Antifreeze compatibility

[1schoir]

When driving home yesterday the warning light went on, flashing.

It did that once before but I thought nothing of it at the time. It's behind the steering wheel for me so maybe I haven't noticed it and it's been there for a while ...

However I checked the coolant level today and it's below LOW, in fact it's a cm down in the lower container part.

I cannot see anything on the floor or see any leaks around the container, elsewhere in the engine room or around the radiators.

I checked the oil dipstick and the oil looks ok there so perhaps it's not seeping into the engine ...

Is this normal, i.e. I just fill up with coolant, or should I be worried now?

If you haven't found traces of antifreeze mixed in with the oil on the dipstick, then there's is no cause for alarm at this point.

Sometimes, especially when the car is only used for short trips, you might even get traces of a frothy mixture on the underside of the oil filler cap, but even that is usually nothing to worry about.

If you want to put your mind immediately at ease, your best bet is to do a pressure test on the cooling system. That will reveal if there is anywhere that the coolant is leaking out.

Otherwise, I would just top up the coolant tank with distilled water and just monitor the level to make sure that you don't lose any more coolant.

Also, if you haven't already done so, double check to make sure that your coolant reservoir cap part number ends with a ".01". If it doesn't, that may be the cause of coolant loss or it's a repair waiting to happen.

Regards, Maurice.

[MagnusB]

I filled her up with distilled water and took off for work. Looked fine for 10 minutes then I saw the vapors from the rear.

Looks like the cap is bad. It's a .01 but sure "leaks"!

[1schoir]

I filled her up with distilled water and took off for work. Looked fine for 10 minutes then I saw the vapors from the rear.

Looks like the cap is bad. It's a .01 but sure "leaks"!

Magnus:

Is your coolant tank cap firmly seating on the coolant tank neck?

Can you keep screwing the cap down until it "locks" (i.e., does it allow you to turn it until it won't turn anymore?), or does it get tighter and then "skip" and get loose again?

If it "skips", then check the top two or three threads on the coolant tank neck and see if they are stripped (chewed up).

If the threads are not stripped, and you are actually able to tighten down the cap until it's firmly seated, then buy a new ".01" cap. That's the cheapest step before you move on to another cause.

Let us know how you make out.

Regards, Maurice.

[MagnusB]

I filled her up with distilled water and took off for work. Looked fine for 10 minutes then I saw the vapors from the rear.

Looks like the cap is bad. It's a .01 but sure "leaks"!

Magnus:

Is your coolant tank cap firmly seating on the coolant tank neck?

Can you keep screwing the cap down until it "locks" (i.e., does it allow you to turn it until it won't turn anymore?), or does it get tighter and then "skip" and get loose again?

If it "skips", then check the top two or three threads on the coolant tank neck and see if they are stripped (chewed up).

If the threads are not stripped, and you are actually able to tighten down the cap until it's firmly seated, then buy a new ".01" cap. That's the cheapest step before you move on to another cause.

Let us know how you make out.

Regards, Maurice.

The cap is firmly seated, I'll buy a new one and see if that helps.

Thanks for the advice!

[MagnusB]

Got new cap and coolant. Drove 120 miles and it seems to have resolved the problem.

But the temperature does go up a bit when driving slow or standing still.

I don't trust it yet.

[beej]

Hi everybody,

Thanks for all the talk and advice so far. I went into German and Swedish car parts (gsfcarparts dot com, a UK trade supplier) hoping for a near match to the Porsche pink coolant, but the best they could come up with was Febi Bilstein 19400 purple coolant. Here's the datasheet online:

http://www.febi.com/en/jsp/download.jsp?fi...frostschutz.pdf

Ethyleneglycol (=1,2-Ethanediol)

Na-2-EH-hexanoate

Methyl-1H-BTZ

For just topping up, what do you think? If not, I'll scrap this plan and just go with what my Indy has, or buy the branded stuff.

I've a 996, which I think has had the replacement coolant lid because it screws very tight (doesn't click or anything) and there's no sign of any residues :)