Not the end of the world, but a huge annoyance, nonetheless. I was driving around near my house about two hours ago and I floored it from a stoplight, only to look in my rear-view mirror and see a trail of coolant and steam. I immediately pulled into a community and turned off the car, as it was very apparent that I had a major coolant leak. Steam was billowing up from the rear of the car... not from an overheated motor (thank God), but from coolant contacting hot engine parts. I made sure that the coolant needle never went into the danger zone. I called my buddy and he came and investigated with me. We determined that the main coolant hose on the passenger side of the motor had ripped down the length of the hose. We went to the store and purchased some duct tape and distilled water. I filled her back up and taped up the tear, then limped her back (~1 mile) home.

Anyways, the up-side to this whole thing is that the hose is very accessible (after removing the airbox), so I'm going to knock this out myself and hopefully be back on the road soon.

Anyone else had something similar happen, or am I just awesomely unique?

 

I have heard that this hose and the companion on the driver's side should be replaced, along with the one that runs from the water pump to the coolant tank, at every 30k service as they are subject to high heat which can stress the rubber. I just replaced mine as preventative maintenance at 60k just to be safe.

 

Sorry for the problems you are going through. No matter what is said, it never takes the pain away.

But with that being said; why are so many people memorized by their own stealerships?

Especially in Bellevue where there are many alternative choices.

Chris' German Auto , Squire's Autowerke or Autohaus Vick

All three give you an option and I guarantee if you have a problem with quality of service, any of those listed WILL take care of the problem without conditions.

 

I had the same thing happen only I was at the track, going into a turn saw red warning light on the dash limped back into pit lane, turned out to be pentosin leak I had weaken the main coolant line below it, the tow to the shop cost more than the hose and installation.

 

No big deal. I used to have a DSM, so I'm very used to problems and standing on the side of the road waiting for a tow truck. lol

Also, I edited my post and removed the statement about negligence by Barrier Porsche. I have no proof that they did anything wrong (yet), so it's not right for me to accuse them without actually knowing if they messed up or not. Regardless, I live in northern Virginia; the previous owner lived in WA state. I had a PPI done there and work was done on the car by techs at Barrier Porsche before I purchased it.

Damn PENTOSIN! I almost put standard 50/50 green stuff in the car, but after wiping up a lot of coolant with a white rag, I noticed that it didn't look green to me. So I did some checking on the forums (via cell phone) and called the dealership before putting anything into the car. In the end, I went with the old trusty distilled water. That will work in anything, no matter HOW exotic and/or proprietary it is. :-P

 

Same failure here, at the track hose ripped all the way down underneath.

Age of the rubber? Drivers side look Ok when I replaced it at the same time.

 

2003 car... so ~8 yrs old.

 

One of these hoses has a new 997 part number that superseded the 996 P/N.

There's three hoses that were recommended to me to be replaced. I can get part numbers if interested.

 

That'd be much appreciated... thanks.

 

These are the ones Kevin suggested I replace-

997.106.502.00 Drivers
996.106.501.76 Passenger
996.106.250.74 Water pump supply hose

 

Sadly this is not uncommon and you did the right thing. Might as well replace both sides while you're at it.

 

Shortly after this happened I had Chris (USP) install inlet pipes so while the engine was out he went through and changed everything out, only 28K miles but it is 7 years of sitting.

 

This appears to be common, I was at track when same thing happened to me. Than at track another time and hose to intercooler broke. I had all hoses upgraded and changed to a silicone kit. Woth it to do it so you wont every worry about again!

 

Had the same issue about a year ago on the dyno. I saw white smoke everywhere and almost had a heart attack!

 

Thanks for all the help, guys.

Should I go with the stock parts, or is there a suitable aftermarket silicone replacement so I won't have to deal with this failure again in the future?