Coolant Light on !!!!!!

Hi, looking for some advice... My cooolant light came on today after sitting in stop/start traffic for longer than usual. The temperature gauge was just below 3/4. When I finally arrived at work 10minutes after the light had come on. I inspected the coolant level (a bit below min ) I turned the car off and turned on 5 minutes later with no warning light. I have phoned my local OPC who are having a look at lunch time. Any thoughts/suggestions? Thanks in advance.

How old is the car? Older expansion bottles/caps were prone to cracking and slowly letting out coolant or could be leak from elsewhere [corroded rads/pipes]. You can put a litre of water in to top it up to get you home without probs. TB

Its a MY99, I'm just concerned that I may cause damage to the car if I top it up with water and commute home (approx 1hour).

OPC have confirmed a coolant leak, most likely from the coolant reservoir (I've read this is common). I'm most likely going to get Motortune to confirm this and carry out remedial work (in conjunction with a major service). Any ideas for cost of replacement reservoir? Thanks

I might be wrong but based on hearsay something like that would cost £450 all in (inc. fluids) at a specialist. I'm sure someone will come back with a more sensible figure!

That seems pricey for what it is....! I suppose it is a Porsche. Fingers crossed.

I thought it sounded expensive when someone told me - I thought it would be closer to £250-300. Let us know !

Will do, although it looks like I won't manage to get it into get repaired until next Friday. I'm hoping that as long as I keep an eye on coolant levels I should be fine driving in the mean time. :dont know:

Should be alright - just keep some water in your car. The water temp light will flash on/off red when you hit min level. Just be careful that you don't water the coolant down too much such that it freezes or that you don't mix coolant - I've heard some people say Porsche coolant can react badly when mixed with other types of coolant. Best of luck. HTH

Don't worry about topping it up, the coolant is diluted anyway. Given the age of the car, you may be better off taking it to an independant Porsche specialist as it will cost you a lot less than an OPC. The service stamps will be just as good come resale time. The bottles & caps were strengthened on later models [01 onwards IIRC] which will be fitted in place of your old one. Had mine replaced last year, can't remember how much tho. TB

Commute home all fine....... I noticed the coolant reservoir cap is .00 and could be the root cause of leak. Where can I buy a newer version preferably .04. Thanks in advance

Could well be the cap. Just had mine replaced on an '03 C4S. An OPC parts department will sell you one for about £15-£20 I think. You'll notice if it leaks, get the car up to temperature and then switch off the engine. Look very carefully around the cap and the tank. You would see some water lying around that area (it drains off, I noticed a hissing sound as the water hit the exhaust) and possibly a slow drip from the cap itself. To be honest, best to get this down to a specialist who can pressure test the whole system for you and check for leaks in all the common places. Mine charged me £65 all in, including the cap.

Thanks for the info, I'll get them to pressure up the system when getting it serviced in a week or two's time. I'll have an update hopefully by then....

had same problem last august cost was £436 but that did include a small amount of work on the windscreen seal at same time breakdown of cost was (not inc vat) coolant level sensor £13.62 new lid £11.04 new tank £151.28 replacement full system antifreeze £55.20 2 hours labour @£70 so the parts were about £300 inc vat but i didnt want to attempt myself and while i have seen instructions on here how to do in the faq section its a tight fit and i like my knucles and fingers the way they are so your quote sounds about right hope this helps cheers tim

Thanks Tim, confirms that £450 I mentioned that I had heard someone else say earlier.