996TT - First sign of trouble?..

Whilst sitting in an horrendous trafiic jam on the A2 today, I noticed what looked like puffs of steam eminating from the left front on the car (nearside). I got that waft of coolant for a few seconds too. For a split second I thought I saw a fine jet of water jetting out in front of me from the middle of the car... :dont know: I immediatley turned the car off. The tempo guage was at a pretty normal 80ish. Once out of the traffic jam I pulled over to have a look. :?: I sat in a layby with the car running but could see nothing. The car was at normal operating temperature idling at 1k with the temp at just over 80 and the oil pressure at 2. I drove the car home gingerly taking the long route home using dual carriage ways and motorways with a beedy eye on the temp guage and bonnet. Nothing. To date, I have never seen it happen again but then I havent sat in traffic jams. I'm beginning to wonder if I imagined it!!?? Any ideas? :thumb:

has she had new rads ? If not I would say the rad is on its wasy out ! Any 911 with 60,000 miles or 10 years old will need them looking at. If you do change them, remember to buy new rubber hoses too. :thumb:

Hi With so many other hot cars around you it is going to be hard to tell if the smoke and coolant smell was from yours or another car. That is no help at all but perhaps should lessen your anxiety somewhat. If there had been no other cars around at the time it would all be a bit more clear cut. Berni

Based on a number of previous coolant loss issues... I can tell you that when you end up loosing your coolant there is a nice big bright warning symbol that pops up in the middle of the dash that is difficult to miss... :lol:

Given the exposure of the front Rads its very common for these to start weeping after time as they suck up all sorts of s*** from the road, this then starts to rot the elements and they end up leaking. If they do need replacing get some mesh grills fitted at the same time to prevent this happening again, it may also be a dodgy hose somewhere at the front so best to get it checked out ASAP, a good garage will be able to pressurise the coolant system and check for leaks.

A few weeks after I picked up my 911 Turbo I too noticed that horrid coolant smell when sitting in traffic. Fortunately I was on the way to a Porsche Service Center, to give it the once over. They told me that all 3 rads were leaking! They asked if the car had been sitting around for a while, which aided the corrosion. As the car is 2005 model with only 13k on the clock, I can only assume it was sitting around for some time. I contacted the dealer who told me that the Rads were not covered under warranty. By the looks of the radiators, they were rotten before I bought it, so I told the dealer in no uncertain terms that I'd fill the holes with his head if he didn't offer some compensation. - he coughed up. My first few weeks of 911 Turbo ownership was not great!

when in traffic the car will get hotter until the fans switch on to bring the temp down.Any leak just starting will be at its most vulnerable in such conditions as the pressure in the system increases with temp until the cap allows the pressure to dissipate and the hotter the water in the rads is the greater the expansion to the metal parts (where the leak may be). Get the PU off and check the rads. Leaks are normally quite obvious from staining by the coolant.

radiators Best way and you need to to do this a couple of times a year is to remove the bumper and shrouds and clear all the crap that rots the rads. examine the lower parts then if its gone or going you will be able to see then and replace before they let you down. I cut away the corner of the shroud like a lot of other owners that way you can just hose the debris out when you wash it, that prolongs the life of the rads and condensors.