Advice please....

On Tuesday I took my 1999 MY 996 (Full Porsche Service History) into a garage (who shall remain nameless at this point) to have the back 'mufflers' replaced. The car has been running superbly for the last 10 months since I bought it. I went to pick it up on Tuesday pm and was told that the handbrake wasn't holding and would need investigation. I told them to do it and I would pick the car up Wednesday... Picked the car up on Wednesday and, travelling back through Newcastle noticed steam (or what I thought might be smoke) coming from the back of the car. I pulled over and rang the garage... "it's just wax burning off the exhaust boxes... no problem. It'll stop soon." They also mentioned that it had done that when they had started the car that morning. After another couple of miles there was no decrease in the amount of what was pretty clear was steam. I pulled over and the car was covered in steam. Opened the rear lid and (what I take to be) the expansion tank at the rear left was soaked with water and was dripping onto the exhaust. Both my son and I watched it dripping. Let it cool a little and then got it home. Called the garage and they asked that I get it back to them via AA flatbed truck. Did that (although I felt it was their responsibility as this fault had vlearly developed when it was with them). So now they've got my car and they tell me the cooling fan on one side itns't working and that they are changing "the sensor". However they also added that it "may be a head gasket" or... "the engine may have flipped a liner"(?) Bearing in mind that the car has been no problem at all in the months I've owned it, I feel that someone isn't being completely honest with me. How could it be the head gasket or a 'flipped liner' when the car was running well - even when I took it back (apart from the leak)? I would really appreciate any advice or thoughts on this one.

Likely to be the expansion tank cracking, the exact same thing happened to me, it's a common problem. Not a big deal, and it's not the garage's fault, you need a new one (not much more than £100 from Eurocarparts) and maybe a couple of hours labour to refill the system.

+1 Also check the coolant tank cap. If the part number ends with 00, change it.

+2 Bear in mind that "Lack of water cooling was the main advantage of the air-cooled cars...."[ ] Similarly to Murphy's Law, when a car leaves a garage problems seem to develop... and the blame instinctively gravitates towards the repairers... Often, it is just bad timing... When I put on my TUBI exhaust all was fine until that very night when I took her out in the silence of the night to hear her singing.... Guess what, white cloud from the back and the rear window was wet like it had been raining... for a moment I thought I had been going faster than the weather... rain at the back and beautiful cool clear weather at the front...[:-] Rubber hose coming out of expansion tank gone completely...[ ] No other damage...[ ] If you stopped immediately you should not have sustained any other damage... Good Luck

Thanks for that gents... I've spoken to the garage and passed that info on and they're "going to call me back". What about their suggestions that it "may be a head gasket" or... "the engine may have flipped a liner"(?) and that they are saying the cooling fan on that side isn't working.... ?

They don't know what they are talking about is my humble opinion. Their suggestion that it was wax burning off the exhaust boxes would suggest that. Also they should never have told you it wasn't a problem, if your coolant bubbled out to the point you were running very low, then your engine would have overheated and it could have been terminal.

Another vote for the coolant tank - cracked coolant tanks normally show up on the temperature dial, with a flashing of the warning light in the dial

What was your temperature gague indication while all this steam was coming from the car ? If it stayed in its normal position with no increase, then you have probably just had water dripping onto the exhause and not a lot to worry about. Head gasket or liner problems are possible but if its either of these, then you will have other symptoms eg. oil in water, rough engine, check engine light on etc. The fans do two jobs, they run at full speed to keep the rads cool in traffic and they also have a low speed to push air through the aircon condensers which are next to the cooling rads. when aircon is switched on. The low speed is controlled by a pair of ballast resistors and they are known to fail. Would be worth checking the resistors before changing sensors or fans.

Thanks for all the responses guys. Much appreciated. The car is now back home. After the first couple of responses, I rang the garage and mentioned the coolant tank top and they said they would look at that and call me "straight back". An hour later they called back and said that the car was now "fine" and that they had road tested it. When I arrived to pick it up they told me that they had replaced a sensor (I forget which one) and also replaced the coolant cap. All (touch wood) is now well. **** Later the same day**** In answer to Seamus' questions. The temperature gauge reading was normal - around 80. There were no poor running symptoms at all. PS - Just want to add my thanks to the three ladies I spoke to at the garage who were, as ever, nothing less than professional, supportive and pleasant. You know who you are! [ ]

glad it worked out fine Colin, is it who I think it is[ ]

[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] That sort of depends on who you think it is! [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

we were all talking at the last meeting?