996 temperature water too high

hello, i have 996 c2 year 2000. recently I found the water temperature too high on the city temperature water 104� celsius the fans at the front, operates continuously. then the temperature drops 97 �, but when the fan stops the temperature rises. I displays temperature water with "the Recirculating & Air up buttons for 5 seconds. The + - buttons go up and down through the list of "c" codes." -> the temperature remains on average has 103 �, engine running the outdoor temperature is 20/25 �. on the highway no problem the temperature remains at 95 �. but I think it's a little high. I hear this year the fans run continuously (not the last year). the level coolant is ok, radiators has the front are clean. what to do or controlling? many thanks

Quotes source post: 12257880

I had to convert so I could see where you are at. Actually does not seem too hot. 219 is a bit warm but you should be ok as long as the fans are on and you are not losing water. Is your engine compartment fan running?

thanks Joe not the fan back into the engine compartment never works but even when the temperature water is sometimes spikes to 107 � (ascension of a mountain pass). I have compared with a 996 of a friend on the same mountain route. Me: 104 � fan front alway ON Him 90 � fan front alway OFF hence my anxiety....

Have you checked your radiators for blockage from road debris?

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radiator clean

Red Line Water Wetter Engine Super Coolant....try some of that. Could need a total flush or new Thermostat.

You didn't mention mileage. Might be time for a new water pump (impellers worn) and thermostat.

thank you all for your help 92.600 km the thermostat is easily accessible ?

The service center should have the tools to do all of the following checks. System Pressure System water flow rate Also something that is somewhat common with these cars is getting an air bubble in the system that never moves out. The center should have the vacuum pump to fill the system and evacuate any air bubbles. also what percent Glycol is you coolant. More water than glycol will run cooler.

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When you say "radiator clean", do you mean you've cleaned the front bumper area, or have you removed the front bumper, removed the A/C condensers, and thoroughly vacuumed the radiator area? Big difference.

dear frisbee91 , yes a remove bumper , remove 2 radiator, and cleaned with aspirator front the radiator and behind.

Quotes source post: 12257880

Could be normal. If the A/C is off the radiator fans only come on when coolant temperature rises. In my car's case the fans come on low speed at 212F. They switch off at 205F. In some situations I can have seen the coolant temperature climb to the where the fans come on. They run. The temperature drops. They shut off. I drive some more. The temperature rises and the fans come on. A graph of the coolant temperature shows a sine way of the temperature going up then dropping and then going up again, and dropping again and so on. You have cleaned the radiator ducts out. Be sure both radiator fans are running. I had one radiator fan motor shaft snap. The fan no longer turned but the fan motor still ran. In another case the fan motor was running but the exhaust air from this fan was low. The tech replaced the fan motor and the output was good, the match of the other side. Check the car for coolant leaks. The water pump is a common leak point and so is the AOS and so is the coolant tank and of course the cap. Oh, and the radiators. But anywhere there is a hose, a fitting, a connection, or anything that holds coolant can be a leak source. You can get the engine up to temperature with the fans running then shut off the engine. The heat load will raise the coolant temperature and its pressure. With everything nice and hot, up to operating temperature, if there is a leak the odds are high the leak will make itself known as the coolant pressure builds. If you suspect a T-stat is not opening fully, you can get the car on a lift and with the engine idling -- from a cold start -- check as the engine warms up the hoses to/from the radiators get warm as the T-stat opens and allowed hot coolant to circulate. That when the fans come on the coolant temperature drops suggests to me the coolant is circulating just fine.

You mentioned on the highway the temperature goes to normal. This would tell me your fans are having a problem (since they aren't strictly necessary at highway speeds) Have your shop look at your fans. I THINK there are high and low speed fans....maybe your high speed ones aren't coming on...? Just guessing here...

I had a low temp stat fitted to mine and highway temp is 78/79c, driving hard 80c and in traffic 90ish celcious.

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for my friend 996 year 1999 it's the same temperature. I have therefore 10 to 15 �Cel. of too. I hesitate to starting coolant flush with remplace the thermostat.. (I think it's in my skills Mechanical) or and go to check service by Porsche....if is the water pump.... thanks a lot

How many miles are on the water pump? They go out like clockwork between 60k and 80k

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Are you sure? Should I be worried at 74k miles?

My water pump was replaced last week at 92k miles. It was in perfect condition and the original from new, 1998 C2.

96000 km -> 60k it' this possible the water pump....

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Not worried worried, but just aware the water pump can fail at any time and to be on the alert to the water pump giving some warning. The water pump gives some warning when its on its way out. Noise. The water pump in my Boxster started to grumble/rumble at around 172K miles. Might add that as soon as I had confirmed the water pump as the source of the noise, I flat bedded the car to the dealer to have the water pump (and T-Stat) replaced. I didn't even risk the 25 miles drive to the dealer. I point this out to help sway those that like to nurse a suspected water pump. It is in doing this that risks the thing developing enough bearing play to let the impeller blades contact the block and this can result in much more serious engine problems. Or the thing can leak. I caught my Turbo's water pump from the odor of anti-freeze on a hot day. A check by the tech with the car in the air spotted signs of a leak, though no coolant was hitting the ground. Oh, the Turbo's water pump lasted around 120K miles. I admit I did drive the Turbo to the dealership, but it was just less than a mile away. And I was prepared to shut off the engine at the first sign of any trouble. Obviously the thing had been leaking a while as there was a nice lump of dried anti-freeze residue built up to the point it was being kept topped off by the pulley.

I'm also due for water pump preventive replacement. I also wonder if and how the cooling fan kick-in setting can be reprogrammed and lowered? Durametric?

Them very smart German engineers set those temp levels on purpose. warmer engine makes better combustion and power. to a point.

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No, Durametric can't do that. Your mkII should not run that hot though. Do you have high temp issues?

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Not really. I have't measured it with an accurate thermometer but in spirited runs and stop and go driving the gauge sits to the left edge of the 0 mark sometimes it creeps in just a little, but when I drive in the highways it's closer to the middle mark or on the right edge of the 8. I think I'm ok but if the engine runs a bit cooler won't that reduce stress on its components? One thing I'm going to do is go with the low temp thermostat after seeing all the arguments a while back. So I figure new water pump, coolant flush, low temp thermostat and I should be good for a while. So I don't know. Do you think a more aggressive cooling regiment is a good idea?

Quotes source post: 12263256

It sounds like you don't really have a problem but all those are good PM though. I think the stock cooling setup for mkII is not bad to begin with but a low temp thermostat does help lowering the average coolant temp in moderate stop and go traffic and hghway traffic.

Quotes source post: 12261333

Not sure if Durametric (or Porsche) supports cooling fan stage customization. Really it is not necessary. As long as the system is pressure tight and filled with something reasonable ini the anti-freeze/water department (though of course I'd advise one to stick to the Porsche anti-freeze) and as long as the fans are working properly the car can take any heat you can throw at it. As I have mentioned before I had my Boxster in 116F heat and the coolant temperature climbed to 226F and stayed there. The fans were running all the time and on high speed too. It was so hot the engine compartment fan was on I think even at highway speeds. I could here it running when I slowed down enough to hear it over the road/wind noise. The car/engine was fine but I had never been in that high ambient temperature condition and that far from home (I was in AZ and I lived in the mid-MO area at th time) under such conditions, so I was a bit of a nervous wreck. When I got home I stopped at the dealer and spoke with the SM who took down all the details and submitted a query to the factory about the high heat and what if anything could have happened. The factory replied back that as long as no warning lights came on, no warning messages appeared there was no problem. And that was many many miles ago and the engine has run just fine ever since. Might add since then I have encountered at other times conditions that have the coolant temperature "pegged" at 226F and the engine doesn't miss a beat. I'd drive though the gates of Hell with my Boxster and its cooling system. (Same goes for the Turbo, for the Turbo's cooling system is even better at keeping the engine cool in all kinds of high temp/high load conditions.)

Thank you

Macster and Ahsai, thank you both. A lot of good feedback. Honestly I'm a bit surprised at how well the cooling system works on these cars. Once I warmed up the engine and drove for a while and the system temp never got hot enough to require the fan - even low speed - to kick in. That, I thought, was awesome!

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+996 This should be the response to 67.89% of the posts here.

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I guess that's the hypochondriac in me.

I go to the garage, the computer does not detect any fault, temperature probes are ok. So it remains to change the thermostat or water pump. I have had some air bubble problems into the circuit, after flush coolant... I hesitate to change this elements, myself....

Quotes source post: 12268375

Well, if you are of the opinion the coolant temperature is too hot there's not much else... Before you start, you must be sure the fans are running and blowing the same amount of air. I haven't re-read my previous posts so I might be repeating myself, but my 996 Turbo had a fan motor shaft snap. The motor continued to run but of course no air was being circulated since the fan wasn't being turned. Might mention I found this not by the coolant temperature increasing, at least not at the gage by any noticable amount. I discovered the fan wasn't turning by the change in the fan noise. This prompted me to get out of the car and then I found that while the driver side fan was blowing copious amounts of hot air out there was no air flow at all at the other side. The same car when I had the car in for what proved to be a leaking water pump, we found the driver's side radiator fan while we could hear it running was not blowing nearly the same amount of air out. The tech checked the ECU for fan stage errors and none were present but the fan motor was drawing more current than the other one and I had him replace it. Again the engine coolant temperature, at least at the gage, was just fine. I caught a whiff of anti-freeze which prompted me to bring the car to the dealer. This was from the leaking water pump. If you are sure both radiators fans are running and both are working/blowing the same amount of air then possibly the T-stat has stuck partially closed. As I recall advising you you can check for this by getting the car in the air and letting the engine idle and carefully checking the hoses from the water pump to the radiators and back again. You want to feel them get warm, then hot as the T-stat opens from the hot coolant. You also want to feel the returns to make sure both radiators cool the coolant about the same. If you want, get a infrared sensor that can take temperature readings by just aiming the gun at the item. Something like this: http://www.labdepotinc.com/Product_D...FZBgfgod06wAwQ Or you can just replace the water pump and T-stat. However, if you are hesitant about replacing these yourself seek out a reputable shop and have this work done. The cooling system will be refilled using some kind of vacuum lift and there will be no air pockets.

ok i changed the T-stat test on the road = 90� Celsius but I have noticed that the valve on the expansion tank it open (So under pressure) is this normal ??? cold engine, I open the cap the expansion thank coolant. "pfffffffffff" noise pressure.. check level the coolant is ok. but if I ride again, the valve on the expansion thak it open...

When the engine is cold the valve is down. When the engine is warm the valve is up. Normal operation.

thanks you very much for your helps regards