In addition to the videos on Planet 9, here is some information about changing the coolant on your 987. This isn’t a debate on the validity of “lifetime” coolant. My last philosophy class was back in the early 1990’s and lifetime fluids aren’t my belief. For reference, 2009
Cayman S
with 52K miles. I’ve never changed the water pump or done any work on the coolant system.
You can get the procedure from the
ALLDATA
website (
Repair and Diagnosis — 2009 Porsche Cayman S (987) F6-3.4L Service Manual | Operation CHARM
) and I got the part numbers from the Porsche illustrations and parts drawings for the 987.2. Here is the information:
Coolant regulator housing drain plug crush washer: P/N 900.123.104.30 as shown on drawing 1-05-105-00, piece number 18.
Coolant piping Hen Fitting O-Rings: P/N 996.106.801.03 as shown on drawing 1-05-105-10, piece number 40.
Coolant Hose Support: P/N 987.106.425.01 as shown on drawing 1-05-105-10, piece number 25.
In general, the ALLDATA procedure tells you to drain coolant from the regulator housing drain plug, the radiator supply/return pipes (at the Hen Fittings) and lastly from the heater/heat exchanger hoses. Once the belly pans are removed from the car, you can compare the pictures in the ALLDATA procedure to the car and easily find the drain points.
Regulator housing drain plug. The drain plug is a 6mm hex. The torque specification for this plug is somewhat mysterious. I watched a video from FCP Euro (working on a 997.2) and they used 22 ft-lbs. I try to verify this number via a Google search, and I found values of 11, 19 and 22 ft-lbs. Since I live in a remote town in the Colorado Rockies, I’ve developed a good working relationship with the Porsche dealership in Colorado Springs. The service team went thru the Porsche factory data and couldn't find any specific torque value. We verified the crush washer part number to ensure we were both looking at the same plug. I used 19 ft-lbs and haven’t had any leaks. Use your experience accordingly.
Hen Fittings. There is a spring clip that surrounds the fitting. When you remove the spring clip, you will see a slot in the main pipe and on the metal part of the coolant hose. The ALLDATA says to install the spring clip into the pipe slots before fitting the hose. For the life of me, I couldn’t provide enough force to overcome the spring. I removed the spring clip, aligned the slots in both the pipe and the hose and then installed the spring clip into the slots (2 total, 180 degrees apart). This was much easier.
I will add here the two coolant hose supports had been embrittled by years of heat and were broken before I removed them. I ordered them and installed them after they arrived. They were only $4 apiece. From the picture, I reassembled one so you can get an idea on what it should look like.
Heater/heat exchanger hoses. From the first picture, the “Y” fitting with the two hose connections, is plastic. As we all know, hoses stick to whatever they are attached too, and it takes some effort to break it loose. I didn’t feel the need to push my luck, so I didn’t remove these two. Looking at what it would take to replace this fitting out weighted my desire to drain every last drop of old coolant. So, I removed the single hose connection, drained the coolant and then reassembled this joint.
Vacuum filling the car was easier than I thought. My owner’s manual indicated my coolant system should hold just over six gallons. I was able to drain right around four gallons. The outgoing coolant did have a very slight brown hue to it. So, I’m happy I took the time.
From start to finish, this project to me approximately 3-1/2 hours. I use a QuickJack so if you have a 2 or 4 post lift, it should take you less time.
I hope it helps if you need or want to do this work on your car.
Thanks much for a marvelous DIY! And congratulations on the Technical Excellence Award!
Just tremendous. Thank you for taking the time to help the rest of us!
Great writeup. I'm due for another water pump, thermostat, and coolant flush/fill next year. I'll be close to 100k miles at that time. During the first water pump change I didn't replace any "while you're in there" parts. This time with the age/mileage of the car, can anyone suggest what I should replace? I'm mainly thinking coolant hoses, spring clips, anything else? Will probably replace the plastic coolant support tunnels
@Metalengineer
shows above.
While I had the car in the air and in addition to changing the coolant, I removed all of the belly pans and the front
tires
so I could inspect (and educate myself on) the entire coolant system. Earlier this year, I removed the bumper so I could clean the radiators. Between these 2 jobs, I didn't see any other signs of leakage or any other issues. No blistered or soft hoses, no signs of cracks on the non-metallic Tee's or other fittings......... The broken hose supports were the only anomaly I discovered.
FCP Euro
has an interesting video about changing the drive belt idler pulleys and drive belt in conjunction with the water pump. If memory serves, it was on a 987.1, but the premise is the same. You might look up the video and give your car an inspect.
Nice write-up. Just one addition: the normal cooling system drain leaves a bunch of coolant in the front radiators. You can access the hoses for those in the front to try to drain more, but what I do is use a small handheld blower on the hoses to the front of the car that you disconnect when you do the drain. This flushes a bunch more coolant out.
(Note that I do have the third radiator so that probably retains more, I haven't really looked where coolant gets trapped.)
