Porsche coolant, why?

I know you're supposed to use Porsche coolant and mix it 50/50 with deionized water, but can anyone tell me why? What is so different about that antifreeze versus say Prestone or other over the counter coolants? Thanks! Rob

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I believe mixing coolant can cause gelling. If you flush the old Porsche coolant out completely, then it should be a non issue. This means that you have to flush the system more than once. Its an extra labor cost versus extra dollars charged for Porsche coolant formula in addition to taking on the risk of gelling and then trying to clean that crap out..

I found this article which does a great job of explaining: http://www.pedrosgarage.com/Site_5/C...ntifreeze.html You don't *need* the Porsche stuff but you need to make sure you're using OAT Extended Life. These would all work:

General rule of thumb - if you car has pink coolant, only add pink. If your car has orange only add orange etc... Sure there are universal coolants out there, better safe then sorry. I thought the Porsche brand coolant was just Pentosin G12 (same as the VW labelled stuff). Much cheaper without the Porsche logo: Amazon Amazon Personally I use Mercedes coolant in all of my cars, including the 355 - which is also known as Zerex G-05. None of my cars came with pink stuff from the factory.

You should never mix coolants, but if you replacing the coolant completely you can use any of the brands listed above.

If you just need to top off, add distilled water. There are over 6 gallons of coolant mix in the car, a few ounces or even a half gallon is not going to affect the mixture dramatically.

Coolants have different levels of PH (acid), Silicates, Sulphates, Borates and other additives. Each manufacturer specifies a formulation suitable for the metals in the engine, rubber hoses, seals etc. - so if you mix the wrong stuff you could end up with an expensive problem. Porsche sources its coolant from someone like Pentosin and then applies a big mark-up - and then the dealer applies a big mark-up - hence the price. After a bit of research (look at the Pentosin website) you can see the OE equivalent. This is safe to mix. I found a local auto shop here that carries it - at less than 1/2 the price of the Porsche dealer. There is also a VW/Audi equivalent (also made by Pentosin) that some on this board have used- but you need to be careful you get G12 (TL744) - so I would go with the Pentosin SF if you want to save money. http://www.pentosin.net/pressrelease...luid_Guide.pdf

I've had a reoccurring coolant leak for some time now. It's very minor today, but it was quite heavier last year. I live over 200 miles from the nearing Porsche dealer. They told me I could, and I did, use the Prestone coolant. That's what I added to my system as the coolant level would drop. I've had no issues. YMMV

Interestingly, I just purchase 2 Gallons of P car coolant at the dealer a couple of weeks ago. The parts department guy asked me, "are you just toping off", I said, "no I'm considering changing my water pump". He said, "ok because we also have a "top off" brand we use that is equivalent that we sell by the pint". I was speachless.

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Why? Porsche if nothing else is being consistent. It does not approve any other anti-freeze so having on hand smaller quantities for 'topping' up accomplishes two things. One is one doesn't have to risk mixing incompatible anti-freezes and two one doesn't have to buy a gallon of the stuff just to top up. 'course one of the 1st things after I bought my new Boxster (back in '02) was to very quickly visit the Porsche parts department and buy a gallon of Porsche anti-freeze to have on hand just in case. So far I think I'd had to use a bit of it. Can't remember now. The reason Porsche recommends a specific anti-freeze and this applies to other vital fluid recommendations is Porsche knows the fluid will provide the service life, the performance Porsche expects and which will agree with what servicing intervals it publishes in the owners manual. Also, Porsche of course is on the hook -- warranty wise and reputation wise too -- that whatever fluids it recommends do their job. Porsche is under no obligation to test/certify and try to keep up with the moving target of the various anti-freezes and just as important how they mix or do not mix. Thus it stays with one brand or type and that's that. I do not see any real problem using Porsche anti-freeze. It is not like the majority of owners even bother changing their car's anti-freeze at all let alone frequently enough to make the trouble of testing/certifying (so to speak) and using one's car, one's engine as a test platform, one or more other anti-freezes, worth the possible risk vs. a very small gain. Sincerely, Macster.

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...because they said they have a "top off" BRAND they use that is equivalent to the porsche brand. So it goes against Porsche brand being the only approved antifreeze when it comes to the Porsche Dealer selling "Top Off" amounts that are not made by Porsche.

No no no not the evil cruel desk jockeys making us do things!

You can mix the Porsche pink with the Porsche yellow.

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Sorry. My reading comprehension needs improvement. I wonder if it is really compatible or just something this dealer is doing to reduce the complaints about high parts/supply prices? My plan is to stick with genuine Porsche anti-freeze in the gallon jug. I have had to change or refresh the coolant in my Boxster now several times: busted radiator; water pump replaced; coolant tank replaced; and I just let the techs use the Porsche fluid. After nearly 254K miles the cooling system, the oil/water cooler, the heater core, the original radiator, and the hoses, are all working just fine. And I have no fear of any gelling or other incompatibilities arising from mixing the wrong anti-freezes. The Turbo has had one coolant drain/refill (arising from a busted radiator from impacting a stinkin' mule deer) and Porsche anti-freeze was used. Sincerely, Macster.

One thing that I discovered was that you really do not want to put any WaterWetter in Porsche coolant. It creates a brown sludge at the meniscus in expansion tank that looks really cruddy (and moreover can look like intermix).

If you are just "Topping off" go buy some distilled H2O and add that. I'm a big fan of the Zerex G-05 and it is what I recommend to others. I do have to say, I'm impressed with Rob and his abilities now that he is doing his own work, well done Riad. / no I can't edit this.

http://napaonline.com/Catalog/Catalo...070_0295649848

My head now hurts....but Hey, I am off to Portugal and Spain for two weeks. See ya suckers. I will leave you all to debating the finer ingredients and freezing and boiling properties of our P-Car Coolant.

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If you are referring to me, I'm not making or seeking to make anyone to do anything. I simply offer the advice that when it comes to vital fluid for these cars, to stay with what Porsche recommends/approves. It is all the wanna be Porsche experts that claim any vital fluid, apparently based on no more than it is *not* approved by Porsche, is superior to any Porsche approved fluids. And to back it up the people making these recommendations have inches and seconds of testing compared the millions of miles and scores of years of testing Porsche has. And then they do not of course even back up their advice or recommendations by offering any kind of warranty. It is the advice and recomendation on top of faith and it is faith all the way down. So, given all of the above, I say stick with the fluids that at least Porsche stands behind for in some cases 8 years and up to 100K miles. Why would anyone want to offer his car up as a guinea pig/test vehicle to qualify in some very limited and rather useless fashion some other brand/type or blend of vital fluids is beyond me. I recall some years ago Ford produced a vehicle with a manual transmission and the fluid recommended was ATF. This after previous manual 5-speed transmissions came with good old 75w-90 gear oil. After some time of course the what fluid should I use in my tranny questions came up and of course the 'advice' from the experts was to drain that crummy old ATF out and replace it with 75w-90 gear oil like God intended a manual transmission should have. Some believed that the only reason for ATF was to reduce the fluid friction to improve gas mileage at the expense of long/trouble free service life, although at that time there were zero or near zero (just the number one would expectf from problems that a new car warranty is intended to cover) tranny failures. The ATF was there for a good reason. Seems the new transmission had needle bearings in various places that were not well served by that heavier gear oil. Uh oh. Thank goodness I had the common sense to stick with Ford's transmission fluid recommendation. Oh, 120K plus miles later the tranny with Ford brand ATF in it the whole time -- albeit changed at least once -- was just fine when I sold the car on a few months prior to buying my Boxster. I see no reason to stray off the reservation 16 years later with any of my Porsches and their vital fluids because I believe Porsche knows as much (at least) about vital fluids for its cars as Ford did back then. Sincerely, Macster.

This ^^^

Macster gives some of the best advice on these boards - but many of us are still looking to save a $ by using non Porsche parts - filters, belts, brake pads, rotors, tires - and yes even coolant & ATF. Porsche sources all these parts from third parties - and I would still argue that a German OE supplier that states they supply Porsche & their product is suitable for Porsche - is OK with me. I would not put in generic Prestone. If you want to go the most conservative route - sure go to the dealer - but I am happy with Mann filters, Continental Belts, Sumitomo Tires, Pentosin fluids, Lubri-Moly etc. I bought a 911 @ 25% of the cost of a new one - I also want to be able to service it at 25% of the cost of a new one !

Rob, I can tell you from experiance that US coolants break down the euro plastic. After seeing this for myself and fixing my 996 I started to use pantosin. (sp?) yes expensive as hell. But it is also meant to last the lifetime of the car. I have a special drain pan that I use if I ever have to remove it as I did to fix the water pump.

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They did not offer to top up the coolant for you gratis? Even a Honda dealer would do that...I guess this is why we refer to them as stealerships.

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NICE!!! Can I have your permission to copy and paste this in the next oil thread? I'm very surprised no one has mentioned the potential problem of non-OEM coolants damaging the plastic water pump impellers. I am not saying that I endorse this opinion but it certainly is a theory bandied about by our resident fear monger.

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Ditto that. When you really come down to it, the cost of Porsche brand coolant is peanuts. After all is said, few of us ever flush our systems at periodic intervals and few of us ever need much coolant, no matter what the brand. Just use the P-car stuff and you don't have to waste your time on these boards looking to see if you screwed up!

Do you have to mix the Porsche coolant with distilled water or does it come already mixed? If the coolant is not already mixed with water then the high price seems a little more reasonable as you'll be adding 50%(depending on how cold it is where you live) distilled water, which is extremely cheap. Oh, and if it's not already mixed, what brand of distilled water does Porsche recommend?

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Apparently toilet water will do: http://www.finewaters.com/Bottled_Wa...many/index.asp

Porsche is one of, if not the most profitable car companies in the world (% wise). Do you think this has something to do with their markups? I do. I flushed my system and use a good quality coolant designed for aluminum engines. $30 for a gallon of coolant is just crazy. Many insist on buying parts with Porsche stamped on the box when you can get the exact same part from the same manufacturer for much less. Remember that Porsche sources most of these parts and fluids from other manufacturers.

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You need to mix it 50:50 with distilled water.

Pentosin Brand is what my Indy uses (he is a Tech Advisor to PCA) and it is available at NAPA Stores on the shelf. And even though they say it is "color: Violet/Purple" it is PinK! The 1 1/2 Quart bottle is $16. Pentofrost sf (without silicates) (formerly lifetime antifreeze g12) size: 1.5 liters (1.59 quarts), Part# 8114107 color: Violet/Purple ■ Audi (after 06/1996 up to 2005); Spec. TL 744 F ■ Jaguar (1997 on) ■ Land Rover Freelander, Discovery, Defender (1998 on) ■ Porsche Boxster, 911, Cayman & Cayenne (1996 on)

Will NEVER sell this car in my lifetime, say I live 10 more years. Porsche lifetime coolant- $42 gallon, $4.20 per year, $.35 per month, 1.1 cents per day, not reading any more coolant threads, priceless!

I was told by the certified Porsche mechanic that I could top off with Porsche coolant or the Petosin. The Petosin was pink and and Porsche coolant is yellow. They replaced the reservoir and didn't flush the system. The car has been to a DE since then and has had no issues.

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How old is your coolant? If more than 5 years old, you should have flushed it. If you are just adding a few cups, distilled water is just fine.

Yes, you are correct. We discussed that. The coolant is not 5 years old and doesn't have 15k miles either. That is why it was not flushed. Every time it leaked I would top it off with the Petosin I had left. Once he replaced the reservoir he used Porsche coolant. Funny thing, the new reservoir came with the old 'bad' reservoir cap. I had the new 'good' cap on the old reservoir so I save it for later . thank you

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Yeah, it's a pour it in (or add a few oz's which ever) - no 50/50 mixing with water.

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Does anyone know the difference between the Porsche yellow and the Porsche pink coolants? How do we know we can mix them? I ordered Porsche coolant for my '01 C4 and the coolant that was shipped to me is pink. The coolant had been replaced in 2011 and it is yellow. Does the pink supersede the yellow or ?

Yes, pink is the latest (supercedes yellow) and can be mixed with yellow as long as both are genuine Porsche coolant.

Oh and that's why a lot of folks have orange coolant (yellow + pink) in the coolant tank.

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Interesting. Thanks Ahsai!

This was posted on the first page of this thread, but bears repeating: According to Pedro, at Pedro's Garage, Porsche's recommendation of OH GOD NO DO NOT MIX WITH ANY COOLANT BESIDES OUR $42/GALLON PORSCHE BRAND COOLANT!!! is archaic advice that was well placed back 15 years ago when the M96 was introduced and Porsche were using unique technology incompatible with anything else readily available, but this advice is obsolete advice now that every other manufacturer has switched to the same technology. That's why you can get $8 jugs of Ethylene Glycol in the auto store with labels that state it's compatible with ALL antifreezes and will last 150,000 miles. Plenty of anecdotes online of people who have topped off with new auto store coolant, and whose porsches are still running. I've yet to see a rational explanation of how "Porsche" coolant is any different or better than an $8 jug of prestone extended life or any of the other brands using similar technology. http://www.pedrosgarage.com/Site_5/C...ntifreeze.html

NAPA sells pink/violet antifreeze. If its not on the shelf just ask for it. part number 8114107 (1.5L) or 600070 (5L)

do not forget to only mix the antifreeze with the finest virgin distilled waters imported from the black forest streams skimmed from the top 10 MM of the surface by certified porsche workers from the enchanted forest. owners suffering a panic attack because their car has sat in their garage all the time and needs 2 ounces may use imported swiss alpine waters. i heard porsche antifreeze is dyno proven for 2 more horsepower..................ninja pleeeeezzzz

I use only unicorn tears. They're rainbow colored and thus can safely be mixed with any color coolant.

^^^^ Lol, nice one guys.

Funny stuff here. Someone should make a brand that is the color and texture of a chocolate milkshake. That we will never have to worry.

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Dunno, the yellow one sort of is freaky as you won't know if the previous owner just pissed into the coolant resorvoir over a period of time. The pink one would make it really easy to mix in with lemonade if you wanted to get rid of your significant other and make it seem like a health issue.

I live in south Florida, I do not do 50/50 mix. I do 25/75 using a refractometer and use the Porsche brand. You don't need 50/50 mix in Florida.

No one has ever said, "Gee, I wish I hadn't followed Porsche's recommendations." relinuca

Owners who have followed the insane 20,000 oil change intervals on the Cayenne have!!!

Or the 15,000 oil change interval for the early 996's! Or the concept of "Lifetime Coolant!" Unless you define lifetime as the life of the engine until it fails from bad coolant.

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