is indicated by missing fluid. The fluid was not "consumed" by the system or engine in normal operation of the engine. BTW - melting power-steering reservoirs was no longer an issue with the 987.2 cars. Porche fixed that (and a LOT of other things) when they redesigned the engine and car with the .2 release in 2009.

Sometimes the source of a leaking cooling system is hard to find ... just like a locating the exact location of a leaking roof on your home. Years ago, it took me a while to locate the source of a coolant leak on my wife's '70 Chevelle. It ended up being due to a small crack on a hose fitting behind the block near the firewall. The reason it was hard to locate was because the coolant was turning into vapor, not a solid fluid leak.

Absolutely agree! If you want a complex cooling system - my 958 Cayenne Twin Turbo with front and rear HVAC is probably about tops. I think at the moment mine isn't leaking, which is sort of the exception for it. It has things like electric pumps to move heated coolant through the HVAC when the engine is off.. branching circuits to feed coolant to the rear-seat heater, which actually lives back in the trunk area. Electrically/computer-controlled thermostat to optimize engine temp for maximum efficiency. Pumps to feed coolant to the turbos after the engine shuts down.. The Boxster is simplicity personified compared to the Cayenne system. On my first Cayenne (an '06) - I spent most of the 2 year CPO warranty chasing a coolant smell. Finally located it - a tiny crack in a threaded hole in a cast-aluminum cross-over pipe between the rear of the two heads. Dealer managed to replace it without engine removal - a surprise since the first step in the manual was "remove engine.. see section.. "