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YOUR RESEARCHWater in oil + coolant smoke. Next steps? (NorCal)
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Recommend hopefully inexpensive, shops in north california
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Suggestion · Original poster
Any recommended, hopefully inexpensive, shops in North California?
Water in oil + coolant smoke. Next steps? (NorCal)
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Suggestion
Don't delay or you will be replacing every rubber coolant hose on the car.
Water in oil + coolant smoke. Next steps? (NorCal)
Replace rotting rubber
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Suggestion
Get it cleaned up ASAP or you will be replacing rotting rubber.
Water in oil + coolant smoke. Next steps? (NorCal)
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Hi hive mind.
After sitting in the garage for a few months my 2002 996 (none-turbo) symptoms are as follows: lots and lots of coolant-smelling smoke from one of the tailpipes and water in oil. What would you recommend as my next steps?
Any recommended, hopefully inexpensive, shops in North California?
Don't drive it. Don't even start it up again. Have it flat bedded to a reputable shop that knows our 996's. Could be the engine heat exchanger, AOS, cracked head, and so on. Hold onto your wallet because it is going to be expensive. Don't delay or you will be replacing every rubber coolant hose on the car.
Do a search on this forum. There are many threads about oil in coolant, coolant in oil, tailpipes billowing coolant steam.
Cracked heads are not as common on the Mk2 Carreras (2002-2004) so let's cross our fingers for a blown AOS and no collateral damage. Agree - don't start the car again. Get it cleaned up ASAP or you will be replacing rotting rubber.
Excellent advice from DBJoe996 and Dr_Strangelove above, might be something minor such as the Air Oil Seperator (AOS) or oil cooler, or may be something more significant ($) such as a cracked head or D-chunked cylinder. Had the car been overheating and/or losing coolant requiring you to top it up? Now is the time to decide how committed you are to the car. I hope you are lucky and it turns out to be something minor/inexpensive. If not, keep in mind many of these cars have successfully recovered from these issues and gone on to live productive lives, and its certainly a cost saver if you are in a position to do some of the work yourself. Best of luck to you!
Coolant in the oil is not good, the glycol in antifreeze will damage the bearings, as well as displace the oil/lubricant. Even if you find/fix the root cause, the amount of damage to the bearings will depend on the amount and time the glycol was in the engine.
Try Junipero Serra Porsche (porschedes.com) there is always a bunch of 996 - 997s in there and Jimmy is super knowledgable .... there's even a Carrera GT or 2 that get serviced there
I think you should find someone in the area to do accurate diagnosis before you tow it to Sacramento for a fix. It may be that buying a crate engine is better than a full rebuild. PM me your phone number if you like opinions.
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