Emergency radiator hose repair

[jjb7]

The lowest point on my '99 996 Tip is the radiator hose to the hose. I found this out the hard way. If you bottom out your Porsche, the hose gets scuffed and can cause a leak. After a good person warned me I was spewing something bad, I pulled over and saw the problem. Here's is what to do:

If there is an auto parts store really nearby, race to it. Otherwise shut it down. Hopefully, your are in the city and can get the the auto parts store. If not, tow it.

Buy a section of 1 inch radiator hose, straight, and two 1 1/2 inch hose clamps.

Cut the hose about an inch longer than the tear. Slit open the hose.

Wrap the new hose around the tear and secure using the two clamps. My tear was next to the engine inlet, so I had to remove the old clamp. If so, make sure you place the new clamp around the inlet.

Note: if the leak stops spewing before you can fix it, you lost about three gallons of coolant.

Allow the engine to cool. Then fill with coolant, 50/50 pre-mix. There will be trapped air.

Note: even though the temp gage says its cool, the coolant may still boil over. If so, wait more.

Check for leaks in the patch.

Now drive the car a short way, keep an eye on the temp gage, aim towards a car wash.

If the temperature climbs towards overheating, stop and allow to cool.

Check for leaks.

At the car wash, was car of all coolant and cool down the engine. The fill with coolant. There may still be air trapped, but you shouldn't have to wait for the engine to cool before filling the coolant tank.

Now drive car cautiously. Look for the coolant level warning light. It is next to the over heat light on the temp gage. If it goes off, stop and fill with coolant.

The patch should hold until you get a new hose. I am going to leave the patch on the new hose in order to protect it.

[JFP in PA]

Also be aware that bottoming out the nose on your car can also crack the radiator mounting "ears", causing leaks, and forcing you to replace the radiators.

Edited August 2, 2012 by JFP in PA

[RFM]

+ 1, that is unfortunately often the case.

[wvicary]

Why not just have the vehicle towed and have it properly repaired instead of risking damage to the engine from a dodgy patch job performed on a street or car park?

[JFP in PA]

Messing around with damaged cooling systems on these cars has worse odds than Russian roulette. There is a poster on another site outraged because shortly after having a car serviced, he had and overheat complete with a flashing cooling light, but still drove the car home. Now he is in the market for a new engine that exceeds the resale value of the car and is griping about suing the shop that did the work. Nevertheless, as he inexplicably drove the car with the light flashing, I would be willing to bet any legal action would go nowhere.

At the first sign of cooling system problems, shut the car off and call a flatbed; the tow will end up being the cheapest thing involved in getting the car back on the road………….

[Silver_TT]

Most car insurance reimburses for towing without impacting your rates (at least in the state I live in), so I always tow when in doubt. It's free.

Engines generate a ton of heat. The first time my cooling system failed I was alarmed by how fast the temperature rises.