Hey welcome! We try to be helpful here and have a lot of DIY stuff. 'Cause we're guys and refuse to ask for assistance. Mostly we just ooh and ahh over everybody's cars!

Have fun, ask questions.

 

Sorry to be a little slow but...which coolant are we using now?

 

http://www.pentosin.net/specsheets/Pentofrost_++.pdf

 

Rainier:
Your post just got me to look at my coolant level. I have 5200 miles on the car and the level indicator says minimum. I will be taking it in to get it checked out. Thanks again for your heads-up.

ChuckJ

 

Went for a drive today and on the way back, I thought I heard some warning chimes. I have the setting on LOUD. Anyway, had radio blasting, so I turned radio down when I thought I heard the warning chimes and heard nothing. Maybe it was the music, but thought it strange. Looked at my gauges and saw no warning lights or alerts, so I did not think too much of it. When I got home, after a few hours decided to check coolant. It is at minimum level. What gives? Maybe everyone should check their levels. Car is new, only 1400 miles on it, and I am breaking it in slowly. Reread manual and it says that I should get warning messages and icons both at "check coolant level" and "low coolant level." I have received neither, but will top off coolant nonetheless. Crazy for a brand new car.

 

Mine is the same.

ChuckJ

 

Interesting. So maybe its meant that way ? Odd.

Regarding the coolant level, Topped it up as mentioned. A day later (after about 20Km) it's back at minimum. OK, topped up again. Now I have done a few 100Km and it is still at "full". No problem then.

So what has happened ?
I did not check the coolant level when I took delivery of the car. That much I admit. I did not even check it until just recently when it showed low. After all I just got the damn thing - it's just over 2 months old now.

My guess - the system is rather vast by comparison to your average banger with the radiators in front so it takes a lot of coolant to fill the system with its lengthy coolant pipes. This system WILL trap a lot of air on first fill. After several drives that air will expell itself via the coolant reservoir bottle (on the heat cycle, sucking in coolant when it cools down). Sooner or later there is no more coolant left in the reservoir and that is when we see "empty".
In my case, not only was the reservoir empty but there was still a pocket of air in the cooling system as well. This is why the reservoir was empty again after first refill and drive.
It's not a huge issue - the system has a lot of coolant circulating, it's hardly going to miss 1/3 Gallon.

So: good idea to check coolant level after getting the new car and a few drives. Temp readout was and is rock steady. That does not tell you about the level (unless VERY low I presume). Lesson learned.

Rainier

 

I'm thinking you're absolutely right with regard to air in the system. Remember my overflow valve broke and perhaps when you fill it you do have to fill it a couple of times to get all the air out of the line. They only had the car for a half day after the part came in so I doubt they did that. My temp has been rock solid also and no coolant light. I'm going to do an oil change and have them top off the coolant and monitor it.

ChuckJ

 

Remember, there is a large volume of coolant in the system, and it will expand when it gets hot. I wouldn't worry too much about the level being near the minimum mark when the engine is cold. You don't want to overfill it.

Regarding air in the coolant system, I doubt that is an issue. I can't believe Porsche leaves air in the coolant system when they fill it at the factory.

 

My coolant was low at 2,200 miles and I just added distilled water instead of the recommended 50-50 mixture. Now at 4,200 miles, it is a little low now and I think I should add anti-freeze this time to get the mixture back to a 50-50 ratio.

I am not sure if it is OK to use anything except Porsche anti-freeze, but on the other hand, I had rather not have to drive to the dealer and purchase a gallon of Porsche's expensive anti-freeze if something else will work just as good. I know that there is pink or green anti-freeze but that is about all I know about anti-freeze.

My question is what brand and color of anti-freeze can I buy locally to top off my radiator or do I need genuine the Porsche anti-freeze?

Thanks.

Billy

 

Well I can only offer some advise related to some of our aircraft engines. Some of them are liquid cooled and like using anti-freeze that has a bit of water soluable oil in there. That helps to lubricate seals around the moving parts of the water pump and generally prevents corrosion.
Finding suitable anti-freeze is easy: If it says "recommended by GM" or something to that effect on the bottle it is OK. As final check we put a drop between index finger and thumb, then rub it. If it contains oil - it's obvious at that point.
This dates back to times where certain GM products had pretty serious corrosion issues around their water cooled engines - I had one of those...

I'm pretty sure a product like that should be just fine...

Rainier

 

This thread piqued my interest so I checked the coolant level. Said low, so I mix up a batch of 50/50. My temp gauge has been normal.

I'm not too fussy about the brand of quality anti-freeze in fact I've never added one drop to any of the new cars I've owned in the last 20 years (old cars sometimes)

It took all of 4 oz to bring it to midway....at first I put in a little more & used the turkey baster to remove - set aside the overflow for the next water cooled Porsche I purchase.

Much ado about -0-

 

Talked to a Porsche tech about this as my coolant level was at minimum. Was worried and curious at the same time as none of my gauges went into alert mode and the temp gauge was normal. He said that both oil and coolant should be checked when the engine is warm. Checking level when the engine is cold could give you a misreading. I checked when engine was cold and coolant was at min. Will drive the car and warm up the engine and check again at that time as see if there is a difference. I think the tech may be right as, if the coolant is actually at min, the temp gauge would have shot up and I would have received some visual warnings . . .

 

Owners manual pp 223 paragraph 2 FWIW

Read off the engine coolant level.

"When the engine is cold and the vehicle is level, the red display (ball) must be within the area of the arrow between the min & the max markings. "

 

Hmmmmm. Thanks for this HotHonda. Who do you trust if you can't trust a Porsche tech?