New coolant expansion tanks - ouch!

[CBschnell]

I have only had my car for less than a week, so I'm drawing up lists of things to fix/upgrade. The car had a replacement hose and coolant change last week before I picked it up. The coolant temp runs normally and my first drive was over 3 hours, so I would have expected to see any problems then. Anyhow I have noticed that there has been coolant on the floor after two of the last few drives. I can't see where it has come from, as I have the under-engine cover, but it pooled underneath the expansion area, so could be overflow pipe? Anyhow, I digress!
As I have lost some coolant I have an issue that I can't really tell where my coolant level is with the plastic a distinct shade of beige. The interior baffles mean you can't easily poke around, so I looked at getting new OE unit. I have a Turbo so that has a different part number (P95110602502) and OPC quoted £342 + vat!!! I can get 10% off with PCGB membership. Does the CLassic Register give a better deal? Any other recommendations welcomed.
When I get a chance I will remove the under shield and take a closer look to see where it may be coming from.

 

[scam75]

Hi. See my recent thread.

Turbo Expansion Tank | Porsche Forum from Porsche Club GB

I ended up getting a functional 2nd hand one as I didn't fancy paying £350 on top of all my current engine rebuild costs. Mine had actually crumbled at a connector so was mostly useless. My acquired 2nd hand one, whilst functional, is of course the same shade of off-white!

I find if you squeeze the fattest coolant pipe, coming off the water pump, it makes the level jiggle about and is quite easy to see. Not so easy to see without doing this!

I'm sure you can get them new for £5 each if you purchase 50 and have them made from China. Didn't bother going down that road! If you do, I'll take one from you, then just 48 more to find a home for!!

Stuart

 

[BenEngland]

Hi.

Before you order the expansion tank you might want to check the 'auxiliary water pump', only fitted to the turbo models. This runs for a short time after the ignition is turned off, you can hear it running for about a minute.

I found on mine that the bearings for the pump had worn & that it leaked slightly when it ran.

 

[CBschnell]

Hi Stuart and Ben
Thanks for the quick feedback.
1. if I can but those 50 units at that price, one has your name on it.
2. Good point about the aux water pump, it definitely seems to be a post ignition thing. I will check that.

 

[scam75]

No worries. Funny you should mention the turbo aux water pump. See my recent thread!!

Turbo Auxiliary Water Pump | Porsche Forum from Porsche Club GB

New Bosch item can be had for £47 from Autodoc which needs a minor wiring alteration. Same pump exactly. OEM is anything from £650 to £950 depending on where you shop..........

Now, if you need to know about aftermarket turbo radiators, I have a thread running on that as well...........[]

Stuart

 

[scam75]

Another thing to add to this, pre-engine rebuild (and don't yet know what post-engine build will be like), my car done this also with the coolant at max. It would do this until the coolant was at min, at which point it happily sat there without anything coming out the overflow after shut-down. Didn't happen all the time, but definitely after a spirited drive. Gave up topping up after a while and left it at the min mark.

Not sure the cause of this. Potentially a partially blocked rad or heater matrix as both were a bit clogged up upon removal and inspection when we took the car apart for the rebuild. Either way it will be a pressure build up causing the overflow to come into play. (if it is the overflow and not the aux pump)

Another thing is the coolant tank cap, which has a spring, and if this is past it's best it can cause same symptoms as the system has to push through the spring to reach the overflow and a weak spring will lead to premature ejaculation, so to speak.

Stuart

 

[CBschnell]

I will definitely be reviewing your rebuild posts! Your point about post spirited drive rings true. That was the case with the two times I noticed it, and I tested it today, but didn't mention it in my thread. I took a sedate drive - tough I know - and no loss. I will still check aux pump when I get the chance.
Thanks again - really helpful.

 

[944Turbo]

Expansion tank used to be £85 (though probably 18 - 20 years ago now!) A new one does brighten the engine bay though.

I second the expansion tank cap, they have a seal that perishes as well as a spring that weakens. The overflow pipe can be run into plastic bottle to eliminate / prove this as the source.
I believe they may be available with different strength springs too (release pressure usually stamped on them). I think my coupe always used to settle on the minimum if topped up above that even with a fairly recent cap.

One (slightly depressing) thought though - is there a record of a head gasket change? A weak headgasket can lead to more pressure in the coolant system and coolant escape through the expansion tank cap - an original HG will be pretty rotten by now.....

Hope it is just the cap!
Tony

 

[dlknight]

I had my car in at Promax a few years ago (must be a long time now as Promax have been gone since 2014?)

When I collected the car Andy had taken it upon himself to order and fit a new expansion tank for me

I was in two minds at the time as it looked great but I also didn't have a healthy bank balance...

I'm glad he did though as it looks great, was around £100 if I recall correctly...

 

[CBschnell]

Definitely had a head gasket change (5 years...) so hopefully that is not the issue. There is a thought that a new expansion tank may cost even more in the future, so perhaps I should bite the bullet now. As a matter of interest, I had two quotes this week from my local OPC - one for rear dampers (M030 option) and the expansion tank. Both items came back as being available from Germany - does that mean we are also paying the related duty on those parts coming in, hence the increase in price?
I ended up buying the dampers from DC performance at a massive discount. There wasn't a clear steer on the correct rear dampers but I called Koni, and they had just one part number for them, which is what I bought.

 

[dlknight]

Both items came back as being available from Germany - does that mean we are also paying the related duty on those parts coming in, hence the increase in price?

Don't think so - I've been keeping an eye on the parts database (PET2) for years and I haven't noticed a sudden markup, you still pay 20% VAT on parts ordered from an OPC so nothing has changed there... But the parts prices do creep up month after month. Things like expansion tanks and shock absorbers have always been pretty expensive.

 

[CBschnell]

Perhaps I should use my normal purchasing logic of buy now before it goes in up in price... it worked with the rear Konis - I bought on Tuesday at £125 each and they were £133 each yesterday (Koni had announced a price increase for September). However the current dollar exchange rate is not very encouraging to buy anything from the US right now.

 

[scam75]

You won't get cheaper than OPC purchasing in the UK, I think they quoted me £315 plus vat with a discount. You can get them cheaper in the states, but as you say, weak pound and all the customs faff and delivery charges isn't very appealing.

I will add that my £35 second hand one is working just fine after using it in earnest for the first time yesterday. So they do last a long time. I wonder if you could fill it with bleach for a few days to sort out the discolouration? Obviously remove from the car first.................

 

[CBschnell]

I agree re OPC being cheapest for a new one as I did an extensive search and some are going for really silly money. I was thinking about taking it off and cleaning it. A friend suggested soaking in Coca Cola! Probably worth it so that I can spend that money on performance upgrades