coolant warning light after reading other posts

Hello everyone. My check coolant level light came on for less than a minute today on a short drive. It went off very quickly and didn't come on the rest of the day. I read all of the threads here on the subject and when the engine cools I'm going to check the level. In reading all of the posts on this subject it seemed many people suggested replacing the coolant caps with newer ones. I have never removed the engine cover but I may do so to check for signs of a coolant leak. My question is, in all of the posts suggesting new coolant caps no one mentioned a part number. I couldn't find one at either Suncoast or Pelican. The one linked at Suncoast is discontinued it seems. I have a base 2008 Cayman , any ideas on part numbers for the two caps and or a place to order them? Thanks!

Porsche Boxster (2005-2008) - Radiators - Page 1

Thank you very much 3G3T7I , I used the search with as many words as I could think of and the cap didn't show up. I can see why I missed it. I didn't scroll through the search results far enough. Got it ordered and hope that was it. I had to add 48oz of distilled water to bring it right up to the min mark. I don't think 48oz in 26000 miles is too bad.

2009 Cayman S ... Had been sitting a while... drove 100 miles yesterday... no problems. Drove today, after just a few minutes, warning message "Check Coolant Level" on dash and temp guage pegged at 250 with red light on guage flashing. I pulled over and before I was able to turn off the engine, the message cleared and the temp dropped back down to just above 100. Shut of the engine. A few minutes later, started up and headed home. On the way home (not far) the temp reached 175 (needle straight up). Pulled into the garage. Temp still at 175. Later, maybe 15 minutes, STILL at 175. So... What's the deal? A service guy told me that is a "feature", to get you to check the coolant level... nothing more. More like a feature to cause a HEART ATTACK!!!

I don't believe whet he told you. Can you check the level? My 986 had a coolant bottle in the trunk. My 981 just has a pop up. I would check it and add some.

As above, check the coolant level when cold.

I had this occur last fall....I checked the levels it appeared low and added 1/2 qt of coolant. Week later I checked the levels again and it again appeared low and I added apprx 1/4 qt. Month later it again appeared low and I let the dealer check the engine. All was fine and I had over-filled it. His advice was go by the warning light, that is, don't add unless the light comes back on. --- Also check when engine is cool and car is on level ground.

This morning I opened the cap... it was definitely NOT up to the MIN level. I added about a pint of distilled water (as instructed) and still didn't see any liquid. I picked up anothe gallon of distilled water... added about anothe pint before I saw liquid. I'll drink it a bit before I ceck it again. I still can't believe that Porsche would have this sort of "warning" built in. I swear, I nearly stopped deaad on the road when the temp guage pegged at 250!!! An aside... What coolant do people use? Porsche guy told me ONLY use Porsche coolant. I found Pentafrost at O'Reilly that says it meets Porsche (some VW req #) specs. Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks all! Taking my baby to Tucson on Monday! Stretch the legs!!!

I just had my car in for service (at an independent) and they tested the cap. It failed. They replaced the cap and topped off the coolant. I check my coolant regularly and have had to top it off several times. I'm glad I now have an explanation for why it was always low.

Be sure to also check your water pump for a leak. The cap is a good place to start, but these water pumps are known to fail and you'll get some advanced warning by looking for dried coolant below the pulley shaft. I just replaced mine a few months ago. No problems using the Pentofrost. I got mine from Napa and mixed it with the genuine coolant (Iw as only able to get about 5 gal of the old coolant out).

Yep, Pentafrost E or ++... same thing. E replaced the ++. I talked to a Pentafrost tech and was told that they actually MAKE the Porsche stuff. Pentafrost comes in PINT bottles too, so no need to buy a whole gallon at a time. FYI, it takes about 2 cups to go from the MIN to the MAX level markers. (2009 Cayman ) Thanks to everyone for the inputs. (Sorry about all the typos in that last entry... I think I had had a few too many IPAs!!!)

I just had the water pump and coolant antifreeze replaced about a month ago as part of regular maintenance. This morning, after driving 2.5 hrs to/from the Porsche Swap Meet in Hershey, PA, the coolant light came on. I checked the level (via the cap under the rear boot) and I don't see any coolant (so it is definitely below the minimum indicator). I would like to have it checked out to see why this is happening so sson after the coolant was replaced, but I am not sure if I can drive the car when no coolant is visible. Should I just add some distilled water to get me bak to the shop OR should I drive to the dealer in another car to pickup some coolant first? Any suggestions? Mileage now = 4590 and mileage when last serviced= 45071

Maybe unrelated, but I noticed 'low coolant' warning when they car was parked a steep slope. The warning only went away after driving for bit.

As I think I mentioned in my first post, when my first warning came on, I added about a liter before I could see anything in the back, so it was STILL wel below the "MIN" mark. That was a liter of distilled water. I ran it a while (not driving) until it was up to 175 on the guage. Never set off the warning. I got the Pentafrost and got it up to the "MAX". Now I've driven t Tucson and I checked it here and it's just above the "MIN" mark. I haven't topped it up yet. No further warnings. I gotta figure it was just running all the air bubbles out, but I will monitor.

This tells me that there were residual air bubbles in your system and they are working themselves out as you drive. You should add distilled water and coolant and top it off. Then check later to see if it's gone down again. Repeat as needed. And, yes, leaky coolant caps can also happen (known issue). To everyone: when the coolant warning comes up, it's usually because your coolant is too low and you're in danger of overheating. You need to cool the car off first then top it off. Warning came up when parked at an incline? It's because you're just low enough that the angle made it register low but not so low that it registers when you're back level. In that case, you're VERY close to being too low - again, top off. Many threads on the air pockets and "burping" procedure.

Burping procedure... put your baby over your shoulder and pat gently until it burps. ;-)

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