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THIS DISCUSSION / SOURCE-DERIVED OVERVIEW
Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCHBlown Head Gasket — Bubbling. - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners
Reported or suspected cause
car overheated and caused this mess
Suggestion or failed attempt
No successful repair reported for this finding.
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Identified cause
1
Suspected cause
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Discussions that suspect a cause
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Suspected cause · Original poster
I suspect the car overheated and caused this mess.
Blown Head Gasket — Bubbling. - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners
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Leading evidence: 'car overheated and caused this mess' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, the most frequently mentioned possible cause is 'car overheated and caused this mess' (1 discussions; 0 report identifying it and 1 suggest it). The most frequently discussed action is 'Inspect head (and' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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Suggestion
Les Hoffmann is a sure path, he would be able to properly inspect your head (and repair it) if you have a crack.
Blown Head Gasket — Bubbling. - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners
Run with new coolant
Suggestion or failed attempt
No successful repair reported for this finding.
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Reported fixes
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Unsuccessful attempts
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Suggestion · Original poster
I've replaced that and the water pump and didn't realize there was a head gasket leak until I got everything up and running with new coolant.
Blown Head Gasket — Bubbling. - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners
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Counts describe captured discussions, not unique people or a diagnosis. Author identities are not reliably stored. Exact duplicate evidence is counted once across matching discussions; one discussion counts at most once per action/state. Multiple repairs reported together remain a combination. Suggestions and failed attempts do not establish a fix. Matches cover whole discussions and can include related faults, model variants and incomplete threads.
5 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
986Forum: 1 discussions
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Generation: 20261026T222516Z · outcome-qualification-6. Deterministic extraction; no AI model inference. How we use sources
Compression test:
- US Passenger side (4,5,6) all show 180 psi.
- US Driver Side (1,2,3) show 60 psi, 60 psi, 100 psi.
The coolant is under pressure because of the air forced into the coolant lines During the test.
So I peeked inside with a borescope. I can see fluid in the cylinders and bubbling at the head gasket inside cylinders 1,2,3.
Should I just go all in on a head gasket replacement or should I be looking for a crack somewhere?
No white or smokey exhaust. Just light coolant smell.
Thanks!
A little background on how we got here.
Car is new to me. 62k mi, 1999 model year.
Looks like someone forgot to install a gasket on the thermostat. I've replaced that and the water pump and didn't realize there was a head gasket leak until I got everything up and running with new coolant. I suspect the car overheated and caused this mess.
I've attached a picture from the borescope results referenced from the last message. The is from the first cylinder. Bubbling is at the seam between valves and cylinder wall.
While you wait for someone who knows more than me to reply, check out
Hoffman Machine
's web page. There's some good info about cracked heads and repairs.
https://hamheads.com/2017/01/16/986-996-porsche-cylinderhead-cracks-explained/
I'm not saying it's not the head gasket. I just know that cracked heads are a much more common cause in these cars.
Totally agree. Head gaskets usually don't leak on these cars. That said... this one is?!
I've done my homework... and I can convince myself that several scenarios are possible:
1. Did something crack and then loosen things up enough to create a head gasket leak?
2. Could the head gasket leak have reduced pressure and prevented a crack from forming?
Trying to figure out the best path to a solution. May contact Hoffman and see what they say if there is no great suggestions here!
