coolant level low

[996 Nick]

On checking the coolant level in the engine compartment of my 1998 996, the level is below minimum. can i just top it up with regular water? Or does it need to be mixed with new antifreeze?

[paulburrell]

Nick

Needs to be topped up with 50/50 antifreesze and water mix. Use an antifreeze approved for use in Porsches.

Then you need to find out where the water has gone. In my case it was two o rings in the connection to the front radiator. Front bumper had to come off and cost a cool £280. However, most of the time the leaks are attributable to a split in the neck at the back of the expansion(top up) tank. Have a look with the torch and if it is split then you will see the staining on the bodywork underneath the top up tank.

Hope that this helps.


Steve

[996 Nick]

thank you for your quick reply

just took another look and it literally needed a couple of thimbles full (half an inch in a pint pot in laymans terms) to get it back to minimum level - it was difficult to see how far below it was due to the shape of the header tank. i have done this and i will keep an eye on it.

kind regards

[BliarOut]

Use boiled or distilled water though, not regular tap water if you're doing very small top ups.

[996 Nick]

just used tap water. as i said, only a very small amount. will this cause me a problem

[SeanDH]

996 Nick said:

thank you for your quick reply just took another look and it literally needed a couple of thimbles full (half an inch in a pint pot in laymans terms) to get it back to minimum level - it was difficult to see how far below it was due to the shape of the header tank. i have done this and i will keep an eye on it. kind regards

I had this on my 99 996, but was losing more coolant. Cam Tune said the RH radiator had gone and that they were prone to this. Anyway after they fitted a new rad I still had leaks and then found the top up tank was split. This was replaced and sorted the problem, still dont know if the rad was leaking. Only other prob I had in 3 years was a faulty air mass sensor. Amazingly reliable car!

[Porsche GT3]

Nick: don´t worry, doesn´t mean that the car has a leak. Porsche topped up the coolant on my GT3 when in for a service, nothing strange.