Antifreeze?

[jnc]

I know that the antifreeze in the Boxster is supposed to be "permanent", but.........

Can it be tested with conventional antifreeze hydrometers?

Should it be 'replaced' periodically?

Should I wait till the water pump is replaced?

Is this antifreeze still on backorder with Porsche?

It is called ELF SUPRA?

Is any other antifreeze Porsche 'approved'?

The color of mine isn't so green anymore. It is actually almost clear. I have a 99 with about 45K. My commute is a high speed one. I wonder if this has affected the color. (I'm averaging 58mph on the OBC for the last 30K miles)

[Loren]

Joel Reiser just answered this question at the PCA website. (BTW... 986 and 996 use the same coolant). Here is what he had to say about coolant:

When I was racing a Porsche GT1 some years ago, they said the coolant had to be special, and it came from Audi dealers as the standard coolant they carried. I don't know what the issue was, but that was easy enough, so I never thought about it too hard. This same situation has carried over intact to the the 996 and the 996-based GT3 race cars. The only difference is that Porsche now carries the coolant with their own labelling.

The most often cited issue was to do with keeping the water pumps happy but I have no details on what the exact issues were.

The stuff sold by Porsche was made or at least imported by Elf in Warsaw Poland from Elf in Antwerp Belgium. It is 100% organic according to the label, ethylene glycol based, and has been sold for some years under Porsche part #000.043.203.78. More recent product batches (with same part number) now have a Porsche label, and the origin is the same address in Belgium, now from Arteco NV, so either Elf spun off that plant, or it was always just buying from there, and the private labelling agreement with Porsche was changed to drop the Elf brand name from the supply chain.

This coolant also has the property of being approved by Porsche, a factor not worth overlooking. Should you have a 996 cooling or water pump problem down the road, it would be better to have receipts from a Porsche dealer for their coolant, rather than the prior savings of a few dollars.

Joel Reiser - PCA WebSite - 7/14/2003

[Tool Pants]

The coolant was made by Elf, a large euro chemical company. ChevronTexaco formed a joint venture with Elf to make coolant under the Arteco name. I contacted ChevronTexaco last year and they contacted Arteco and gave me names of 2 coolants you can buy at any parts place. Jeff

Babblers

[neutron561]

The coolant was made by Elf, a large euro chemical company. ChevronTexaco formed a joint venture with Elf to make coolant under the Arteco name. I contacted ChevronTexaco last year and they contacted Arteco and gave me names of 2 coolants you can buy at any parts place. Jeff

Babblers

Can you share the names of the two products available locally please? Do you have a favorite brand of anti-freeze? I'm getting ready to do a 60k service myself on my '99 996 C2 including all fluids. My car is daily driver in So Florida only. Thanks for any advice.