Low coolant after major service

[neilm]

Hi all. I had the 40k service for my 2015 Cayman 2.7 two weeks ago.
Everything reported as fine but yesterday I saw the 'low coolant; check engine temperature' warning when starting up. The yellow light went off quickly but came on again this morning on startup.

I checked the level and the 'pip' was fully down. It needed half a litre of coolant to top up.

Is this normal or should I ask the OPC for advice before end of warranty at the end of November?

Thanks!

 

[CDR]

Hi. I had exactly the same occur with my 987.1 2.7 Cayman after it was serviced a couple of years ago. During the service the OPC noticed that the car had a very small leak on the coolant pipes that run from the front to the rear of the car and replaced the failed part and refilled the coolant. I dove the car away and the next day got a low coolant warning light. When I looked at the header tank it was empty! The OPC's explanation was that during the process of refilling the coolant they had not noticed that there were air locks in the systems preventing the cooling system filling, and it was only once the engine warmed up that they rose and the coolant in the header plunged. Porsche assistance recovered the car to the OPC because they advised against driving the car without the correct level of anti freeze in the engine, didn't have any with them and therefore wouldn't just add water to allow me to drive to the OPC.

CDR

 

[Motorhead]

Just take it straight back to the dealership and get them to fix it Neil. That's why you have a warranty..!

Jeff

 

[Detroit20]

I just logged in to say that I had exactly the same experience as CDR after servicing my 987.2 for the first time in July. My 'cross pipe' was leaking coolant steadily. My OPC repaired it and refilled the system with coolant.

The next morning I was shocked to get a warning light, so I add more coolant myself and returned to the OPC. Air locks was their diagnosis too.

As an aside, a colleague - who bought a similar vintage 987.2 a couple of months after I did - experienced exactly the same cross-pipe issue that I did. A quick Google suggest that this is a 'thing' with the 987.2. I discovered a couple of months ago that snapped gear linkage cables are also a 'thing'.

The problem is that all of these things cost the thick end of £1,000 to fix...

 

[Motorhead]

As you say Fabian, leaking coolant pipe joints are starting to become an issue on the earlier cars now due to corrosion. Quite a labour intensive job I believe, and therefore expensive to rectify. Incidentally, there's a DIY in the Cayman Technical Articles section of the forum, although the pics seem to have disappeared.

There's really no excuse for any Porsche Centre not evacuating the cooling system completely - they should have the use of an evacuation tool - but the technicians are probably too pushed for time to do a thorough job.

Jeff

 

[Detroit20]

Thanks for that explanation, Jeff. I was surprised that they knew that air locks were a problem, but weren't able to prevent it in my case.

Without wishing to derail this thread, this past year with my Cayman has been a real eye-opener. What with one thing and another, I've spent just over £4,000 in 12 months (and I still have new condensers to look forward to at some point)! I do wonder whether the earliest 987 Caymans are reaching the point of being uneconomical to maintain/repair. A bad/unlucky year can be very expensive.

I'm glad that my car is now 'right'. But in all honesty, had I known a year ago that I would have to spend 20% of its value on maintenance and repair, I'd still be in my Audi.

 

[richardjjs1]

Cant believe an OPC didn't check for Air Locks At the very least should warn and give, perhaps, a litre of coolant to owner. Its a long job to clear all leaks - you do know the car has two filler caps and a bled system below the engine cover You just release this and bleed the system On a 986 Boxster its in the boot you have to remove the cover under the Oil and water filler caps On a 996 its on the other side I actually wonder if the OPC used the bleed system!!

 

[neilm]

Thanks for the replies guys!

I did ring the OPC and they said there was no evidence of any leak at the service 2 weeks previously. Their advice is to keep an eye on the levels and report any further drop.

I'll monitor it over the next few weeks, but the issue has been logged in case action is needed after the warranty expires.

Neil

 

[JaySteel]

I had a new water-pump fitted by my local OPC last week and then very next day I had the "low coolant" warning message on my dashboard. When I took it back I was told that they do their best to remove any air in the system but sometimes it still needs to settle before they can give the coolant a final top up.