Bonehead move today... need some help!

Went for a quick spin in my 99 996. When I returned, I backed into my parking spot and ran the back of the car up over the lip of the curve. I pulled the car back and coolant just came screaming out of a cut coolant hose I managed to fillet open on the curb. I am not sure which hose it is, but it looks like it runs from the bottom of the car under the engine straight up somewhere ear the top of the engine. I also has a T connection to another hose right at the bottom as well.. A couple of ?'s if yall can help. 1) do you know the name of this hose? 2) is it something I should be able to change myself. I am fairly mechanically inclined. 3) does anyone know of a thread that may show some pixs of the hose so that I can identify it? Thanks in advance for any help -B

Don't know the name, esp. without a photo but sounds like it is the convoluted little bugger with feeds off it. It is something you can change yourself but Porsche has updated the design and it may require you to purchase more than just the hose. It depends on the production range of your car. My 99 is pre-update. You may be luckier. Check the online pdfs of the parts catalogs so you can identify the part. You can also call Sunset Porsche. They are *very* helpful.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/PartsLoo...-05-Frame3.htm

This forum is so awesome. Thanks for the help. Also, do you know what kind of coolant I need to refil?

I would recommend you head over to renntech ( http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php? ), they have a TON of great DIY guides and are truly focused on the tech/repair side of the Porsche cars. I personally have no value to add to your dilemma, but you have my sympathy.

Your biggest headache may not be replacing the hose, but bleeding the air out of the cooling system afterwards. I've heard a few horror stories about this, but have no experience personally. Maybe others can chime in re this.

I changed my water pump 2 weeks ago and am still bleeding air out of the system. Every time I stop, I end up adding in coolant/distilled water. Looks like I have almost all of it after driving it half a dozen times. Be careful, as it will overheat if there is a lot of air in the system.

Good to know. Should I just bite the bullet and take it to a garage to bleed or should I take it to a dealer?

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You broke it, you should fix it. Teach yourself a lesson. Seriously though, I'm sure you can handle it if you're so inclined. Of course if it turns out you can't figure it you can always take it in then. Seems the key would be to find a procedure to follow.

When I had my '99, I lost some coolant due to a defective cap and had to replace it with tap water at the time. Next time I was at the dealer for service I asked them to flush the system and refill. They asked why and after I told them what happened, they told me it's fine the way it is and to forget about it. A dealer turning away service work?! That should give you an idea of what a pain in the a$$ it is to do what should be a simple procedure. It was a real eye opener for me! They didn't want to do it because it was going to take a lot more time than what they could charge me for IMO.

You have to do a vacuum draw to refill the system. But, you probably won't lose enough coolant in the changeout to make that necessary. Mind you, you will get coolant everywhere but most of it will be coming from the reservoir. Porsche uses a pink / red coolant that you can pick up at the dealer or at the friendly VW dealer, same exact stuff. Given the amount of coolant that you will lose, you can probably just refill with *distilled* water. I would caution against using tap water if you can help it, esp. given the variance in minerals contained in everyone's tap water.

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Viper, I understand in your post above that you were takling about a moderate loss of coolant when doing a vacuum draw, so adding just some distilled water to replenish that small amount makes sense. However, I believe he has already lost a good amount of coolant with the original gash in the hose, so he will have to preplace the coolant he has lost. Please know that I am not trying to be contradictory, I just didn't want him to think he didn't have to replace the coolant that he lost immediately after the "incident."

ok, so I got the new hose in (PITA) but I managed to only accrue one deep laceration . Filled her up with a gallon of antifreeze from the dealership and it took about 3/4 of a gallon of distilled water over the course of about 15 inutes at idle. I am a little perplexed as to the method to use to get rid of air bubbles. Do I juest open the expansion tank cap every once in a whilee to let out the air or is there some other method I should be aware of. Thanks again for everyones help, this forum really is amazing.

Lift up the wire metal relief valve on top of the black valve next to the coolant cap. Drive around for a while with this valve open. This allows air to escape as the engine heats up and the coolant is pumped thru the system. Close the valve and drive around for a while and check for the coolant level to drop. Add distilled water as the level drops. Open the valve again and drive around for another day or two. Repeat the process till the level eventually stablilizes. It took me almost four days to finally get the coolant level up to where it stabilized. There's a better description of the process over on RennTech....you might do a search over there too.

Good info, Chuck!