Comment on 986 coolant system overhaul...

[77'911s]

I installed the following on our base 2002 986 with a tiptronic:
1) Porsche g-40 coolant
2) coolant tank, level sensor, cap
3) lower temp t-stat, main feeder hoses
4) trans coolant valve, hoses, clamps
5) both rads
6) 996 oil cooler upgrade
The car took about 4.5(ish) gallons of coolant in the end(capacity 5 gal.), due to having much of the cooling system apart for service. That trans coolant valve was an absolute PITA. Anyone doing this, should replace the hoses and convert the mubea spring type clamps to the screw type when replacing the valve.
With temps in the 80-90s in the PNW lately, it was a good time to test the new system. In standard driving, the temp hovers around the 80 degree mark on the gauge. In stop & go traffic yesterday for an hour, it hovered just below the half way mark on the gauge which I thought was quite good. Previously it would go above that and the fans would go on. Now the fans, rarely, if ever go on. You can feel the car less stressed to a degree. The engine fan, or side vent fan rarely goes on, whereas it was on all the time in stop and go. The car runs much cooler overall.
For stats, the car has 80k on it, and most of the equipment I removed was original. The waterpump was done recently, was why I didn't touch it. The car is going to get bypass pipes and new trans mounts in the future, along with a full trans service as time allows. Hope this helps others.