Smell of Anti-Freeze
Discussion
My car smells of the stuff after a run.
Problem is the level never drops and I can't find a leak anywhere, a previous Turbo I had was the same yet no apparent leak, surely if the rads were f'd you'd see a residue on the garage floor or the level would drop significantly. Its been like this now for approx. 12 months.
In the PPI when I bought the car, it was noted that there was a smell albeit no apparent leak.
What I don't want to do is shell out to get the rads done if its something else..........
Anybody had this issue?
Problem is the level never drops and I can't find a leak anywhere, a previous Turbo I had was the same yet no apparent leak, surely if the rads were f'd you'd see a residue on the garage floor or the level would drop significantly. Its been like this now for approx. 12 months.
In the PPI when I bought the car, it was noted that there was a smell albeit no apparent leak.
What I don't want to do is shell out to get the rads done if its something else..........
Anybody had this issue?
Mine did this for a while, then it developed a pretty dramatic leak from the water pump shaft. It must have been a very slight mist under pressure; looks from stains on the silencer that it had been leaking on there and evaporating for a while.
Definitely worth checking, but the expansion cap is more likely - and about 200 times cheaper!
Pete
Definitely worth checking, but the expansion cap is more likely - and about 200 times cheaper!
Pete
Could be due to previous "incidents".
If there is old antifreeze on the rads or any of the plastic undertrays etc then when you get splashes of water from puddles etc you can smell the stuff again especially if you get a bit paranoid about this...
That is, if the level really does not drop (check cold).
If there is old antifreeze on the rads or any of the plastic undertrays etc then when you get splashes of water from puddles etc you can smell the stuff again especially if you get a bit paranoid about this...
That is, if the level really does not drop (check cold).
My experience with both my Boxster and my Turbo is if there is an odor of anti-freeze there's a leak.
One day driving my Mom around town I got out of the Turbo and caught a whiff of a strong odor of anti-freeze. After I finished with Mom and had dropped her home I ran by the dealer and the tech lifted the car and checked. He spotted a build up of anti-freeze residue between the pulley and the water pump casting. Water pump was leaking. He also found the driver's side radiator fan wasn't working very well, not blowing much air, but there were no fan stage errors logged. I had him replace the radiator fan along with the water pump and T-stat.
More recently on a road trip taking care of family business and in real cold weather (down in the single digits (F)) while I didn't smell any anti-freeze I noticed some water at each front corner of the Turbo. I thought it was from snow accumulating in the radiator ducts -- lots of blowing snow to go with the very cold temperatures -- then melting from the heat. After a few days I drove down south some 140+ miles and stopped to have the oil/filter service done before turning west and heading home (around 2K miles away) the tech found all 3 radiators leaking. Not severely but under pressure each was clearly seeping coolant. The SM at the dealer said it was common -- at least in that region -- for Porsche radiators to develop a leak at around 100K to 120K miles. My car had 130K miles on it. (The radiators might have remained ok had I left the car here in warmer weather, so warm in fact off and on the last week I've had the house A/C on because it has been so warm.)
The only time I smelled anti-freeze from the Boxster proved to be from a split coolant tank. Once in a great while I'd catch just a whiff of anti-freee odor. But one day to check a suspected non-functioning radiator fan I drove the car around until it was warm enough the radiator fans were coming on. At home I raised the RPMs to 1500 and held the speed until I knew the radiator fans were on. I then go out of the car to check the radiator fans and found one -- passenger side -- not running. I shut of the engine with the fan running and after a few moments the heat from the engine had raised the temperature and pressure of the coolant the leaking tank finally let go in a gush of hot coolant straight to the pavement. I let the car cool down over night, and in the morning filled the tank wit distilled water then started the engine. After marking sure there was no leak I drove the car a couple of miles to the dealer and had the tank replaced.
My point is you should not smell anti-freeze. There's a leak and you should find it and have it fixed. Most often the leak is at the water pump, or the radiators, or the coolant tank. It can also be the coolant cap but while both of my cars have manifested the leaking cap I can't recall ever smelling anti-freeze. The cap just let vapor escape and over time the coolant level dropped enough to cause the low coolant level warning light to come on.
One day driving my Mom around town I got out of the Turbo and caught a whiff of a strong odor of anti-freeze. After I finished with Mom and had dropped her home I ran by the dealer and the tech lifted the car and checked. He spotted a build up of anti-freeze residue between the pulley and the water pump casting. Water pump was leaking. He also found the driver's side radiator fan wasn't working very well, not blowing much air, but there were no fan stage errors logged. I had him replace the radiator fan along with the water pump and T-stat.
More recently on a road trip taking care of family business and in real cold weather (down in the single digits (F)) while I didn't smell any anti-freeze I noticed some water at each front corner of the Turbo. I thought it was from snow accumulating in the radiator ducts -- lots of blowing snow to go with the very cold temperatures -- then melting from the heat. After a few days I drove down south some 140+ miles and stopped to have the oil/filter service done before turning west and heading home (around 2K miles away) the tech found all 3 radiators leaking. Not severely but under pressure each was clearly seeping coolant. The SM at the dealer said it was common -- at least in that region -- for Porsche radiators to develop a leak at around 100K to 120K miles. My car had 130K miles on it. (The radiators might have remained ok had I left the car here in warmer weather, so warm in fact off and on the last week I've had the house A/C on because it has been so warm.)
The only time I smelled anti-freeze from the Boxster proved to be from a split coolant tank. Once in a great while I'd catch just a whiff of anti-freee odor. But one day to check a suspected non-functioning radiator fan I drove the car around until it was warm enough the radiator fans were coming on. At home I raised the RPMs to 1500 and held the speed until I knew the radiator fans were on. I then go out of the car to check the radiator fans and found one -- passenger side -- not running. I shut of the engine with the fan running and after a few moments the heat from the engine had raised the temperature and pressure of the coolant the leaking tank finally let go in a gush of hot coolant straight to the pavement. I let the car cool down over night, and in the morning filled the tank wit distilled water then started the engine. After marking sure there was no leak I drove the car a couple of miles to the dealer and had the tank replaced.
My point is you should not smell anti-freeze. There's a leak and you should find it and have it fixed. Most often the leak is at the water pump, or the radiators, or the coolant tank. It can also be the coolant cap but while both of my cars have manifested the leaking cap I can't recall ever smelling anti-freeze. The cap just let vapor escape and over time the coolant level dropped enough to cause the low coolant level warning light to come on.
Rockster said:
My experience with both my Boxster and my Turbo is if there is an odor of anti-freeze there's a leak.
One day driving my Mom around town I got out of the Turbo and caught a whiff of a strong odor of anti-freeze. After I finished with Mom and had dropped her home I ran by the dealer and the tech lifted the car and checked. He spotted a build up of anti-freeze residue between the pulley and the water pump casting. Water pump was leaking. He also found the driver's side radiator fan wasn't working very well, not blowing much air, but there were no fan stage errors logged. I had him replace the radiator fan along with the water pump and T-stat.
More recently on a road trip taking care of family business and in real cold weather (down in the single digits (F)) while I didn't smell any anti-freeze I noticed some water at each front corner of the Turbo. I thought it was from snow accumulating in the radiator ducts -- lots of blowing snow to go with the very cold temperatures -- then melting from the heat. After a few days I drove down south some 140+ miles and stopped to have the oil/filter service done before turning west and heading home (around 2K miles away) the tech found all 3 radiators leaking. Not severely but under pressure each was clearly seeping coolant. The SM at the dealer said it was common -- at least in that region -- for Porsche radiators to develop a leak at around 100K to 120K miles. My car had 130K miles on it. (The radiators might have remained ok had I left the car here in warmer weather, so warm in fact off and on the last week I've had the house A/C on because it has been so warm.)
The only time I smelled anti-freeze from the Boxster proved to be from a split coolant tank. Once in a great while I'd catch just a whiff of anti-freee odor. But one day to check a suspected non-functioning radiator fan I drove the car around until it was warm enough the radiator fans were coming on. At home I raised the RPMs to 1500 and held the speed until I knew the radiator fans were on. I then go out of the car to check the radiator fans and found one -- passenger side -- not running. I shut of the engine with the fan running and after a few moments the heat from the engine had raised the temperature and pressure of the coolant the leaking tank finally let go in a gush of hot coolant straight to the pavement. I let the car cool down over night, and in the morning filled the tank wit distilled water then started the engine. After marking sure there was no leak I drove the car a couple of miles to the dealer and had the tank replaced.
My point is you should not smell anti-freeze. There's a leak and you should find it and have it fixed. Most often the leak is at the water pump, or the radiators, or the coolant tank. It can also be the coolant cap but while both of my cars have manifested the leaking cap I can't recall ever smelling anti-freeze. The cap just let vapor escape and over time the coolant level dropped enough to cause the low coolant level warning light to come on.
Cheers for the reply mate very comprehensive.One day driving my Mom around town I got out of the Turbo and caught a whiff of a strong odor of anti-freeze. After I finished with Mom and had dropped her home I ran by the dealer and the tech lifted the car and checked. He spotted a build up of anti-freeze residue between the pulley and the water pump casting. Water pump was leaking. He also found the driver's side radiator fan wasn't working very well, not blowing much air, but there were no fan stage errors logged. I had him replace the radiator fan along with the water pump and T-stat.
More recently on a road trip taking care of family business and in real cold weather (down in the single digits (F)) while I didn't smell any anti-freeze I noticed some water at each front corner of the Turbo. I thought it was from snow accumulating in the radiator ducts -- lots of blowing snow to go with the very cold temperatures -- then melting from the heat. After a few days I drove down south some 140+ miles and stopped to have the oil/filter service done before turning west and heading home (around 2K miles away) the tech found all 3 radiators leaking. Not severely but under pressure each was clearly seeping coolant. The SM at the dealer said it was common -- at least in that region -- for Porsche radiators to develop a leak at around 100K to 120K miles. My car had 130K miles on it. (The radiators might have remained ok had I left the car here in warmer weather, so warm in fact off and on the last week I've had the house A/C on because it has been so warm.)
The only time I smelled anti-freeze from the Boxster proved to be from a split coolant tank. Once in a great while I'd catch just a whiff of anti-freee odor. But one day to check a suspected non-functioning radiator fan I drove the car around until it was warm enough the radiator fans were coming on. At home I raised the RPMs to 1500 and held the speed until I knew the radiator fans were on. I then go out of the car to check the radiator fans and found one -- passenger side -- not running. I shut of the engine with the fan running and after a few moments the heat from the engine had raised the temperature and pressure of the coolant the leaking tank finally let go in a gush of hot coolant straight to the pavement. I let the car cool down over night, and in the morning filled the tank wit distilled water then started the engine. After marking sure there was no leak I drove the car a couple of miles to the dealer and had the tank replaced.
My point is you should not smell anti-freeze. There's a leak and you should find it and have it fixed. Most often the leak is at the water pump, or the radiators, or the coolant tank. It can also be the coolant cap but while both of my cars have manifested the leaking cap I can't recall ever smelling anti-freeze. The cap just let vapor escape and over time the coolant level dropped enough to cause the low coolant level warning light to come on.
Its going in for a major service soon so will get it checked out.
Its recently had a new water pump (last 18 months)
Its also had a new expansion tank.
I'm thinking there is a slight weep on the rads and its hanging around on the under tray.
Looking through the history the radiators have not been changed for a long time so I'm leaning towards this as been the culprit.
Will know doubt be a bloody expensive service then!!!!
thegoose said:
Wait, what?! Crimp's had a car 12 months? I don't believe it.
Yeah Marcus would you believe.I've always kept my 996 turbo's longer, just such great cars..........mind you I might not be saying that after the next service when I'm greasing the palms of the service guy!!
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