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YOUR RESEARCHWaiting for a tow truck - fingers crossed!
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minor fernando
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Reported cause
Glad you're back on the road and that the problem was minor Fernando.
Leading evidence: 'minor fernando' (1 discussions report identifying this cause; no attributable repair resolution). Across 1 matching discussions, the most frequently mentioned possible cause is 'minor fernando' (1 discussions; 1 report identifying it and 0 suggest it). The most frequently discussed action is 'Replace belt' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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Reported cause · Original poster
Thankfully not anything too major - it was the water pump that went out!
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed · Original poster
So in the end I have a new water pump, fan, and they also replaced the belt.
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Suggestion
On the advice of the SM I stopped running the engine and called for a tow truck.
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Was just driving home early as I was going to take a late conference call from the home office. Notice some light smoke coming from my car so I pull over.
It's a good thing I didn't hesitate because at that point it really started to get bad. Parked it and noticed the fan was partly broken and my car had dumped all of it's coolant. Don't see any oil on the ground so hoping it is something other than catastrophic.
Tow truck should be here in half hour so let's hope the shop has somewhat good news to share when they get through checking it out. In the mean time it's a bit embarrassing sitting in a WalMart parking lot with a smoking Porsche!
A very wet and dirty engine with coolant all over it.
Broken fan housing
Water pump was replaced maybe 4-5 years ago? But I'll be happy if that is the case. Although it probably sent shrapnel throughout the engine case which might not be so good.
Car is on the flatbed so hopefully I'll get a diagnosis tomorrow.
Can't see the front (back?) of the engine but is there enough room for the belt if it comes loose or breaks to whip up and smack the engine compartment fan?
Losing a belt would cause the engine to run hot and at some point spew coolant without possibly registering any overheating condition at the gage/dash since no coolant is being circulated past the temp sensor.
Macster, his first posted pic shows the alternator with belt (apparently) still wrapped around the pulley in a secure manner. Agree with your premise, though.
The belts were still intact so the hose scenario does sound like the best case for me.
I didn't want to but the tow truck driver had me start the car to move it into position. It started right up and powered the vehicle for the 15 seconds I needed it to.
Once I get a diagnosis I'll let you all know - anyone want to place bets on what it might be?
(I gotta try to find some humor in this right?)
Yeah the tow truck deal is surprising. When my water pump failed I had parked it in the garage. Before the flat bed showed up I had the wife help me shove it out in the driveway. Probably could have gotten tow driver to help as I tip them well and they've been here a lot because of my aging 300zx. BTW these cars are hard to push backwards with the steering cranked to one side!!
There's a coolant hose/bracket thing by the alternator that gets brittle and snaps and loves to spray coolant all over the engine bay.
Cheap part
hopefukly that's the only thing that broke
When my Boxster developed what was to prove to be its first AOS the engine was smoking and running horribly. On the advice of the SM I stopped running the engine and called for a tow truck.
The operator refused to back into the driveway and pull the car out of the garage onto the truck.
I had to start the engine and back the car out of the garage and down the driveway. Trouble is there was a heavy snow and I had not yet cleared the driveway. To make matters worse a snowplow had plowed the road and piled up a mountain of snow. I got the car stuck but managed to un-stick it all the time the engine was smoking enough for two smoke stacks.
I know I wasn't there and it wasn't my decision obviously but if I wasn't pressed for time I'd send that guy on his way and call for another truck with the expressed need for the next guy to haul it out of my garage without starting it. Was he planning on leaving of his own volition if your car was actually unable to start? Tow truck drivers, sheesh, the job is to haul it from where it is to where it needs to go, if I wanted to drive it at all I would just drive it to the shop...
When you're in a wreck there's usually several circling like vultures for the opportunity to scoop up the carcass from whatever position it's in and you're told to stay clear while they even sweep up the area with a broom, but when it's in your own driveway all of a sudden they get all afraid of actually doing some work.
When my time comes, I think I'll have 10 different ones come out at the same time and let them fight for it. The first one willing to sign MY legal contract wins. sheesh.
I'm still waiting for a diagnosis as the mechanic couldn't get to it yesterday
Regarding the tow truck driver and him asking me to start it. We actually began the process by pushing the car. But even with the two of us it ended up being a bit of a challenge since the car was parked in a spot nose first on a decline.
I'm sure he could have winched it out and positioned it properly for loading but since I didn't see any oil under the car I didn't really object to him asking me just to power it on for a moment.
If it is something internal than I probably made a really bad choice but for those few seconds the engine sounded normal (or at least as far as I can tell) so hopefully we're talking something relatively minor. But we'll see...
Word came back earlier this morning about the problem. Thankfully not anything too major - it was the water pump that went out!
I'm surprised I didn't hear more noise when it was happening but so happy it wasn't something more serious. If I had more time and an easy way to get the car home I'd do the work myself but since it's already there then I might as well let them finish the job.
Also as I showed in the photo the fan housing broke - not sure what caused that but it will need to be replaced.
Should be back on the road by early next week.
Yeah great guess. In fact I rank this repair one notch below a simple hose blowout. Of course the worst case scenario would have been a whole new engine!
Not sure but when they called me with their findings there was no mention of the impeller being destroyed and sending shrapnel throughout the engine. So hopefully that was not the case.
I replaced it about 4 years ago. I outlined it on this thread:
https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...ml#post9694690
I did it at the same time as the AOS. That was probably 40k miles and several track events ago. I'm surprised it failed so quickly though but with daily use and extreme situations like tracking I guess I can't blame it. Let's hope the next one will last until engine rebuild time. I'm currently at 162k miles so let's see how long we can make it!
I got my car back yesterday!!!
It's only been a few days but wow did I miss it!
Everything seems great and it's running just as it should be. I spoke with the mechanic about how a water pump would cause the fan housing to explode. Said it was a coincidence and probably due to age and I just happened to see it when exploring the engine bay when this all happened.
So in the end I have a new water pump, fan, and they also replaced the belt.
Got out the door for less than the price of a new set of tires so I can't complain. Happy to be back on the road again just in time for some great weather we have here. Might have to take the hardtop off and enjoy the top down soon.
I had to laugh when I read about missing your car -that is so true. During the 6 months after I sold my '99 C4 and before I bought my current car, I REALLY missed not having a 996. Even though I still had a 928S4 and a 951 in the garage, it wasn't the same. Moral of the story - these are fantastic cars so get out and enjoy them.
Glad you're back on the road and that the problem was minor Fernando.
Yeah driving my wife's SUV just wasn't the same.
When I used to travel a lot for work I went through dozens of rental cars. Some of them had features I wished I had and of course they were all quiet and new in comparison. But once I would get back to the airport and jump in the seat of mine all of those others were forgotten and I would be so glad to get back into the one I was most comfortable and familiar with!
I can relate, mine was in the shop for 2 months and I just got it back. I was so excited to drive it again! My old Chevy Blazer doesn't have quite the same feel...
Glad it was pretty minor!
Glad you put that one up instead of Dancing Queen. LOL!
My mother-in-law thought it would be funny to buy me the album in vinyl a few years ago. Still have it although I haven't had a record player in years. Although that reminds me my daughter got one for Christmas this past year so I guess if I want to hear it there I can.
I'm not sure there's a direct line of sight between the water pump shaft exit and the engine compartment fan - in fact, I'm 99% sure there isn't.
I don't have any mesh in my GT3 wing, so anything that falls on the back of my car has a chance at getting in through the air slots. My car was making a ruckus one day - and I was worried that it was something expensive. Turns out a sweet gum tree seed pod had made its way into the fan housing and was getting whacked by the fan. If it had been slightly larger, I'm sure the housing and/or some of the blades could have been broken.
I no longer park near the gum tree. Eventually I will install some mesh into the slots...
Yup - those damn dingleberries hurt like the bejeezus when you step on them, walking on one of them is like walking on ball bearings, they wind up stuffed in every possible part of the car - but finding one in the damn fan housing was over the top.
You take Fernando, I'll take Dancing Queen. They didn't butthurt me with it, but my very first post in here started with "I'm a garage queen." I didn't know what it really meant at the time.
