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YOUR RESEARCH996 Losing power!?
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I wouldn't run the engine until the root cause is known.
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Sorry to say this Young911 but IMHO your reports of what has happened and what the shop found and repaired are not precise enough to assist you via rennlist.com.
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You did the right thing by sending the car to a shop that came recommended and get it repaired there.
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A coolant flush and new gasket wont solve the intermix issue (or at least until we know what gasket was changed).
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I didn't see where he said the shop replaced a head gasket.
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Sorry to say this Young911 but IMHO your reports of what has happened and what the shop found and repaired are not precise enough to assist you via rennlist.com.
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Yesterday I was out driving my car with friends, and while driving I pulled into a shop. When I did so I immediately saw a big cloud of smoke come from my car. Shut off the engine and let it sit for a bit while I went and shopped. After this, I drove the car home and around 1/2 way during my trip. The smoking stopped and the engine began to feel noticeably smoother than usual. At the same time, it felt a bit less powerful. I let it sit overnight and thought it may be the flat 6 smoking as it does sometimes or an AOS failure. This morning I took the car around town and for a slow drive, and it was fine. Felt smooth still and did still feel less powerful than usual. I put new gas in and also put Seafoam in the gas. I also went about using Seafoam via the intake. I made sure to place it after the MAF. I followed instructions and let the car rev to 2k RPM and when I got about 1/2 the can empty, I notice smoke, but not from the exhaust. I shut the engine down and saw some liquid come out the car. It was not oil, but could it be coolant? Also does it seem like I�ve killed the motor!?
First question for me would be what is leaking from the car?
If it's pink/green and sweet smelling it's coolant, if it smells bad it's power steering fluid or if it's dark/brown and oily... It's oil
I don't have any seafoam experience but I have read about others on here using it.
Your engine shouldn't be dead but it does sound like you've got a few things to sort out.
That's horrible! I'm sorry to hear that!
I have no idea what could cause the issues that you are describing.
I'm having my own engine issues after a 1,700 mile journey and will be posting my thread momentarily.
Mike
Bad news. It seems to be oil. I didn�t think it was oil at the time cause it was gushing like water. But it seems to be oil. Sent it to my buddy whoes worked with me on the car and he thinks head gasket.
Bummer. DO NOT START IT AGAIN...Head gaskets not likely, cracked head most likely. I hope I'm wrong. Wait till the experts chime in before you panic though.
No, in fact the oil levels were fine during the day. At the time of oil explosion, I didn�t check I was the one putting seafoam in. My dad was holding it at 2k and was looking at his phone at the time. So likely he didn�t see
Sorry thought this message sent out earlier but it�s a 2002 911 C4 so MK2
as for location it�s on the bottom driver side towards the back I�ll update with more pics but a thing to look for keep me updated
The 3.6 isn't generally associated with the intermix issue of the 3.4 - can't totally rule it out but it would be worth checking the coolant tank.
Looks like left side I'd check the AOS you that area by putting your head under the right rear wheel with a torch (flashlight).
Are you sure that oil leak wasn't there before and you've just seen it now?
Positive, mainly cause I saw the pool of liquid. It didnt look like oil but going back to it it seems so. Is the AOS all the way in the back of the engine? Cause that�s what I saw soaked
Yes AOS is far back left side when you're facing the engine.
You can even feel it if you shove your hand in from the left side and follow the hose that leads to it next to the coolant tank.
Could be possible that you have a dead AOS - actually not a bad outcome if that's the case.
02 here and I just went through the AOS failure 3 weeks ago. I hope that's it. Not sure why I thought you had an 01 until I looked at your avatar closer.
Gotcha. Any idea what would be on the lift side front? Maybe the oil pump? Because that�s where I saw it gushing from and in the pics whereboil marks are found
Parents noticed and want me to take my car to my Indy. I have some time so let me know what else to look for
edit: I am calling for a tow truck thought I should clear this up. It may be that the spray from yesterday was oil and coolant mixing.
All of the wet things in those photos are coolant related. That plug is the coolant drain. The pulley is the water pump. I would first look at the coolant level. There are coolant hoses in the area of that leak. Maybe you just have a loose/ damaged hose.
I wouldn't run the engine until the root cause is known.
Good News!
The car lives another day!
Took the car to my indy and they checked it out and then flushed my coolant system. based on my description, it seems that the car was overheating and that my temp sensors were bad. Having flushed the system the car started right up and all is well. They went on to change a gasket to be safe and the new temp sensors are going to be installed tomorrow. Good news for me as I really thought this would be the end of my car, and I was just starting to get used to it here!
Yes you're correct - just "gasket" thought it might be as the OP spoke of this in the first post.
OP - what gasket? Also what temp sensors? So it was coolant and not oil? Was there oil in the coolant tank?
There are a lot of unknowns here. The thermostat gasket is also a good candidate. I think most of us dismissed the head gasket theory.
The intermix question needs to be answered. At the very least the oil should be checked (if not changed) and the coolant system flushed. But that's just me.
Yep head gasket pretty much gets ruled out - IMO if there is intermix not sure if a gasket change will fix that...
Might be two issues here - coolant leak initially fixed with a new gasket then coolant flush.
A coolant flush and new gasket wont solve the intermix issue (or at least until we know what gasket was changed).
I apologize for not being active, but here is what happened. Oil found in the coolant, and took it to my Indy, they suspected that it�s due to overheating and they flushed my coolant and put new temp sensors in. They tested and didn�t think a new head gasket was needed. They just put a new gasket for the coolant pump, since it went bad. I didn�t get the car yet, but I trust them. If anything more happens then they are going to change it.
OK - this is important information. Oil in the coolant is the big issue. There are a very few ways for this to happen. Overheating is a simple answer for most cars and would typically be as a result of a compromised head gasket. On this engine - there are no known documented head gasket failures (at least from my limited reading here - most of that from guys that really know these cars).
The water pump gasket is only going to temporarily fix the (external) coolant leak. This will not address the big issue. The water pump should be replaced. But that can wait until after the reason for oil in the coolant is determined. I hate to bring it up - but my guess is there are cracks in one or both heads. I'd be looking for a way to have this checked.
Ok, I�ll double check with my mechanic about the head. They felt the head gasket was fine. I�ll see how much it costs for replacement and if it�s not too much get it changed. I�ll monitor the car and baby it around.
If I had the money to, I would get it changed. But the reality is that my parents are helping me in paying for the repairs. I don�t want to make them spend any more than is necessary on the car. Hence why I�m not insisting on a gasket replacement
Got the car back, I got to looking under it and found this. The sweetish smell from the car which I now realize is coolant is gone. I�m till taking it to a different mechanic though.
That new piece is the thermostat housing. There will be a new thermostat in there.
You'll need to find a shop that knows what to look for, and how to test for oil getting in the cooling system. I.e. a cracked head.
Something definitely not adding up - oil in the coolant is a bad sign.
OP did you take any pics of the coolant tank or a sample of the coolant?
Was it your assessment that determined oil was in the coolant or the mechanics?
Generally
the 3.4 that suffers from intermix rather than the 3.6 (very generalised comment).
I'm thinking this could be an AOS (would also explain smoke) or coolant/oil heat exchanger as they both run oil and coolant through them...
Wasn't sure if the AOS is a common source of intermix, my guess would be its not but could still be a possibility as it runs coolant and oil through it.
Can't remember the internal structure though as I've never opened one up.
I'd be interested to know exactly how many cycles your engine has overheated. (As in - how long have your sensors been faulty?) Ordinarily head gaskets are not an issue with these cars, however, ordinarily these cars do not overheat. I'm curious if the excessive heat going through your engine caused some warping / damage to the gasket & sealant between the head and block that is allowing some cross-contamination.
The coolant pump failed? Like disintegrated failed? This could be another can of worms if coolant was gushing from the pump gasket due to a failed impeller. Or are you saying the
gasket
failed due to overheating?
I think the heat exchanger and, to a lesser extent, the AOS would be more probable than this. Worse than that would be head cracks. Hopefully the overheating was short in duration. It may have been caught quickly. It's hard to tell from the information, so far.
There is no information to lead to this conclusion. The photo after the repair, shows a new
thermostat housing
. Draw your own conclusion from this.
I made a mistake, I erroneously thought they did the coolant pump but having read the work order they did not. I found the oil and they did too. since the last drive no new oil has been found and the car ran perfectly fine. I took it to a Porsche specialist that my friend and also a fellow rennlist member recommended to me. ,I will be waiting for the results. I apologize for my confusion or any confusion this may have caused
Sorry to say this Young911 but IMHO your reports of what has happened and what the shop found and repaired are not precise enough to assist you via rennlist.com.
You might have noticed that everybody is second guessing here as to what has failed because what you wrote doesn't provide the required detail.
You did the right thing by sending the car to a shop that came recommended and get it repaired there.
Yep,, I apologize for my poor knowledge on the subject as that�s really the biggest issue here. When I hear from the shop they will let me know and once I get a better idea of it I�ll put the next post up. Until then thanks for all the help guys! I�ve greatly appreciated it!
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