Just drove it off the lot, and...

[ynotony1966]

Ok, so I bought a 1999 Porsche 996 with 121,000 miles on it. I drove it home about 7 miles, as I was approaching home I noticed some steam coming out of the engine vent. As I drove up into my driveway and turned the car off, temperature was a tad over 180, antifreeze dumped out. I filled it up after letting it cool and I noticed that the water was dripping onto the rear sway bar, on the drivers side. The antifreeze was coming from on top somewhere, I couldn't see. The Drips were running down and off of the freeze plug. I hope that it is just a hose. The dealership I bought it from came and towed it away and said they were going to fix it. The Palm Beach auto group, seems like a bunch of really nice people. I believe that they will take care of this problem. I will let you know.

[Coloradocurt]

No you believe in coincidences???

[juanbenae]

does fla have a lemon law? in California if you buy a car from a private party or dealership you have 72 hours to return it unconditionally. if fla looks out for it's citizen id take advantage of that immediately and have them keep it and return you check....

[juanbenae]

when I say unconditionally I mean in the same working order it was driven away from the buyer in. I believe there are mile restrictions too. I don't think 7 miles would exceed any reasonable limit, and the fact you could NOT drive it back for return that speaks loudly...

[jwetering]

Coolant tanks fail on these cars. If yours is yellow rather than white that's probably the case. They're not expensive, but a bit of a ***** to replace. Lots of threads on this, maybe not here but for sure on Rennlist. I have done two tanks and written them both up... I think.

Also could be a water pump. These apparently fail and when they do they can cause collateral damage. More serious, but less likely.

no need to panic. It's an 18 year old sports car. It's going to need maintenance.

[FPB111]

If that is the puddle behind it, on the other side of the bench in the background, that's some big leak!

[BYprodriver]

Originally Posted by car 311

does fla have a lemon law? in California if you buy a car from a private party or dealership you have 72 hours to return it unconditionally. if fla looks out for it's citizen id take advantage of that immediately and have them keep it and return you check....

1st I have heard of this in CA! Are you sure?

[BYprodriver]

Most likely scenario for the coolant loss is, recent coolant addition left some air pockets in system. Question is what issue occured 1st to start this sequence of events. Excellant chance the engine overheated causing further damage. Car needs to be inspected by a M96 engine EXPERT before excepting the car. OP should try to rescind the sale & start over!

[juanbenae]

Originally Posted by BYprodriver

1st I have heard of this in CA! Are you sure?

I stand corrected Auto Return Law in California | eHow

[cdrik915]

Do not panic , it's a common issue on 996 ,

Water cooling tank can break , due to years , or eventually the cap on it.

It's easy to replace , but be careful to adjust many times the water cooling level after having replaced the tank , that will takes some times .

On my GT3 , the water cooling pump has been replaced in the same time.

[ynotony1966]

Well it appears to just up in a radiator hose

[ynotony1966]

Originally Posted by cdrik915

Do not panic , it's a common issue on 996 ,

Water cooling tank can break , due to years , or eventually the cap on it.

It's easy to replace , but be careful to adjust many times the water cooling level after having replaced the tank , that will takes some times .

On my GT3 , the water cooling pump has been replaced in the same time.

Yeah the tank looks pretty new it's not yellow.

[ynotony1966]

Originally Posted by FPB111

If that is the puddle behind it, on the other side of the bench in the background, that's some big leak!

Haha

[BYprodriver]

Originally Posted by ynotony1966

Well it appears to just up in a radiator hose

You should insist it passes a cooling system pressure check.

[ynotony1966]

Thanks for the feedback everyone it's holding coolant level, now I have a vapor lock issue when the tank is less than a quarter of a tank After parking for a couple hours. Any ideas? I've searched other post but the answers are all over the board.

[craigmakes3]

The expansion tank on my 996 let go during my test drive! Don't panic, sounds like you shut it down before any serious damage was done.

[gsmiller]

Exact same thing happened to me and my 986 Boxster S. Flooded my driveway with coolant on Day 2. Failed water pump in my case. Glad you got your issue sorted!