A bit of DIY advise needed

I'm about to remove and replace my radiators and condenors on my 3.4 996. Does anyone know if there is a valve/tap to shut of the coolant to the radiators? Thanks

Wishful thinking, I'm afraid. Best bet is to get the front end up in the air on axle stands, to try to stop the complete system draining. Try to collect all the coolant when you undo the hoses, so you get an idea of how much you need to add to refill the system. Change the rad, leave the top hose disconnected, and try to fill the rad as best you can before replacing the top hose. Inevitably you will end up with air in the system though, and it can be a pain to bleed. If you can beg/borrow a vacuum filling device, that it the best way to fill it.

Thanks Richard, that's a pain. I'm in the process of trying the find the best way of putting the whole car on stands as I'm getting the wheels refirbed at the same time as well as replacing the starter motor, door mircro switches, backbox, front disks, rear wall, anti roll bars, cigarett lighter output, radio..........etc[:'(] Should have done it over the winter but I can't be bothered with a freezing cold garage, it's a shame it's now summer time and the garage is still freezing cold!

Should have done it over the winter but I can't be bothered with a freezing cold garage, it's a shame it's now summer time and the garage is still freezing cold! Where are you then?! Colder now than it was 'in the winter'!

Scotland, the summer usually lasts for about 3.5 days per year!

First re cold, you should have been in the stands at the touring cars at Brands today. Snow in March, the last day to boot. Secondly, I have no idea of the diameter of the pipes but it might be possible to clamp the pipes in a similar manner to the way in which you clamp brake pipes when working on that system. It might also be possible to freeze the pipes using one of the proprietary plumbing pipe freezing kits if the refrigerant gas can pull the temperature down far enough to overcome the anti-freeze. If you do try to clamp the pipes use something with round cross section to prevent cutting into the pipes. Being coolant pipes they should collapse easier than brake pipes so, possibly some off-cuts of banister rail with long studs through it. I really don't know, more an idea off the top of my head, and unknown feasibilty.

hi chard where about in scotland are you if your anywhere near aberdeen area i have a spare set of wheels if you want a lend until yours are ready

Not sure of the sizes but, if you can measure the connections and wish to do other clean up work in the area of the rad's than maybe plastic drain pipes such as for sink or bath lines with blanking caps would do the job take some measurements in your local DIY shop or maybe get some wooden plugs turned or whittled down.

Also, don't forget, while you've got the front bumper off, buy some grill mesh from Halfords and cover the front vents. It'll prevent any sh*t from getting to the rads in future (and makes the front end look much more appealing). See my thread below on "front end respray" John

I whole heartedly agree with this and I would have done this to mine had I not broken my elbow and wrist last year. It has been recommended that whilst it is apart, some cavity wax should be applied to the rads to help prevent them corroding away. Allegedy it makes very little discernable difference to the cooling.

When I replaced all 3 radiators, I also clamped the hoses with hose clamps to limit coolant loss. In total I lost about 6 litres of coolant and put in exactly the same amount when I refilled the system by pouring the coolant in slowly while leaving the small vent tube off until coolant with no air bubbles emerged then refitted the vent hose. I had no airlocks this way.

The wheeler dealer (Ed China) top tip is to use the fingers off rubber gloves, cut them off and insert a wad of kitchen roll and insert as a bung. never tried it myself but saw it on one of their programmes and it looked like a good diy

I stuffed kitchen roll in the whole glove and did the same on top of clamping the hoses with proper hose clamps.

In a similar way to Minny, I clamped/blocked the hoses on mine, measured the amount that came out, topped up with the same amount, and bleeding it afterwards was straightforward. I wrote it up: it's the fifth item in the 996 Technical Articles. Good luck!

So the new cigaret lighter assembly arrived today. I've just had a quick look into removing the old one, is there a specific technique for removing it? Cheers

It is a devil of a job to find the clip which releases the lighter, but once you find it, it comes out easily. I confess that it took me a good 30 minutes of frustration when I did it. Hopefully this will help:

Changed this tonight, indeed a pain to remove but at least now I can charge the Sat nav. Now onto the radiators. The condenser s are out, both knackered. The radiators look ok but I'd like to get an air line in behind them to clean them out. Is there and easy way to do this?

Might be a stupid question, but how do you know they are knackered? Falling to bits or dirty or just dented etc?

The air con stopped blowing cold so I got hold of a UV light and glasses which showed a leak when the condensor was illuminated with it. The oil in the air con system has a dye that lights up with uv light. Once the bumper was removed you could clearly see the extent on the corrosion. Cheers

Thanks

Update time, cig. lighter replaced, a pain but worth it. Tilt sensor replaced, condensors and radiators renwed, alloys reburbed and front discs and pads also done. I was about to replace the starter but I have noticed a weeping of oil from either the cam cover or possible spark plug tube. Is this a common thing? It's not dripping just a dampness so I'm not sure weather its worth the hassel at this stage to repair the problem as I'm sure that I would need to replaced to exhaust system if it had to come off due to rusty everything that's holding it together![8|] And to think I sold a 5 year old boxster s with 15k on the clock to buy this![ ]

Spark plug tube leaks are fairly common on the 3.4 (the 3.6 doesn't have them). The exhaust shouldn't need to come off. Check this thread: http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/fb.asp?m=585801

Thanks Richard. I've cleaned off the oil and given the car a good run and I'm happy to report than no oil car now be seen. I don't think any action is required for the time being.

Thanks for the help guys, back on the road again.[ ] [/URL][/IMG]