Coolant question

Got a low coolant warning message on the 4s on drive home today with flashing red indicator near temp gauge. Temp was still registering near 180 and made it another 5 minutes home. Coolant tank is low per the photo i took upon getting home. I drove another car and purchased pink coolant suitable for Porsches but having a really hard time getting the blue cap off. Car has cooled down for over 2 hours. Am I missing something or just a weakling ?? Thanks for any input.

Break it free with some channel locks. Please make sure car is cool when you attempt to remove cap

Thx. I will make sure its fully cooled down before anymore attempts.

There are two different frequencies of flashing lights that mean different things. Be sure your cooling issue is indeed the one that you are treating: Four functions of the coolant warning light:1. Engine coolant level too low -- light flashes slowly (0.5 Hz) 2. Engine compartment temperature too high -- light flashes slowly (0.5 Hz) (engine compartment blower might be faulty) 3. Engine coolant temperature too high -- light is lit; pointer on the right 4. Temperature sensor at water outlet faulty -- light flashes rapidly (1 Hz) ; pointer on the right Note: The temperature warning in point three is indicated if the conditions "engine coolant temperature too high" and "engine coolant level too low" are present simultaneously." Once the cap is off, check that it�s a revision number 4 cap. Yours looks like it might be the correct one. If not, I would purchase a #4 cap.

When this occurred I saw a red message warning of low coolant level which went away when i hit the stalk. Then the red light next to the temp gauge began flashing slowly. I have Skip�s UAOS installed on this car and my initial thought was it was the UAOS warning light but my photo above seems a clear sign of what the issue is.

Any idea where the missing coolant went ?

Update: Took 8/10 of a gallon to fill as shown in the photo below. Surprised me how much was required. Garage floor shows no signs of leaks nor does the engine bay. Car has sat more than normal in 2023, only 3k miles YTD vs 8k on my 997.2.

I'm not surprised it took that much coolant from the level I see in the picture. I would have some concern over where so much coolant went... Something worth keeping an eye on. Glad you were able to muscle the cap off and get her topped up.

No muscle needed, bought a nice channel lock as recommended above. I know my limitations LOL

When I first bought my car years ago I had a slow coolant leak that I could not identify. My coolant light came on one morning and it took half a gallon to fill. Later, at a track event, the leak revealed itself as a failing reservoir. When hot enough, it would leak at a good rate. I drove it home (ended my track day after one session) and replaced it. Problem gone.

I echo what someone said above - there�s a leak that only presents itself when the engine is at full operating temp. That�s what I had. I replaced the tank and a hose clamp. You should pressure test it when cool and that�ll show real quick where the leak is. Otherwise, I�d hope there isn�t an intermix problem somewhere - just check your oil to make sure it�s not milky.

Optionman1, keep an eye on the level. If you didn't use a vacuum fill, it will very possibly take a little more the next time you get it up to temp.

Have an appointment next week to pressure test the system. I didn't use a vacuum fill. Will drive it locally and get it up to temp a few times between now and then and see if any leaks appear. I appreciate all the input from my RL friends.

Quotes source post: 18960503

I agree with Jason in that this may be very concerning given the amount of coolant that had to be put back into the reservoir. I would recommend taking an oil sample to see if there are signs of intermix.

Stupid question, but since I don't do any work on my cars, including oil changes, can intermix be seen via the oil input tube or only by draining some oil from the drain plug? I took the oil input tube cap off yesterday and also checked the dipstick and didn't notice anything. Thanks

Quotes source post: 18960826

IMHO, it wouldn't be a good test to rule out intermix. If these cars sit, you'll get the normal milkshake looking froth at the end of the pickup tube. What you need to do is drain the oil from the sump and see if you're getting the milkshake looking oil. That would tell you conclusively if there is coolant getting in the oil. But let's be hopeful... maybe it's something less concerning and expensive... like a ruptured coolant expansion tank or leaking from a coolant connection?

Pretty easy. Get yourself one of these kits. It includes a sample pump that you can use to pump oil out of the filler tube into a bottle that is pre-addressed and stamped for shipping. In a week or less you will know what's in your oil. Warning, you will get addicted to testing oil. https://lnengineering.com/products/s...urnaround.html

Optionman1. In the last 12 months, have you had any work done on the car that would have involved draining or refilling the antifreeze. The possibilities are you have a 1) leak in the coolant reservoir; 2) some other external leak, but you say you see nothing on the floor; 3) your technician performed a repair but did not fill it all the way; or 4) there is a crack in the block and antifreeze leaked into the oil. Testing the oil will eliminate or confirm #4, but I'm hoping it is #3. Am I missing a number 5? Someone will tell me!

#5 oil cooler, but small possibility. #6 small leak from coolant hose. Sprays on engine and evaporates. I had one last year. I could smell it but couldnt find any coolant dripping.

Oil cooler has coolant running through it? You don't mean radiator leak? Asking for a friend.

Quotes source post: 18961278

Yes oil cooler not the radiator. Oil cooler itself isnt known to fail very often, but the seals do which can potentially lead to intermix. I just replaced mine last year as a while you are in there procedure when my engine was removed. Wish I knew at the time that the 997.2 3.8 oiler cooler fit. I would have used that one instead for more cooling. Good video from FCP on changing your oil coolet. About halfway thru they get to actually removing the cooler and you can see the seals and flush of coolant. You Tube

Quotes source post: 18960826

a milkshake on the dipstick is easy to see.. Wipe down the dipstick, get a fresh 'dip and let it sit in there for a second or 2, wipe a glob off bottom of stick where it measures level on your index finger and oil should look kind of translucent/clear , the color depending on age of oil... Should not have any foamy frothy whitish tan milky stuff at all on the stick. jmo

I did wipe down the dipstick, reinsert and then recheck, it looked perfectly normal. As for recent work, the last non oil change was nearly 18 months ago or longer, when my mechanic installed Skip's UAOS. My last oil change was 5/10/23, 1700 miles ago. My mechanic is meticulous and works almost exclusively on Porsches. I trust him 100% and if my coolant level had been low back when the last oil change was performed he would have noticed it. I will get it looked at next Monday and report back.

Your coolant will start turning from pink to greenish brown, and if very bad the oil level will rise and youll get the "milkshake" effect badly in the oil filler. Check your front radiators (Bumper off operation) When I put my CSF radiators in, the old ones were pretty sad looking once out of the car. The coolant tank fails with age as well as miles, Had a friend buy a C4s, with 25K on it, the tank blew about a week into ownership. Also the bleeder valves can die and leak and since the have a drain hose you'll never see the leak.

Here is the frothy mess that Zues was referring to. It is NOT intermix. It's from cool ambient and not running the engine long enough to evaporate all the water out of the engine. This pipe is far away from the engine and relatively close to the outside air. This occurs on my car with ambient ~45F and less than 30 miles of driving. Here's the same tube 2 months later with no wiping or cleaning. Ambient ~70F. My bet is on the reservoir.

Dropping the car off Sunday evening, will have the answer on Monday.

Car has sat in my garage since refilling coolant last Sunday. Looked last night and coolant level has dropped again and i have a stain on the floor up front under the radiators. Feel better that it�s most likely not intermix but just radiator damage of some type. Will have it flat bedded over to my mechanic, not gonna risk driving it and potentially doing more damage.

Quotes source post: 18969112

Thank the Porsche engineers for the " low level warning indicators", they save a lot of engine failures............cheaper production models cars don't have these little devices.... I tell all my Grand Children that cars run on water and oil ...not gasoline.....that they can run out of gasoline and just put some more in with a little inconvenience and go on, but if you run out of oil or water, you have just killed your car....One just last week didn't pay attention to a 2017 KIA and ran out of oil and killed it.....KIds..SMDH

Here's the leak I had a couple of month ago. The rad plug seal that came with the replacement CSF rads gave up. Slow drip. I replaced it with an O-ring. I was surprised how flimsy the seal was. You could easily torque the plug enough to distort the seal out of sealing area. Very strange.

I had a similar drip issue when I did the CSF rad, I went and bought o-ring lines aluminum hydraulic seals and put those in. Problem solved.

Looks familiar:

Quotes source post: 18974857

At least a new radiator will cool your engine better. Simple fix, not too expensive. Be sure to save your fluid if it�s new-ish, and use a vacuum full tool to remove and rehydrate!

If you upgrade to CSF radiators, make sure teh aluminum plug on both at the bottom is sealed, the o-ring in the packaging is easy to over tighten. I used a reenforced hydraulic o-ring and silver sealer on the threads, its not a usable plug its only there so the radiator can be left or right hand side. its a easy half day weekend job and you don't even really need to lift the car. (Front bumper cover off, and the ac condensors just sort of hang there , some good picks in the 100 projects book help some..

Flat bedded my 996.2 over to my mechanic this morning. Plastic end tank leak on front passenger radiator was the source of the coolant loss and the drivers side was also showing signs of degradation. Getting everything replaced. Truly appreciate all the comments/suggestions and glad it's not a major repair.

Quotes source post: 18974857

[Image-only post; no author-written text. Original image references:] https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlist.com-vbulletin/480x270/dogpeen_db3415a39b4b473af3818b7fbdedcfe5454810b6.gif