Coolant?

I have had to add coolant twice now about 4 months apart. While driving my check coolant light came on and I added about 1/2 a gallon of premixed add to any color coolant, both times. I did not know I was only to a water. I am thinking of haiving it flushed out and putting back it Porsche stuff. Any thoughts?

I've not lost a drop in my 2/06 CS. It seems like a check is needed to me. Check for leaks, ask for a reason why you had to add and hopefully solve and then flush and fill with the proper stuff would be my plan.

Thank you Santa Fe that is my plan. I have been to the dealer since it happen the first time and they said it was ok to mix but it would need to be changed at some point. The second time was this Sunday. I also explained I thought I have smelled coolant a few times. They said that was do to me overfilling it.

Half a gallon is a lot in my opinion. My Cayman S was underfilled by the dealer at delivery and I ended up adding 1/2 a cup (normal paper coffee cup) of Porsche coolant ($28 bucks!). 5000 miles and 8 months later, my coolant level hasn't changed at all. I definitely kept an eye on it because I too was worried about leaks. ::knock wood:: Bring it to the dealer for a check. There are some connections in the engine compartment that can leak. As soon as you take the engine cover off, it'll be obvious by the dried white coolant all over the place if this is the issue.

Brian, I had this exact problem recently. I hadn't lost a drop of coolant since I got the car.Then several episodes of reserve tank overflow, low coolant light coming on, normal temp. Added water (1/2 gallon) which worked for a short while then problem reoccured. Additionally, I always smelled coolant after shut dowm. Took it to dealer where they found a bad temp sensor and they replaced the reseroir tank hose and clamp (notorious problem). R & R sensor, filled with new coolant and sent me on my way. 10 minutes later low coolant light back on. Turned around and back to dealer. Left it runing and had the tech come out to see it. He said it must have a "bubble" in the system. I told them to keep it until they had it figured out. A few days later I returned and car ran okay for about a month and then same thing happened again. THis time when I returned with it, they got the #1 tech involved. He couldn't duplicate problem, but he went through and flushed entire system and reloaded coolant. That was @ 4 weeks ago. Since them I've put about 1000 miles on the CS (2 trips to Mammoth) plus two AX's. Not a drop missing since the latest fix. I really encourage you not to fool around with this problem. Get the dealer to check it and fix it. It's not supposed to use coolant. Craig

Thank you Captain Happy. I am taking my car to the dealer tomorrow. I think I will print your email and give it to my service writer.

Brian, Let me know how it goes with the dealer. Craig

Will do. Thanks again! Brian

I added about 1/2 cup of distilled water to mine, when new. That's what the service manager said to use. Cost = $.89. I have over 16,000 miles now. All is well.

I wanted to let you know I found out from the dealer this afternoon that it was leaking around the water pump. They are replacing it, flushing the system all under warranty. They are thinking my car will be ready tomorrow. Thank you again for your insight.

After following this thread for awhile I realized I had never checked my coolant level I have not had any cooling problems, but the car is one year old this week. I opened the coolant cap and there was no coolant between the min-max tabs. I added 50-50 mixture Peak antifreeze and water from a 20 oz. bottle a little at a time. It took two of these and then showed full to the max tab in the overflow tank. I will re-check this weekend to see if the level is constant. No excuse, but I guess with the tank not being "visible" it is kind of out of sight-out of mind. I will make a mental note to check the level more often.

Whew!! Glad that worked out well. Of course, the real test will be what happens when you drive it. Keep us posted.

Brian, I'm glad they found the problem before it caused a serious problem. I now routinely check the coolant level weekly - just in case. Good luck! Craig

Stupid question: How do you check the coolant level? My Boxster had a sight glass but the CS doesn't. No mention in the manual regarding a sight glass.

Remove the cap under the service cover when cold. The blue one beside the oil fill port. Level should be between yellow min and max tabs.

In an earlier post I mentioned that I had "topped off" my coolant with a 50-50 mixture of Peak antifreeze (container labeled safe to mix with any color coolant) and tap water. I consulted the owners manual before doing this and it did not mention distilled water or Porsche antifreeze/ coolant only, etc. After re-reading a few of these posts I consulted with my local Porsche dealer. They did not know if this would cause any problems, but recommended that the cooling system be flushed and refilled with the "their" coolant. After "digesting" the quote for the service I made an appointment to have this done. I want to maintain the car properly and avoid any stupid mistakes with maintenance and service. Any opinions if this is the right thing to do, would you do it, etc.? Thanks!

Just want to share my recent experience with coolant. About 2 months ago I checked the coolant and had to add a little over a cup of water. Two weeks ago I tracked the car for the first time. I checked the coolant the day before the DE and it was down about a half of cup. I knew others here have said it should not use a drop and I convinced myself that adding a cup or so was not too much. After the first run session while I was checking air pressure I noticed a pool of water under the car near the front right wheel. The entire underside was also coated in fresh coolant. Fortunately the car was not over heated but I lost about a half gallon of coolant. I carefully drove the car back to the dealer. They found a metal clip holding two pieces of hose together that was not seated properly. They reseated the clip, refilled the system and pressure tested it. After the run sessions the next day and daily driving since, the fluid level has not changed. I guess the stress of higher rpm driving made a weak point fail. I am now a believer, the car should not use a drop. If it does take it to the dealer and insist it gets fixed.

Is there a separate overflow reservoir for coolant? “Captain Happy” mentions one above. It seems to me that the blue coolant cap goes right into the hot radiator hose, as you cannot open it when hot. I’ve only had my Cayman for a week, and I mistakenly thought that the blue cap would be for the overflow reservoir rather than the actual cooling system. I opened it when the car was still pretty warm, and immediately hot coolant, under pressure, came out. Not to worry, I was opening it slowly, and I was able to screw it back on after only an ounce or two of coolant came out. It drained through the drain tube that’s common to the oil and coolant compartment, out to my garage floor, so no worries. But it made me think. Most cars have a separate, plastic tank off to the side of the radiator. When the coolant expands under heat, some escapes to this tank. This tank is not under pressure, so you can open it even when the car is hot. Does the Cayman have one of those? If so, where is it? Does anyone besides me think it’s ironic that a thread about coolant was started by someone named Freeze?

Well, you can't go wrong with a coolant drain & fill, other than wasting money, but it was probably unnecessary, especially if your car is less than three years old. The GM Dexcool debacle has everyone paranoid about coolant, but in reality the Peak stuff & tap water you used wouldn't do any harm at all in the Cayman , especially in such small quantities. I would have left it alone, but if you'll sleep better with fresh Porsche-brand coolant you did the right thing.

Blueone- Thanks for your reply. I am going to have the service performed next Tuesday. Your right...a few hundred dollars for a better nights sleep! In future they now say to just top off the coolant with water, rather than a 50-50 mix. Getting ready for my first road trip (2000 miles) at the end of the month, so I want to make sure everything is in order.

The Cayman does not have an overflow tank that is not under pressure (nor does any other water cooled Porsche). The "overflow" tank in the Cayman / Boxster /997 is under pressure. The blue cap goes directly into the tank. If the engine is even warm you will get coolant out (like you experienced). The tank is actually crazy big and used store some of the coolant for the whole system. FYI...in the 986 and 996 cracked coolant tanks were very common after some time. The symptoms ranging from gradual coolant loss or a small puddle on the floor (rarely was there a catastrophic failure). I replaced mine the 996 at about 4 years/60k miles. The 996 was not terrible to replace (but not fun either)...however, the the Boxster (and presumably the Cayman ) coolant tank is a PITA to remove for replacement (hopefully the tank used in the 987 is more durable than the 986.

Good info, thanks Brian.