Coolant Leak

[VagonLove]

Pulled in the garage and smelled coolant and saw some smoke/steam coming from the hood. Opened it up to see coolant in the engine bay and dripping underneath the car. It wasn’t immediately clear where the leak originated. I know how much cooling there is on this car and I imagine a hose clamp came loose somewhere. Now the question is do I try to drive it to the dealer or proactively tow. Anyone else experience similar?

 

[Blackwing16]

Pulled in the garage and smelled coolant and saw some smoke/steam coming from the hood. Opened it up to see coolant in the engine bay and dripping underneath the car. It wasn’t immediately clear where the leak originated. I know how much cooling there is on this car and I imagine a hose clamp came loose somewhere. Now the question is do I try to drive it to the dealer or proactively tow. Anyone else experience similar?

I’d say have it towed. Insurance or even the car’s warranty should cover the cost. Not worth the risk of driving it.

 

[Slick Blackwings]

Call the dealer , I’ll bet they will flatbed the car.

 

[668LT4]

Oh boy. I am no expert, but if that were my car, its next move would be onto a flatbed. Good luck, I imagine the repair is easy, but the hassle is never fun.

 

[NorCal Blackwing]

Subscribing to this thread; keep us posted on what the cause happened to be! Almost all modern Porsches have a water pump problem that leads to a coolant leak, like clockwork mine started leaking coolant about a year after I bought it. I gambled and drove mine to the dealer, but agree with others it's better to put it on a flatbed. I hope this isn't a systemic problem with the Blackwings also.

 

[Tall Steve]

Sorry to see this but hopefully it will not be bad and you can get it back quickly...

 

[VagonLove]

Thanks for the feedback. I plan to do a bit more troubleshooting to try to find the source of the leak. Strange because the expansion tank still has visible coolant in it.

Part of my hesitation with the flatbed is the potential to scrape the front end. Still remember the pain I felt watching the auto carrier scrape the front end of my V wagon when I sold it. Dealer is only 7 mi away. Currently have an appointment for Tuesday morning.

I’ll let all know the cause of the leak. I suspect it’s something stupid like a hose clamp the wasn’t installed correctly at the factory. A little strange though since I’m at 900 miles now, but the temperature here was about 93 degrees today so it probably got the car hotter than it’s been.

 

[VagonLove]

Problem figured out! There is coolant plumbing/hoses right next to the lower pulley. Apparently it was not seated correctly and was making contact with the pulley and eventually wore through the hose. Seems like bad QC at the factory. Dealer indicated new hose should arrive tomorrow. Frustrating but at least it will all be resolved tomorrow. Next step will be trying to clean all the coolant out of the engine bay...ugh.

 

[SIX 40]

Glad it was something simple and that they'll be able to get the part quickly!

 

[565565]

Problem figured out! There is coolant plumbing/hoses right next to the lower pulley. Apparently it was not seated correctly and was making contact with the pulley and eventually wore through the hose. Seems like bad QC at the factory. Dealer indicated new hose should arrive tomorrow. Frustrating but at least it will all be resolved tomorrow. Next step will be trying to clean all the coolant out of the engine bay...ugh.

Is this an easily visible area? Could we visually inspect it we have something similar waiting to happen?

Thanks

 

[VagonLove]

Is this an easily visible area? Could we visually inspect it we have something similar waiting to happen?

Thanks

A little bit difficult, but possible to inspect. I took a still from the slick video the tech sent me explaining the issue. Hopefully this helps.

 

[burn813]

A little bit difficult, but possible to inspect. I took a still from the slick video the tech sent me explaining the issue. Hopefully this helps.
View attachment 9107

Does the belt have wear on it too?
If so, they should be replacing that too

 

[VagonLove]

Does the belt have wear on it too?
If so, they should be replacing that too

No, I believe it was only the lip of the pulley that made contact.

 

[Beamz27]

Will you have to bleed the cooling system now? The car has some sort of bleeding system built into the car now per the manual. I posted about it a few weeks ago but no one seemed to give a shit lol. The ATS V didn’t have that from what I remember

 

[VagonLove]

Will you have to bleed the cooling system now? The car has some sort of bleeding system built into the car now per the manual. I posted about it a few weeks ago but no one seemed to give a shit lol. The ATS V didn’t have that from what I remember

Not sure if the dealer had to bleed it. They obviously replaced the lost coolant. I was pretty impressed as they also cleaned my engine bay, saving me some time.

 

[Beamz27]

They should bleed it if they have to replace coolant I believe. My car feels like a dog lately so I think something is wrong w mine. But the manual has a procedure for it now. See pic attached

 

[Daijoubu]

They should bleed it if they have to replace coolant I believe. My car feels like a dog lately so I think something is wrong w mine. But the manual has a procedure for it now. See pic attached

The 6.2 and 3.0 in the CT5 do not have this procedure...they are just old school, take the cap off and let the system burp out while the car is running. The 2.0 in the CT5 does have this procedure, though.

 

[Beamz27]

The 6.2 and 3.0 in the CT5 do not have this procedure...they are just old school, take the cap off and let the system burp out while the car is running. The 2.0 in the CT5 does have this procedure, though.

I didn’t even realize he had a CT5 BW. Whenever I think coolant I think CT4 BW. My bad