This past weekend I finally fixed my rear wing as it had not been deploying properly for several months. I swapped out the motor and both rams as a unit. Seemed to work fine but I couldn't wait to do some high speed runs to see if there was a noticeable difference with a functioning wing. So last night I took the car out in wonderful clear 50 degree weather. It worked fine and the car felt great. Amazing how much more stable the car is at 100+mph. The rear felt planted. That wing makes a significant difference.

There's no traffic but I get the attention of a white Mustang Cobra. He wants to play but I'm just blasting towards home. He doesn't keep up and as I note his headlights get smaller in my rear view mirror, a huge cloud suddenly billows from the rear of my car. It looked like an F1 car in the rain. A huge-a$$ rooster tail filling up the entire lane behind me. Crap. I say to myself, "This is going to be expensive." Then the instrument cluster warns "coolant level is low," accompanied by a blinking red light on the temp guage. Double crap! The temp stayed below 200 while I exited the highway and pulled into a parking lot. The rear of the car was engulfed in steam. Yep, it had the sweet taste of coolant. What the heck happened? I have a flashlight but can't see sh*t.

Fortunately there is a grocery store right there, so I run in and buy several gallons of distilled water. When the steam finally dissipates, I start filling the coolant resevoir and notice water leaking from under the right side of the engine. The car never ran poorly or make any noise, so I'm praying that it's just a hose. After several stops to top up the coolant I finally make it home. Close inspection reveals a split in the 2" rubber hose that is located just forward of the right motor mount. It looks like it is about 16" long and easy to get to. Ahhhh, what a relief.

Now this hose is not in a vulnerable area. Why would it blow on a car with less than 30K miles? How common is a coolant hose failure on these cars?

I called today and the dealership will have the part tomorrow (thank you, Porsche for putting part numbers on everything!). I plan to replace it Friday.

I'll keep y'all posted.

 

Yikes, glad nothing major happened. When was your last coolant change Doc? Most likely heat + time + rubber =. You need to get ready for Tx2K7. A little bird told me VRALEXANDER is coming to town.

 

Bad part along with bad luck.

Congrats on being diligent and saving the mill. Some have blown up engines on less than that (naming me).

 

Same **** happened to me. Same hose too. Mine happened at 17,000 miles though

Jag

 

So weird, just happened to me before i was going to sell my car! Driving normal, went to hit it in 2nd and nothing but smoke (well steam), i was so scared i called Markski hahaha! Wound up being the damm hose fitting that made the whole mess, had to add gallons of water, drive it a little bit then shut it down to cool, sucked for such a MINOR thing to happen

 

I had something similar but not the same happen to mine at 38k miles. The coolant leaked but the service guy said the flange connecting the hose to the top of the engine(?) was cracked. Ended up dropping the engine to replace the flange- v expensive

Anyways, he said that the cap on the coolant reservoir cap wasn't releasing pressure/ heat/ steam as it should and caused the event.

Does this even make sense?

Regards

Sameer

 

wow... nice save...........

any non-oem hoses for coolant (like samco?)??

eventually, i wanna replace all hoses (boost and coolant) as they do seem to deteriorate over time....

 

That turned out to be alot cheaper than I thought it would be based on your title! Never good to see lots of smoke pouring from the rear!

 

exact same thing happened to our car. less than 10,000 miles on the clock.

i've also seen it happen to a GT3 (mk1). was following behind and suddenly had coolant all over my windshield!!!

no real damage in both cases.

 

I'm relieved to hear about coolant system failures on other cars. It gives me assurance that my car isn't a freak (well, she is...but the good kind ). I think that Porsche did an excellent job with the dash warning system. If I had not noticed the giant cloud behind me, it still would have given me plenty of warning.
Excellent point about the coolant resevoir cap. I'll replace it just in case.

BTW, does Porsche recommend a certain type of coolant, or is standard coolant (propylene glycol, 50/50 mix) fine?

 

happened to me twice...

 

+1 I was exspecting a much worse story. Good job limping her home . . .

 

AFAIK, the coolant has not been changed. I'll check the previous owner's records. I looked at the factory recommended service intervals and nowhere did it mention coolant flush/change, only checking the level.

Yes, TX2K7! I can't wait. My wife got me a spot in the DE for a surpise Christmas present. I did not know VRALEXANDER is coming. I wonder if he's bringing his new 1600+ HP Supra beast?

 

..

yes, but I'm more interested in what p-cars he's bringing. I'll register next week. There is also a 60-140 run at the drag strip also.....On a side not, ss the coolant change time or mileage dependent? I maybe due and may change out that hose and cap while I'm at it.

 

Do they make silicon coolant hoses for our cars?