Hey everyone, I found this great sight via Google. I have a 1999 Porsche 911. I have full coolant with no leaks, and my Coolant Temp gauge has a red light slowly blinking as soon as I start the car (my understanding is this indicates low coolant) and the car is overheating. I need to find out why and how to fix.......here's the deal:

A few days ago I parked my car at a store, got out and saw a pool of coolant on the ground coming from the rear-passenger side of the car. I drove a couple miles home and on the way the red light on the right end of of the coolant temp gauge started blinking slowly. There was a huge pool of coolant when I parked my car at my house with a trail leading from all the way down the street.

I looked under the car and saw a coolant hose in front of the oil pan on the passenger side-to-middle portion of the rear underside of the car that looked like it had almost come off the pipe it was connected to....it was still connected, but barely, and that's where all the coolant was dripping from.

I opened the hose clamp and slid the hose back to its original position further up the pipe. The car has stopped leaking coolant. I filled the car with coolant, and the blinking red light on the gauge stopped for about 5-10 seconds but then came back on. I haven't lost a drop of coolant...the coolant resevoir is full, but the blinking red "low coolant" indicator on the coolant temp dash gauge comes on the moment I start the car. I drove the car 8 miles and the car coolant temp gauge got close to the hash mark after the 180* mark. The car has never ran that hot before, and coolant was spilling out of the overflow onto the exhaust and making a mess. The car can drive about 6-8 miles before it gets to this temperature and starts spilling coolant out of the reservoir.

My friend says this is probably due to the fact that the car wasn't "burped" to allow air to escape the pressurized cooling system when I filled the car back up after losing almost all my coolant. He says I need to jack up the rear of the car about 1-2 feet off the ground and open drain valves on the front radiators and fill the coolant back up while the car is running to allow air to escape the cooling system. Does this make sense, and would this explain both issues.....the low coolant light as soon as I start the car with full coolant levels and the car overheating? ANYONE ELSE EXPERIENCE SOMETHING SIMILAR? Could this be a stuck thermostat? What are your thoughts?? Thanks!

 

I think your friend is probably right.

 

Good news that it sounds like it is just coolant, not an intermix of coolant and oil. Jacking the car up is a waste of time. You can try to "burp" the car by opening the tank vent, the little metal loop at the top of the tank, when the car is hot, this lets air escape. You can also by a uview 550000 for about $100 that will allow you to remove the air and fill the system. Just google it and you will find lots of sources, they work great. Also, running a notch above the 180 mark is normal, the stock thermostats don't open until 194 degrees.

 

After swapping my expansion tank and then the pump shortly after that I had was still running a little hot.
I found driving around for about 100miles with the metal loop thing pulled to the open position resolved this problem for me.

 

What and where is the metal loop? I see the blue cap for the coolant reservoir....is it near that?

 

yeah near that... it is a actually a pressure release valve, i believe on top of a black piece on the expansion tank, just behind the blue cap. just rotate it so it points straight up and should rest in an indentation in the black plastic piece.