In this hot summer weather, have you been hearing a jet engine sound from the front of your watercooled Porsche?
Does the sound continue even after you have shut the engine off?
If so, you may have a failed radiator fan. Due to how low Porsche’s are to the ground, and with their massively open bumper intake ducts, it is not uncommon to have a fair amount of road debris like leaves, twigs, even sizable rocks, in these ducts. What happens once enough of this debris piles up, is that the debris blocks the fresh airflow to your front radiators (most watercooled Porsche’s have 3 radiators up front; a center, a left, and a right). This in turn can cause the engine’s coolant temperature to overheat, causing the radiator fans to work much harder, often fatiguing their motors sooner than later. Once one of your side (left or right) radiator fans fail, then the engine management computer module sees that the coolant temperature is increasing beyond its engineered parameters, so the opposite side radiator fan increases to a much faster speed to try to overcompensate and cool the engine temp down; this is the jet engine sound you may hear from the front of your Porsche.

One way to prevent this from happening is to make sure you’re having your Porsche maintained on a regular interval (every 12-20k depending on model year), as one of the items on Porsche’s inspection list is to clear any blockages from the radiators and air intakes. Without blockages, your Porsche will run cooler and more efficiently, and in general be a jollier Porsche.
Happy Porsche motoring!

As always, let us know if you have any specific questions, and/or a topic suggestion for a future technical blog submission.

Jeremy Williams is the Oregon PCA Technical editor. He co-owns Matrix Integrated Inc. (Matrix Integrated Inc.) with his brother Justin. Jeremy can be reached at [email protected]

 

4 Responses

  1. I’ve been wondering about my radiators recently. Not because of any noise but because I’ve seen the leaves come out of there when I wash my car.

    I’ve heard of some people adding mesh to the intakes to stop leaves before they hit the radiators. Is there any reason you would advise against that?

    1. I’m glad you’re paying attention to that Matthew as there may be more debris trapped back there. It’d be worth a further look so that you don’t run into any issues down the road.
      There are some aftermarket companies who offer mesh/wire inserts for the bumper cover, which help block any larger debris from getting trapped at the radiators. I haven’t seen any issues with them regarding airflow to the radiators.

  2. Jeremy,

    Thanks for this post. Looking at the larger picture of the cooling system (air-cooled owners can go to sleep now), I’m told that the coolant is largely of a ‘lifetime’ duration and doesn’t need maintenance or replacement.
    While I know that today’s coolants are much better than 50 yeas ago as far as corrosion protection. Is there any benefit to a ‘flush’ and should I do that in my ‘lifetime’ (19 years and counting) with the car.

    1. You’re very welcome Randy. Correct, the vehicle manufacturers state the coolant (as well as many other fluids including transmission) are considered “lifetime.” Unfortunately “lifetime” does not necessarily mean the lifetime of the actual vehicle. For example, if your Porsche were to last 600,000miles, Porsche isn’t recommending that you never change the engine coolant during the 600k. Our shop recommendation is to change the coolant via a coolant exchange(old for new) every ~4years. New Porsche coolant is bright pink(Porsche did use a green-green, not a lime green, in the past), so if you see a brown coolant color in your clear coolant reservoir bottle(also called the expansion tank), the coolant mix smells fishy, and/or the coolant protection level(tested by a tester tool which you can pick up at an auto parts store) is in general above ~0degF, you’re probably overdue for a coolant exchange (the brown color is created by the new pink coolant gathering contaminants and also breaking down in its composition over time. If you have a darker green color coolant, that might be because someone had added the lime green aftermarket coolant to the factory pink coolant. While we’re on this topic, the old wives tale of different coolants coagulating has been proven false, although we still only recommend using factory pink coolant solely).

      You are correct about coolant’s being much better engineered than 50yrs ago in regards to corrosion protection. Do not forget about the other properties engine coolant provides as well; anti-freeze and anti-boil. From our ORPCA Fluids tech day information a few years back; “The most common formulation of coolant uses ethylene glycol as a base with anti-corrosion additives mixed in. The ethylene glycol part of the formula provides crucial anti-freezing characteristics and the additives deliver the anti-rust/anti-corrosion capabilities. When the coolant concentrate is properly mixed with water using a 50/50 ratio, the coolant and water provide excellent anti-freeze, anti-boil and anti-corrosive properties. Note that the water is the main media which transfers the heat away from engine components, not the coolant concentrate.

      My assumption would be that over the 19year ownership of your Porsche, you may have had a water(eg coolant) pump leak or fail? If so, then during that repair much of the coolant would have dumped out and the shop would fill with new coolant. Or possibly beyond that, the repair shop may have exchanged/flushed the rest of the old coolant out at that time and filled with new. As you might already know, you do not want air bubbles/pockets in your cooling system, which can especially be difficult to prevent on a ’99+ Porsche sports car with the engine/coolant bottle in the rear, 3 radiators up front, and a long run of coolant tubes in between(underneath the car). Our technicians use an apparatus which sucks the cooling system into a vacuum and then they fill the system with the 50/50 coolant/water mix from there, minimizing/eliminating any air bubbles/pockets in the system. Then they run the engine up to full operating temp, followed by 2 separate heat cycle (engine up to temp, then cool completely. Up to temp, cool completely) test drives. Then a final check of the coolant bottle level and final top off if needed.

      Feel free to reply with any other comments or questions–they’re always welcome here!

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President's Message

Carol Hedstrom

People Power

I have been an advocate and cheerleader of our many volunteers for several years. This year we have
had even more members step up and help out! Clearly, in order to organize and host over 100 separate events, it takes some peoplepower. As we are at mid-year, I want to share an update on what our volunteers are doing for the Club. It’s your Club and we want all of you to enjoy the fun and of course help out if you feel inclined to do so. 

ORPCA’s Autocross Team layout courses, set up and take down cones, implement safety procedures, keep time, manage standings, train and encourage new drivers, and do it all at the break of dawn. This is a hardy, knowledge-heavy group of dedicated people who produce one of the strongest autocross organizations in the Pacific Northwest. If you have not participated in autocross, you should. You will be introduced to the sport by some of the best and probably become a better driver. 

Our Social Committee and volunteers organize our monthly dinners, scout locations for future events, and plan the new-member orientation as well as the holiday party. They also monitor tickets for each social event, help prevent allergic reactions, and are on the lookout for all mobility needs. Have you tried one of the new Road and Fork events? These small-scale, intimate, elevated experiences are the brainchild of the Social Committee. Cheers to this team! 

Drive Team volunteers scout routes and roads, lead drives, curate drive groups with leads and sweeps, check out potential stops for restroom breaks, maintain a large library of routes, handle oodles of pre-and-post drive logistics including insurance and follow-up reports. The drive team works closely with the Web Team to ensure that all drives (70+ this year) are listed and described accurately on our website and that registrations open in a timely manner to keep it easy for members to join in drives throughout the year. 

The Membership Team orders and distributes name badges and anniversary pins. Name badges are key, but only one element of the many tasks involved in the Membership purview. Team members are master spreadsheet and database gurus. When questions arise around membership dues: what’s included, when and how to pay, this Team jumps in and clears the confusion. Additionally, Membership and supporting volunteers staff our tents and booths at public events to encourage new members to join and answer all questions relating to ORPCA. 

Our new Community Outreach Committee is currently a small group of volunteers strategizing on how to serve others. This team guides our charitable giving efforts as well as finding opportunities to enhance our image and reputation in the small towns and cities we pass through on our drives. We will hear more from them as the year goes on. Please be sure to check out the June Anzeiger message from member Wendy Wells regarding this team effort. Your input is needed; remember, it’s your club and you can help guide the future. 

Web Team, oh geez, what don’t they do? The Web Team, together with Social Media and Member Email, are the heartbeat of your Club. These people guarantee that you know about drives and upcoming events, and that you can register for events. They maintain lists of who is attending, handle cancelations, provide instructions, share information, and announce changes when needed. 

Northwest Passage Team, a stand- alone, perpetual group, handcrafts an epic journey every spring and then does it again a few months later in the fall. These people know their stuff and are quick to adapt to conditions and unexpected events like road closures due to weather and those unfortunate seasonal fires that pop up in our part of the country. While on the tour they are alert to pitfalls like rocks on the road that may take out tires or create other hazards. They and the event they organize are an example of planning success on every level. 

Your member newsletter, Anzeiger, is produced by a team of people, but mainly the editor and editorial support team. They are joined by a small group of experienced proofreaders, and many member contributors. Anzeiger is a big monthly project that showcases our many events and entices members to participate in future events. 

ORPCA’s Board Members are a classic working board. This group of people, along with numerous chair-people, manage the behind-the-scenes workings of the organization. That means everything from finances and calendar of events to interfacing with the national organizer, outside clubs, advertisers, sponsors, and kickstarting many sub-committees that make up the greater ORPCA organization. They are the hands that guide the other teams and committees and try to stay in the background. 

While I have not listed the names of everyone on the above teams, the list is long. I want to thank the entire unnamed list of people for their efforts, commitment and sense of fun for all that they do. I hope you thank them too! I know that after many events, some people will drop a short line of thanks to the organizer. You may not realize how good that makes them feel, but trust me, a little thanks goes a long way. If you enjoyed reading an article, had a good time on a drive or one of our multi-day tours, please give a nod and a thumbs-up to the organizers and volunteers who made it happen. It’s your club and it is 100% volunteer run.

Let’s Drive!

You can reach me at [email protected]