#1 Neglected Maintenance Items: Get Them Done This Spring!

[Rasta Monsta]

Brake Fluid Flush:

Interval on this job is every two years. Old fluid absorbs water, lowering its boiling point and increasing its corrosive properties, potentially damaging hydraulic components.

Shop time should be around one hour. Purchasing or building a pressure bleeder (such as Motive Power Bleeder) will cost less, and you will save money every time you use it.

Coolant Flush and Fill:

Another 24 month job. Especially critical if you see GREEN coolant in the tank, which will accelerate degradation of entire cooling system, including rad, pump, block and head. Drain fully using bottom hose (better not to disturb drain plug, which is made of BrittelSheiB and is likely to break), refill with water, idle until hot with heater valve open. Allow to cool, drain again. Repeat as necessary to eliminate the Green Death. Refill with recommended coolant (I use Pentofrost NF).

Power Steering Service:

Probably a three year job. ATF degrades with time and heat cycles, picking up contaminants (rubber and metal) along the way. Also, your handy power steering reservoir includes a FILTER, which is non-serviceable, therefore the res MUST be replaced! Many cars are running around with the factory res, endangering pump and rack. WYAIT, verify that reservoir clamps, and the pump feed line are updated per Porsche TSB.

That is all. GET TO WORK!

[944tothefloor]

Thanks Rasta!! I need to change the brake fluid. However I changed the atf last week, and the week before, and the week before, and .... (switching to manual soon)

[v2rocket_aka944]

I need to do brake pads ASAP...might as well do brake fluid i suppose

[VirginiaF1]

Originally Posted by Rasta Monsta

Brake Fluid Flush:

Coolant Flush and Fill:

Another 24 month job. Especially critical if you see GREEN coolant in the tank...

Great thread...

Since I don't yet use Pentosin ( Zerex here), I researched the NF.
It looks like Pentosin NF is listed as "Blue/Green" in color...

Does your GREEN warning signify Prestone ( and the other generic clones)?
Or does Pentosin turn more green than blue as it ages?


As always, Thanks!

[fiat22turbo]

Originally Posted by v2rocket_aka944

I need to do brake pads ASAP...might as well do brake fluid i suppose

You can build your own Fluid pressure bleeding system for about $20:

The DIY $20 brake bleeder

No excuse for old brake or clutch fluid.

Speed Bleeders are a good solution for quick fluid refreshing. The fluid at the calipers gets the most abuse and should be flushed out before and after track events or heavy use. NOTE: They don't work well for empty systems or for full flushes.

Finally, change the oil in your transaxle to Redline or an equivalent and enjoy better shifting and less noise from your gearbox.

[sausagehacker]

Curious as to why green coolant is bad- I have 6-month old coolant in the car (30/70 coolant to water) and it happens to be green. Is it something to do with the chemical composition? Thanks for potentially saving my entire cooling system...

[v2rocket_aka944]

Originally Posted by fiat22turbo

You can build your own Fluid pressure bleeding system for about $20:

The DIY $20 brake bleeder

No excuse for old brake or clutch fluid.

Speed Bleeders are a good solution for quick fluid refreshing. The fluid at the calipers gets the most abuse and should be flushed out before and after track events or heavy use. NOTE: They don't work well for empty systems or for full flushes.

Finally, change the oil in your transaxle to Redline or an equivalent and enjoy better shifting and less noise from your gearbox.

i can't actually remember when the brake fluid was completely changed...topped off over the years yes but...
that said, moisture doesn't happen very often here, but i should get around to it eventually.

[mytrplseven]

Originally Posted by sausagehacker

Curious as to why green coolant is bad- I have 6-month old coolant in the car (30/70 coolant to water) and it happens to be green. Is it something to do with the chemical composition? Thanks for potentially saving my entire cooling system...

I'm curious about this as well. I checked with the auto parts people and compared the labels and mine is green right out of the jug. It's supposed to be compatible with Aluminum engines like ours. Am I missing something?

[alfadoc]

I like to alternate ATE blue brake fluid with Castrol GT LMA. That way you have a visual at the bleeder when the old fluid is completely flushed.

[fiat22turbo]

V2rocket; the moisture is in the air, can't avoid it. That's why you shouldn't open a bottle of brake fluid unless you know you'll need it because it will go back very quickly from sitting on the shelf with the lid on and the seal popped.

[John_AZ]

Originally Posted by Rasta Monsta

Brake Fluid Flush:

Interval on this job is every two years. Old fluid absorbs water, lowering its boiling point and increasing its corrosive properties, potentially damaging hydraulic components.

Shop time should be around one hour. Purchasing or building a pressure bleeder (such as Motive Power Bleeder) will cost less, and you will save money every time you use it.

Coolant Flush and Fill:

Another 24 month job. Especially critical if you see GREEN coolant in the tank, which will accelerate degradation of entire cooling system, including rad, pump, block and head. Drain fully using bottom hose (better not to disturb drain plug, which is made of BrittelSheiB and is likely to break), refill with water, idle until hot with heater valve open. Allow to cool, drain again. Repeat as necessary to eliminate the Green Death. Refill with recommended coolant (I use Pentofrost NF).

Power Steering Service:

Probably a three year job. ATF degrades with time and heat cycles, picking up contaminants (rubber and metal) along the way. Also, your handy power steering reservoir includes a FILTER, which is non-serviceable, therefore the res MUST be replaced! Many cars are running around with the factory res, endangering pump and rack. WYAIT, verify that reservoir clamps, and the pump feed line are updated per Porsche TSB.

That is all. GET TO WORK!

Tires

Check the air pressure. Do you know the DOM-date of manufacture? Are the sidewalls cracked? Can you see the head of the penny? 6 years or less=good. 6 to 8 years=maybe. Over 10 years-stay off the road.

Battery

How old? Check charging system. Clean battery posts and cable ends. Clean main grounds.

Fuel filter, fuel lines and gas odor/leaking fuel at tank

No explanation needed.

[Rasta Monsta]

GREEN COOLANT: Obviously, color alone is a poor indicator of chemical composition, but when I see green coolant of unknown origin in a german car I always assume the worst. . .some cheap, generic coolant not specially formulated for the alloys present in our engines and radiators.

Putting the recommended stuff in there is not that costly, and is very good insurance.


P.S. NF is toilet bowl blue!

[pfarah]

What a coincidence, I just ordered the Motive European Black Label bleeder and it showed up today. As soon as it gets above freezing...

[Gawernator]

What's wrong with green Prestone phosphate free ...

[88Silver924S]

The cost of distilled water at the grocery store is about $1/gal more or less. Remember from your high school chemistry class that it is the impurities in the water that facilitate galvanic corrosion; distilled water significantly reduces that problem as well as reducing mineral deposits.

FWIW I last filled my '88 924S with Peak Global Lifetime antifreeze (I plan to give it about 5 years).

I had never heard of Pentofrost NF so I looked it up. It's MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) specs list Ethylene glycol >75% and disodium tetraborate at <5%. I don't know what the additives are but ethelene glycol is the classic "green-colored" antifreeze. "Green" is what mine came with so I have no problem with it as long as it is changed regularly and with distilled water. For the same price I prefer distilled to de-ionized. Thanks for the reminder Rasta.

[Bukowski]

For the record

The green entity is fluorescein, which is a fluorescent dye that a few regular posters here use to trace leaks. It is an organic (carbon based) compound. It is probably present in less than 2% weight/volume.

It is fluorescent, but also is bright green in ambient light.

I am unaware of any preference of manufacturers to use fluorescein instead of alternatives. I am unaware of any consequence of exposure of engine/rad alloys to fluorescein.

Fun fact : fluorescein is used in water safety equipment so the rescue team can trace the water safety equipment which hopefully is attached to the people who are lost.

[jeffrsmith]

Perhaps part of the problem with the color of the anti-freeze is that green typically equates to cheap, readily available formulations. Not all green anti-freeze equates to phosphate free.

Pentofrost NF is blue and is phosphate free as Porsche factory spec calls for, I am not sure how many other anti-freeze formulations use blue coloring, but chances are if you find it in your German auto it is.

[Slam]

Spring coming? Yankee wanker, you. It's been -27 here!

Oh, and in The Great White North we take care of a list like that in September before the snow flies. Do I ever wish now I'd changed my tranny fluid back then...

[88Silver924S]

From Prestone's FAQ:
"Some European automobile manufacturers request that a phosphate-free antifreeze be used in their vehicles. This issue is related to the extremely high mineral content of the water in Europe. If you were to mix an antifreeze that contained phosphates with the type of water they have in Europe, it may produce deposits that can settle in the cooling system and promote corrosion. However, in North America we do not have this type of water problem. Typical North American coolants have contained phosphates (which is part of the corrosion inhibitor package) for many years. Therefore, the question of phosphates is a non-issue here in North America."

Use distilled water instead of tap water at about $1/gal at the grocery or Walmart and there are no significant minerals for the phosphate to react with. Most of the "minerals" that they talk about are calcium carbonate which has a fairly narrow temperature range of solubility in water: too hot or too cold and it precipitates out as scale. Some other minerals that stay in solution throughout an engines operating and cooled-off range may not cause problems. Where I live there is calcium buildup on faucet spouts, some places I have been too have lots of iron in the tap water obvious from the red stains on porcelain, other places like Florida have a lot of H2S (tastes yucky), when I was in Los Angeles I could taste the sodium bicarbonate in the tap water. Carried to the absurd one would not use sea water in the radiator because of the high mineral content (salt). Anyway one should have distilled water around for battery maintenance; never use tap water in a lead-acid battery. That's my two cents.

[Rasta Monsta]

I call BS on Prestone. Their "only that ****ty euro-water requires special coolant" line does not explain the yellow, goopy crap I have seen drip from the radiators of more than one neglected 2.5.

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