Coolant tank leak??

patkeefe · 08-07-2012, 06:28 PM

I suspect I have a coolant tank leak. Short version of this story is wifey had the car on a trip, it overheated. She nursed it a few more miles, left it, and got a ride home, and we trailered the car back. No obvious damage to the engine, no water in the oil, etc.

I raised the car and pulled the plastic panels off the right side wheel wells, front and rear, and the rear pan. Filled the tank, started the car. Water leaks out, which is apparent at the right rear jack point. Leak may be an understatement. I can't see any leaking tubes or hoses under the car, so it appears the water is running down the bulkhead. It actually gets into the rocker section and will leak out near the front (provided I tip the car that way for gravity to pull it).

The trunk area is damp. I have been perusing Wayne's photos of the coolant tank change:

Pelican Parts Photos - 101 Projects for your Porsche Boxster: Project 33 - Coolant tank replacement

I will have to pull it further apart to see if it's the tank or one of the ubiquitous hose connections. This appears to be an ugly repair job. I now have half of the fleet on jack stands in the garage.

bell · bell's Garage

If there is coolant in the trunk then it's the tank, pull the carpet up to check.....
not to bad to change if you have the right tools.....like the remote cable clamp pliers....vital for this job and your sanity..

Wayne 962 · Wayne 962's Garage

It's not too bad of a job. Water in the trunk is a bad sign. Water leaking from below may just be the overflow hose...

-Wayne

tomk · 08-07-2012, 10:04 PM

Sounds like a tank to me. The cable clamp pliers are a must

patkeefe · 08-08-2012, 02:24 AM

Thanks. It is definitely not the overflow...I learned about the overflow when I had the car at the track.

patkeefe · 08-08-2012, 08:49 AM

Hi all,
I assume this type pliers are necessary?

tomk · 08-08-2012, 09:51 AM

that is it

patkeefe · 08-10-2012, 07:28 PM

Well, I got the tank out. It was indeed cracked. I found five golf balls under the carpets in the corners. This has to be the dumbest arrangement of tubes and hoses ever. I swear Porsches are engineered at some brauhaus in Stuttgart.

patkeefe · 08-19-2012, 07:29 AM

I got the new tank, drilled the hole for the dipstick. My problem is that memory is the second thing to go.

I forgot the arrangement of the two 13mm ID hoses on the backside of the plate. I surmise that it really doesn't matter, since they both puke coolant back to the tank from different sources in the same sealed cooling system, but. I would like to know what they are supposed to be. Any suggestions?

TIA,
Pat

patkeefe · 09-22-2012, 04:54 PM

Update:
I got the new coolant tank done a few weeks ago. I changed those short hoses while I was there. I also flushed the entire system with water twice, and filled it with a 50/50 mix of Zerex G05 and distilled water. Runs fine. I did not replace the golf balls back under the carpet.