Medic-one

Just been for to collect something from the shops, drove there, parked up, all fine. 

Drove home, parked on drive, put car in garage and then when I turned the engine off there was like a 2 second hiss sound (like air pressure escaping), though no smoke and no visible leaking. 

What can cause that noise? I heard garages can pressure test the coolant system, would it be worth having that done? 

46 minutes ago, Del_tl1000r said:

I'm not sure what you are trying to show but I've photographed mine if that helps

 

 

Cheers, that helps as it looks the same 😁. 

My mate has a 718 and that doesn't have that gap there, and then I couldn't remember if ours should have it or not 😳😂

Had a look at my engine for the first time since buying it, not the easiest job to get to! Especially disconnecting the plug from the speaker pod was a pain in the ar*e job! 

And then after putting everything back together and opening the roof I looked at these 2 gaps by the side, and couldn't remember if it's supposed to look like this or not :



 



That is how it looks isn't, I haven't put the roof back wrong have I ?

So I've put the car in service mode to get to the engine today, have taken a dozen pictures and I've a few questions now.... 🤪

I've numbered my questions to make it easier to answer 😁

I'm gonna start with the coolant cap, last year someone advised me to get a new one, which I did, but I send it back thinking I ordered the wrong one, and then ordered one that matched what I've got in the boot, the one where you top up the coolant.  So now I have 2 of those :

 

Though they have different 'dates' on the bit on the inside : 

  

 


1) Am I correct in saying the bottom one, with the 2-0 around the arrow is the newest one ? As in made in the 5th month of 2020, or I am reading that wrong ?

So I've now gained access to my engine and took some photo's : 

 

2) The pink stuff you can see a bit lower from the coolant tank, does that look like coolant ?

When I put my finger on it it was just mud, but then I guess it could be dried up ?

Like I said at the start of the topic the other day the cap in the boot came off when I turned the engine off, and there was a lot of smoke coming from the side vent, and since then there is a bit of a coolant smell next by the car.  However there's no leak onto the garage floor or anything. 
Also no more smoke from the side vent since.

Also I am right in saying if it was leaking there would be coolant visible on the hoses around it, but they look ok don't they ?

3) The blue coolant tank cap has the number 996.106. 447.04 on it, am I correct in saying that's the 'newest' version ? Though would it still be wise to replace it anyway ?

4) There's coolant in the expansion tank, but does that level seem a bit low, or is that normal ? When I checked in the level in the boot this morning it's sitting a little bit below the minimum level. I have previously overfilled it I think, because after topping it up and then checking again a few days later it was above the MAX level, though at the time my car was on the drive which is on a slope, whereas now I only check it whilst parked in my garage. 

So I've put the car in service mode to get to the engine today, 

3 minutes ago, And.rs1800 said:

The one on the right is definitely on the expansion tank on my cayman s-(under the engine cover)

  

Cheers, I'll check mine tomorrow to see what it's like and if it needs replacing then. 

Just head another read through this thread.  Are people saying that smaller cap (the one of the right, in my picture above) is for the expansion tank in the engine bay?

Might have a look tomorrow to see what's mine like. 

I've seen a Youtube video on how to get the car into service mode and have a look at the actual engine but have never done it.  Any tips or things I should be mindful about when doing that, or is it pretty straight forward ?

Also, will I be able to see the coolant hoses or are they underneath the engine ?

I think you're right and it just reads voltage, I just bought one because someone else on here said they were good and advised me to get one... 😳

That link is interesting, it does look indeed like it's not really exact science...

I tend to look at the percentage, but maybe I should look at the actual voltage instead :

 
 

 


This is a link to that monitor think I got :

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Battery-Monitor-Campervans-Compatible-bluetooth/dp/B08VHMJYXY/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=battery+monitor&qid=1649963356&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExSVJFUk1NSDJPRzRUJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTIxMjkwMVZBRTAyVlE4WTlYViZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMjI3NDcwM0JSSVdLQkpXODFPJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ== 

Though I don't have my bluetooth on on my phone normally (to save battery), so when I want to check the battery I just activate the Bluetooth, open the app, and then shut both down and deactivate the bluetooth, so it's not like that battery monitor is constantly 'talking' to my phone either. 

Might just connect it and see what the voltage does when I open a door and 'wake' the car up...

I wonder if I accidently found the problem, and it's to do with the alarm/locking system...

Last used to car on Saturday, spirited drive to a breakfast meet with some fellow petrolheads, drove home, radio on, heated seats on, roof down. 

Put the car in the garage around 11:30 ish, not on the CTEK, and haven't used it until today.  

I've checked the battery every morning and evening through the app and for the last 6 (unused) days it has remained at a 100%.

Then today I needed something from the dash cupboard, which means getting in the car which I always do in the same way (as garage is very narrow) which is put keys in and turn (but don't start car) and lower driver side window, with that down I can kinda fold myself into the car (and then normally start it and drive out the garage. 

However today I didn't start it, I just turned the key, put the window down, climbed in & out, window up, closed and locked car, and that was it. 

Before I done that, the battery was sitting 100%, but after retrieving my item and locking the car again it had gone down to 68% in just over 2.5 hours... And I hadn't even driven it or anything 😲 

Can the alarm/security system be faulty and cause a drain like that ? 

I always double check it's locked by trying to open the door with the handle, so car was definitely locked after I retrieved my item, but it just drained the battery by sitting there afterwards. 

Been for a drive now and battery is 100% again, but I do wonder if it's to do with the alarm now... 

1 hour ago, iborguk said:

No a new OPC supplied roof cover  would be nearer 4k with labour. 
 

 and I can talk from first hand experience that OPCs will tweak the elastic without it necessitating a new roof cover and a hole where the bank account used to be.

 

Did you have yours done by an OPC ? How much was it if I may ask. 

I'm still debating of having a go at this myself with my two left hands or just getting an indie/opc to do it...

1 minute ago, iborguk said:

I think this is going to be a hard one to diagnose over the Internet.

If it were mine I'd find a decent auto-electrician who specialises in battery drain and be paying them to at least diagnose the parasitic circuit.

Of course your car, your rules and if you want to continue to DIY I'd maybe suggest investing in a decent multi-meter, ruling out circuits by pulling fuses and taking the battery monitor/CTEK out of the testing.

 

 

Yea I think that's gonna have to be the next step (multi-meter, fuse testing etc), just need to buy one and find a free afternoon and go for it.

4 hours ago, BrianJ said:

If your cap was untouched from when you last tightened it, I don't think it is on properly. In true Porsche style, when properly located, mine always had all the symbols positioned completely upright, not turned 20 degrees anti-clockwise like yours.  

2 hours ago, ½cwt said:

Apparently though there is a good reason for this on, not just pickiness.

Good to know! Will make sure it's the right way up from now on, and closed properly!

19 hours ago, Angus76 said:

Make sure you have the updated cap fitted. Ends in code 04 if I remember correctly. I fitted an updated one to mine. Screw them on tight. 

7 hours ago, iborguk said:

Yes that’s right , for a 987.1/987.2 the cap part number is 98710604400.

 

4 hours ago, Angus76 said:

https://frazerpart.com/products/986-987-boxster-cayman-996-997-carrera-coolant-header-expansion-tank-cap?utm_source=Browse Abandonment Flow&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Email %233 (WgMqSg)&_kx=OBuSdPh-lPEJRAyo5AIvfC8IisgoEPrKFSep3bt73BU%3D.RMaXPf

I bought that one from the link above last year, which turned out to be the wrong one : 

 
Current one on the left, that one from the link on the right.

I send it back and bought the one that Iborguk mentions above, and that's the one I've got one at the moment.

On 4/6/2022 at 8:28 PM, Nobbie said:

Most likely the cap was not on correctly after you topped up and the heat soak after you turned off the engine raised the pressure enough to pop it off allowing a bit of coolant to escape causing the vapour. I’d pop it back on and see how it goes.

It seems to be fine. Took it for a little spin the next day and for a longer drive today and coolant level has remained the same and no more smoke or anything from that side vent, so hopefully it was just not on properly.  

There is a bit of a coolant smell for that side but I guess if some coolant has spilled when this happened that's normal. Will keep a close eye on it though.

55 minutes ago, Paul P said:

 

Also - While you are in there - check your drains.

Any links (ideally with pictures) to what/where I'm checking exactly by any chance...  

11 minutes ago, Menoporsche said:

Wondering if it’s discharging or not charging while driving. Alternator issues?

Random thought…

But then shouldn't it do that consistently, and show up whilst driving with the voltage in place  ?

So my battery drain problem still seems to happen every now and then, randomly and I haven't been able to find out the cause yet... 

I've currently got this battery in it, which according to the receipts was fitted in February 2020 : 



Is that a decent brand ? 

Also, how accurate are those battery monitors ? I've got the app on my phone and that connects to bluetooth and tells me what the battery is like, but a while back it kept telling me the battery is charging (like it does when it's connected to my CTEK) even when it wasn't.  
I've removed and reinstalled the app, and it seems to work again now, but still wonder a bit how accurate it is...

I posted this last year in another thread, but just trying to keep everything battery related together in here now...

When buying the car I've gone through all of the online posts and messages of the previous owner again :

- February 2020.  "Dreaded PCM rebooting, doing it a lot". (Porsche facebook group)

There's a receipt from a Porsche specialist (Brooklands Kent Ltd) from 22nd of February 2020 which is a 60K service as well as "Remove PCM unit & replace battery", and under parts there a £ 130, Exide premium battery listed, which is what's still in the car now.

- March 2020. Something draining the battery after it went in for a service, so much so that it won't trickle charge. Struggling to sort it due to everything being shut due to lockdown. (Porsche facebook group).

So I assume that must be that service mentioned above then, and then no further posts in that group, until his for sale post in April this year, which I replied to.

When I asked him about it the issue's mentioned above he said he replaced the heater unit, and in the receipts pack there is a receipt for a 997 heater control unit (£ 390,) from August 2020 and he said he got a new battery as the old one drained too much for his liking, which I assume is the one from that receipt from Brooklands Ltd.

He also said he had the PCM repaired, and that there were coffee stains on the buttons (from a drink in the drinks holder splashing) and he said he hadn't had any more issue's since that was repaired.

Then when I wanted to go and pick it up we had to cancel as the battery was flat again and he booked it into a Porsche ?OPC dealer for early May and was told it would be £ 192, for diagnostics.  They then rang him and said they found a problem but hadn't got to the bottom of it yet, and they were gonna leave it on the computer overnight.

He said it had been fine for the week leading up to that, and that he had been measuring the voltage every day, which was normal.

He chased up the garage and was told that something is draining the battery, but they're not sure what yet.

The next day they contacted him and I got this message :  "So porsche reckon its either the PCM - that I had repaired last year, good guy in North London, I'm 100% sure he'll take a look at it - or the heater which I replaced last year."


I bought a CTEK unit not long after I had the car, and tend to use that when I don't use the car for a while and not had much issue's with it. 

The problem is there's no consistency with this issue.  So far i've done : 

1) Removed PCM fuse, left it in my garage for a few days, not on the CTEK, and battery remained fine (99 - 100% through the bluetooth app). 
I put the PCM fuse back in, drove it, put in back in my garage, not on the CTEK, and again battery remained fine for several days whilst not in use. 

2) On recommendations from here I bought one of those cig lighter voltage meters which shows show just over 12v at idle and around 14.4v driving along so the Alternator seems fine.

And I've been keeping notes of when it happened to try and pinpoint the cause but not much luck there. 

Last summer drove it all through Holland for 2 weeks, done nearly 1200 miles that trip, with loads of small journeys and days of not using the car and had no issue's at all. 
Came home, used it the day after, but then the next day battery was dead and car wouldn't start until recharged by Ctek again.

Done a daily log from last month onwards but still not much more information : 

* 12/03/22 Drove to breakfast club, removed USB stick after parking up, not on ctek.

* 15/03/22 Battery at 0%. Charged for few hours, radio came on when starting the car (always turn it off before shutting engine off), put car inside and back on CTEK.

* 24/03/22 battery 100% , went for a drive, left off CTEK in garage.

* 25/03 - 01/04 - checked daily through bluetooth app, whilst not on CTEK, battery remained at 100% for 8 days. 

* 02/04/22 - Battery 99% , car hasn't been used or started or on CTEK for 9 days now.

* 03/04/22 - Battery 99%

* 04/04/22 - Battery 94% at 10:00 
* 04/04/22 - Battery 94% at 11:30 - Car still not been touched since parking up (without CTEK) for 15 days now.  Took it out for a spin as had to refuel for next day.
* 04/04/22 - Battery 99% at 16:30 - After going out for fuel earlier in the day.  Parked on drive, not on CTEK.
* 04/04/22 - Battery 100% at 21:00. 

* 05/04/22 - Battery 100% at 05:30, drove to work (10 minute journey). Finished at 18:00, still 100% before leaving work.  Battery 98% by 21:30

* 06/04/22 - Battery 96% at 05:30, drove to work, battery showing 'low' 49% after work, but started fine and drove home.  Was 64% when I got home at 18:30 (engine off).
* 06/04/22 - Parked on drive, not on the CTEK, it was showing 99% by 20:00, and 100% by 21:00, baring in mind it was 64% when I parked up, and it wasn't on the CTEK...

Can a Battery charge itself whilst not on a CTEK ?? Or is it more likely this battery monitor that's not accurate...

* 07/04/22 - Didn't have time to check in the morning, but by 18:30 it was sitting at 90%

* 08/04/22 - And now since getting up it started at 81% and is now at 80%. 


So I have 15 days off the CTEK and it stays fine, then after 1 drive I had no change, after the same drive the next day it had gone from 96% to 49% , but after parking up at 64% and not on the CTEK it takes itself up to 100% again...   I'm well confused 😵

 

I'm sure 'clicky in strip' isn't the technical term for it, but for the first time since buying the car 10 months ago I wanted to have a look at the bits that need disconnecting to get to the engine, so I opened the roof about 10 cm and then just had a look at where the roof comes up. 

First thing I spotted, all the way down in the right side corner (looking towards the front of the car) was a small umbrella (the ones that hold in and fit in small bag) that had been missing for a long time.  I think it must have put it either behind the seat or in the boot, but no idea how it ended up down the side of the roof mechanism...

I then also noticed one of the roof bits that you have to click out to get remove the roof was already unclicked (probably due to the umbrella?) and actually had a small crack in it :

Is that strip easy to replace, or will a bit of black tape over the crack be a simpler solution ? 

Cheers folks, hopefully that's it. 🤞

Will take it for a spin on Friday and see what it's like. 👍

Topped up my coolant about 2 weeks ago as it seemed a bit low, checked it the next day and it was above the max so took a little bit out (just drawn up with a 20 ml syringe) as I overfilled it and haven't really driven it much since then. 

Drove it to work (10 min journey) yesterday with no problems, but after just driving back from work I had parked on my drive, switched the engine off, and just after getting out there was a 'POP' sound, and some white smoke came from that side vent area for a few seconds.

Left it for a few minutes and checked the trunk, and noticed the coolant cap wasn't on probably (i could wiggle it from left to right a little bit) so I wonder if I hadn't closed it properly after topping up last time and that caused the pressure to make it do that ?

 

 

I can't see anything dripping on the driveway and the coolant level is still sitting just below max now and hasn't dropped (started the engine for a few seconds). 

Can a lose coolant cap cause all this ? It's a new coolant cap that I bought last year after reading about them on here, so I was hoping it was just me not closing it properly that was the problem...

Am I right in saying if there was a leak the reservoir would be low(er) now ?
 

If I wanna disconnect the battery, will it set off the alarm or can I just take the clamps off? 

Went for a lovely drive, came home, parked up on the drive and jumped on the computer in the room that looks out over the drive.

The fans came on after I turned the engine off, but then after 50 minutes I still hear them and started to think that's not normal, as normally they switch off after a few minutes.

Just spend 20 minutes googling potential issue's about fans that stay on too long, broken thermostats and what not and just as I'm about to go back out to the car and leave the room, I notice the noise is actually coming from this :

Turns out the noise I've been listening to and panicking about is just the bloody fan that I forgot I switched on... 🤦‍♂️

So that bit on the right by "Information" states it must be retracted manually if it's manually extended. 

So that means there's something wrong with mine then right, if it is doing that automatically ?

As far as I understand, the rear spoiler goes up and down at a certain speed, but you can put it up yourself manually with the button. 

I quite like the look of the spoiler up, so most of the time I'll press the button when I get in, the button light up and the spoiler comes up. 

If I then park up, the spoiler stays up, and when I start the car again, the button isn't illuminated, but if I press it once the light will come (and stay) on. 

If I get the in car and the spoiler is up, and I want it to go down, I press the button, it illuminates again, and then I press again and hold it for a few sec, until it goes off, so I know the spoiler has gone down.

Today I went for a little 40 min drive, put the spoiler up manually when we left, and then after the drive I pulled up at the shops, got a few bits and went home, and at home I noticed the spoiler had gone down by itself...   The shop is only 5 minutes away from home, and along a 30 mp/h road, however I can't remember if it was still up or not when I got out of the shop and in the car. 

I think that has happened a few times so far, so sometimes it stays up after parking up, and sometimes it doesn't.  Is this a common fault/occurrence ?

And is there a fuse that deals with the spoiler ? As I'm still trying to find a cause of my occasional phantom battery drain... 

 

Drove to Mersea island yesterday, saw a nice boat but then remembered I don't have a tow bar... 😄