2005 987 3.2S losing coolant
Discussion
Hi all,
My mum has a 2005 Boxster 3.2S with about 35k miles on the clock, and it appears to be losing coolant.
I took it out for a bit of a thrashing and when I got home got out of the car I caught a whiff of that distinctive hot coolant smell. I checked the coolant level and it was well down approaching minimum.
The car was due a service in the next couple of weeks so I asked the garage to check it out.
They topped it up, ran the car up to temperature, pressure tested it, checked all the rads and hoses and couldn't find anything wrong, but they did find splattered dried coolant all round the header tank and filler cap as though it has been spraying out under pressure.
There didn't seem to be any reason for this but the coolant pressure cap was replaced anyway in case it was defective.
I'll keep an eye on the level, but for the moment can anyone think of any reason this is happening?
My mum has a 2005 Boxster 3.2S with about 35k miles on the clock, and it appears to be losing coolant.
I took it out for a bit of a thrashing and when I got home got out of the car I caught a whiff of that distinctive hot coolant smell. I checked the coolant level and it was well down approaching minimum.
The car was due a service in the next couple of weeks so I asked the garage to check it out.
They topped it up, ran the car up to temperature, pressure tested it, checked all the rads and hoses and couldn't find anything wrong, but they did find splattered dried coolant all round the header tank and filler cap as though it has been spraying out under pressure.
There didn't seem to be any reason for this but the coolant pressure cap was replaced anyway in case it was defective.
I'll keep an eye on the level, but for the moment can anyone think of any reason this is happening?
Can only be escaping out of the system to air or the engine
On my 2.5 box the car suffered slow coolant loss with the light coming on & flashing every few weeks. I had the whole system pressure tested, nothing, thought I was going mad. Then I saw the odd drop under the radiator, which then became a trickle. Quite a relief to pay £500 to get the radiator swapped. On a 10 year old car that's quite likely to be the culprit. I was supprised that the pressure test didn't show this but it was a very very slow leak I guess
On my 2.5 box the car suffered slow coolant loss with the light coming on & flashing every few weeks. I had the whole system pressure tested, nothing, thought I was going mad. Then I saw the odd drop under the radiator, which then became a trickle. Quite a relief to pay £500 to get the radiator swapped. On a 10 year old car that's quite likely to be the culprit. I was supprised that the pressure test didn't show this but it was a very very slow leak I guess
Hi There are two coolant caps on 987, one in boot and pressure cap on expansion tank in engine bay, have a closer look at front coolant pipes next to steering rack as these leak on a lot of cars i have in for service, and had one blow the pipe of off the aluminium pipe due to bad corrosion of the metal pipe.
Chris
Chris
NinjaPower said:
Hi all,
My mum has a 2005 Boxster 3.2S with about 35k miles on the clock, and it appears to be losing coolant.
I took it out for a bit of a thrashing and when I got home got out of the car I caught a whiff of that distinctive hot coolant smell. I checked the coolant level and it was well down approaching minimum.
The car was due a service in the next couple of weeks so I asked the garage to check it out.
They topped it up, ran the car up to temperature, pressure tested it, checked all the rads and hoses and couldn't find anything wrong, but they did find splattered dried coolant all round the header tank and filler cap as though it has been spraying out under pressure.
There didn't seem to be any reason for this but the coolant pressure cap was replaced anyway in case it was defective.
I'll keep an eye on the level, but for the moment can anyone think of any reason this is happening?
Be sure the radiator fans both come on when the engine gets hot enough and both fans blow the same amount of air and it is the same temperature.My mum has a 2005 Boxster 3.2S with about 35k miles on the clock, and it appears to be losing coolant.
I took it out for a bit of a thrashing and when I got home got out of the car I caught a whiff of that distinctive hot coolant smell. I checked the coolant level and it was well down approaching minimum.
The car was due a service in the next couple of weeks so I asked the garage to check it out.
They topped it up, ran the car up to temperature, pressure tested it, checked all the rads and hoses and couldn't find anything wrong, but they did find splattered dried coolant all round the header tank and filler cap as though it has been spraying out under pressure.
There didn't seem to be any reason for this but the coolant pressure cap was replaced anyway in case it was defective.
I'll keep an eye on the level, but for the moment can anyone think of any reason this is happening?
You can do a poor man's pressure test. Be sure the coolant level is good. Not too full. Not too low. Check this with the engine dead cold. Be sure you get the cap on properly and sufficiently tight.
With the A/C off start the engine and drive the car around town until the engine is fully up to temperature.
Back home raise the RPMs to say 1000 or 1200 and hold until you hear or a helper hears the radiator fans come on. Shut off the engine.
The heat load will raise the coolant temperature and pressure and this can really expose a leak that might otherwise remain hidden.
You can place a tent of alum. foil over the fluid bay and the coolant tank in the engine compartment (if there is one). If there is any leak vapor will condense on the underside of the foil.
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