Porsche Cayenne Coolant Leak From Thermostat Housing (2003-2006 Models)
A coolant problem may develop at the thermostat housing under the intake manifold. This problem affects Porsche Cayenne and Cayenne S models (2003-2006) V8 Models only. This problem tends to appear between 40,000 miles and 115,000 miles. This issue stems from the cars being equipped with black plastic coolant tubes that have since proved inadequate and prone to fail prematurely. As for exactly why they tend to fail so often, the two biggest factors seem to be insufficient heat-resistance of the materials they are made with coupled with the actual location of the tubes. In other words, In other words, you’ve got plastic tubes that can’t handle very much heat located in the “V” of the engine, underneath the intake manifold. Enclosed in that way, the pipes are subject to heat soak from every side.
The most obvious sign that the original plastic tubes are leaking is fairly easy to spot. Be on the lookout for liquid pooling underneath where your car is parked. You can tell Coolant liquid apart from other liquids fairly easily due to the fact that Porsche coolant liquid is a pink colour. So if a pink / reddish liquid is pooling underneath your parked Cayenne, its a very strong indicator that you are suffering from this issue. Another more unexpected symptom from this Porsche Cayenne coolant leak, as opposed to, say, a leaky water pump, is problems with the starter motor due to the particular location where the coolant leaks. Because of where these pipes are situated, the coolant that leaks from them doesn’t spill down to the ground immediately. First, it fills up the valley at the bottom of the “V’ in the center of the engine. Once that valley is filled up, the first place it spills over is at the rear of the engine, through the transmission bell housing, and down onto the starter. This can damage the starter, causing starting issues, and if left alone, it can eventually ruin the starter altogether.
At Design 911 we are able to help you with this problem. We sell a water cooling system upgrade for the Porsche Cayenne that will fix this problem, and stop it from reoccurring, thanks to them being made of alloy instead of the inferior plastic. Click here to take a look at our replacement cooling system. For everything else Porsche, check out our website, www.design911.co.uk.
