996 c4S coolant problem....

[996TT02]

mechagran said:

Brill thanks dude, i see you have some experience in these things- once you have swapped the rads, how do you refull the coolant system ( i know that sounds like a daft question) - should it be at an angle and just simply refilled via the rear expansion tank?

I guess now im this far it is worth doing both rads?

Any more tips on the process as a whole?

Also, sell swap your 996 tt for my c4s?
Many thanks!

Although you will read many stories about the difficulty of properly refilling the coolant - in my experience if you keep most of it in place there is not much to it.

Refill reservoir, let it gurgle, keep the res topped. Lift the bleed clip on the black cap on the res to a vertical position, and run the engine to operating temp. Also run it at around 4k rpm for 20 secs or so during the process. Let it cool down. Add more coolant. Go for a 10 min drive with the bleed clip still vertical. If necessary (after cooling) top up again. Drop the clip. So in reality no magic and no doubt variations on the theme above will also work. Just don't pour cold coolant into a hot engine.

Yes I would recommend doing both sides unless the bad rad is evidently impact damaged or similar. Not expensive if bought from the right places.

One other thing. Inspect all the hose ends, the ally corrodes and splits. You could replace the o-rings on them if hoses are fine.

And another. The hoseclips are not very tight. If access allows remove the hoses from the rad ends, not where they hook up to the metal pipework. I have had these clips fail to grip tightly enough, possibly due to giving them a set during the release process, resulting in an annoying leak. So preferably let them be, or replace with regular Jubilees.

If you replace the hoses, DEFINITELY replace the factory hoseclips with Jubilees, as the wall thickness of the later hoses is thinner!

But 100% confirm where the leak is coming from first...

[mechagran]

thanks dude, I hope to be thinking about refilling etc by Friday.

Last night I only had about an hour and didn't get very far, mainly as I had no idea how to undo the circlip thingies (3 ) on the side brackets.

I amazed no one has done an actual video of the C4S r/ Turbo removal. plenty of "guides" for boxsters but everything else including videos is utterly useless.

However, condensors have been removed to one side (well flopping about) and some bolts undone as well as wheel housing taken off. biggest issue is wheel removal, even with a breaker bar (short one) I cannot remove them even if my life depended upon it so if I proceed it will have to be with wheels on which will doubtless make it harder.

2 shiny new radiators picked up for a discount price of £345 which I am well chuffed about so tonight is all about removal and replacement!