For those who want a printout after watching the video: 1. Remove all interior trim pieces, uncover the engine and front engine compartment. 2. Jack up the car safely and remove underbody covers. 3. Drain at the two designated locations. 5-6 Liters should come out. 1. One bottom facing drain on the right side (driver POV) 25Nm plug torque 2. One side facing drain on left side, first unscrew and point the rotating drain hole down, let drain, then unscrew completely and drain the rest. This is a plastic screw so tighten snug, not too tight, once finished. 4. Then blow gentle compressed air from the expansion tank fill port (use a radiator test kit cap), using an air compressor no more than 15 PSI, and drain from the bottom facing drain. 5. Repeat for the side facing drain. Use a 6mm inner, 9mm outer hose to point the coolant down. 6. Undo one coolant hose near the side facing drain to gravity drain the rest. This concludes the draining process. 1. Can drain the hoses from the front radiator hoses but ok skip this as there is only ~700ML left in the system 7. To fill, put the vacuum valve on the expansion tank, try to get up to 27 Inches mercury vacuum. Then release. This should ideally fill most of the system. System takes ~6Gal of coolant. 8. To bleed 1. Turn on Heater core by turning off AC, temp to HI, fan on lowest setting. 2. Disconnect vacuum supply line to engine coolant hose solenoid and plug with golf tee 3. Disconnect vacuum supply line to transmission coolant host solenoid and plug with golf tee 4. Open bleeder valve 5. Turn on car, let it idle until engine temp reads 70 degrees 6. Put a stick on throttle and raise RPM to about 2k. Temperature should rise really slowly. Bleeder lines should start to get warm. Radiator return lines should still be cold because thermostat is still closed 7. Once engine gets to 90 degrees, remove stick to throttle, turn engine off. 8. Re-connect all the solenoids, close bleeder valve, Turn off the AC and Heater. 9. Start the car, select sport mode, put stick and raise RPM to 2k. Then another 5 mins, thermostat should open. The engine temp should drop and oil temperature should drop too. Radiator return hoses should start getting hot. 10. Let it run, watch the temperature to make sure it doesnt get too hot, run it for 10 mins. 11. Then give it a few revs to make sure everything is working properly, no overheating oil or engine
Gotta thank you for this superb video Jeff. Did the job today & your video made it so much easier. I used my Autel MS906BT to bleed the system after refilling with my vacuum device. Good for another 5 years now 😊
Great job Jeff!! I've been wanting to tackle this job and now with your instructions I have the confidence to start the process. My local Porsche dealership gave me a quote of $795. I have a pristine, low milage 2015 base Cayman and I want to keep it that way!
Howdy from the US & a long time subscriber. I really appreciate you for taking your time to do all these wonderful videos of the 981 model. I’ve been doing pretty much all the maintenance on my 2015 981 and with the help of all your great videos, it makes my job so much easier. Again “A Big Thank You” & keep up the great work!👍👏
Thank for taking the time to make this and all your other videos Jeff. I'm getting ready to replace the coolant in my 991 and this video gives me the confidence to do it myself. Greetings from California. Cheers.
A really good explanation just one question my car a Cayman 987.2 PDK 2.9 and the vacuum solenoid is not behind the seat where the Jeff said all I have is tee y type junction just wondered if any knows I have three solenoids on top
Hi Jeff, great videos and tutorials. I'm going to do a coolant flush on my 2013 boxster and follow your video for sure. My question is how to refill the coolant, there doesn't seem to be a how to video that actually shows all of the steps on the 981 boxster. The boxster should have a bleeder valve but I have no idea where it is. Also when you add low air pressure to evacuate the coolant at the resevoir, how do you go about doing that? I know you're not making videos for dummies but we need all the help we can get. lol Thank you for all of your fine videos.
All that info is in the video, except the basics of how to use a vacuum bleeder. Do an internet search and find a video that shows this. There are loads. For all your other questions, don't skip through the video. It's all there, with a lot of other important information. I would watch it a few times so you are exactly sure of what you are doing prior to starting the procedure.
Can I drain as you outlined then fill it up with straight distilled water and re-drain again? Will that help get rid of all the residual coolant? Thanks again.
Yes, When I initially did a coolant replacement with a different coolant type, I did as you say a number of times until what was coming out was completely clear prior to filling with coolant and then doing the bleeding.
Hello Jeff, thanks for the usefull bleeding information. In internet I counldn´t find any information regarding which coolant-fluid spec is to be used. My question is: Which coolant is used for a 981 3,4S 2013 Cayman/Boxster ? Something like G+ or G++ or is it an Volkswagen-spec ? Or did you use any from supermarket :-( ? It would be kind to leave a short answer/comment here - Thanks !!! Martin from Germany
G'day Martin. I don't have any information on the spec. I simply did a bunch of research to find what was the best coolant for my circumstances. The 'lifetime' coolant that is used in these cars does degrade with time. It gets more acidic. The other ingredients don't degrade as quickly, but like all coolants it will get more acidic with time. So I took the option of selecting a coolant that was going to perform very well, but require replacement every couple of years, as I wanted to not have the increase in acidity over time. For this reason I went with the green coolant that is standard for something like a BMW.
Love your diy tutorials, they’re the best. Just curious about the thermostat, you mentioned it can be bypass to trigger the opening of the solenoids. In this way you do not have to wait for the engine systems to warm up during the bleeding process which will make it directly the same as the piwis process. How do you bypass the thermostat electrically? Thanks a lot!
When using PIWIS, it will open the thermostat very early to allow bleeding, much earlier than normal. Without PIWIS I simply select sport mode so the thermostat 'set point' temp is reduced from 105 C to 85 C so it opens earlier than normal. Whilst the thermostat doesn't open as early as when using the PIWIS bleeding mode, in the end it has the same effect and allows full bleeding of the system.
Your videos are very helpful Jeff. Do you have anything on removing the coolant expansion tank? I have a very strange coolant leak at the oil/coolant filler console, and it looks like I’ll have to pull the tank to get it out.
Great explanation but my vacuum solenoid is not behind the seat as you might say I have a tee pipe about where the solenoid should be my car cayman 987.2 pdk 2.9 I have three on top of the engine
I don't have any experience with the 987 so I can't really help other than to say that you want to disconnect the vacuum supply side of the solenoids and plug these.
If you find the output from the pump that then goes to a junction for all the other valve control solenoids, then disconnect that single hose and plug it would be my suggestion.
I love your videos, btw. I changed my coolant with the method you mentioned to blow air into the system. I did have PIWIS so I bleed with that method. I have an ongoing vaccum leak going on and I think it is one of those change over valves (and COV that isn't shown in the video like the sport exhaust and sound composer). Is it possible to make a video to cover where each of the change over valve is at? They have a diagram showing where they are for 991, but not 981.
Have a look at these two videos that show the locations. Two on the transmission and one that supplies the heater core. Heater core show in HPFP video. ruclips.net/video/vf4V15LggzQ/видео.html ruclips.net/video/NN1wJ6s1O3I/видео.html
@@jeffrichardsoncardiy thanks a lot. Yeah those two on the PDK is gonna be a pain to get into... Do you know if there is a way in PIWIS to test those valves and pin point which one would be faulty?
@@JohsonChou I'd be trying to blow smoke through the individual tubes and see where it's leaking from. If you have access to the top of the engine, it wouldn't be too hard to disconnect some of the tubes to isolate a few at a time and blow smoke through like you would to do a standard vacuum leak test.
@@jeffrichardsoncardiy Thanks for response... I don't actually have a detectable leak. All my vaccum operated system still function. (PSE, heater all work). I just get a P1432 (vaccum system leak) code with a cooling system fault message every now and then (especially when idling after a hot lap). Since COV are such a common failure in 991s, I just thought these are the most likely culprit. I've already repalced the PSE Change over valve, which didn't fix the issue. My next highest on the list is the coolant bypass one. If that doesn't fix it I would just go ahead and replace all of them.
@@jeffrichardsoncardiy I used PIWIS and a manual vacuum pump and pinpointed the vaccum leak to the vaccum pump. There is DME -> maintenance and repair -> vaccum test. Where it would test with all the vaccum valve on and off. I disconnected all the valves from the pump, then manually pulled vaccum, the vaccum held with all the valve on or off. So I figured it was not the valves. I isolated the system to just the pump and brake booster (plugged the hole to the rest of the system). PIWIS still says there is leak with the vaccum test. Then I manually pulled vaccum on just brake booster, and did various check on it (half press, full press) and found no leak. So this tells me it was the pump. It does appear that vaccum pressure recover somewhat slowly when brake booster consumed vaccum, and the lowest pressure the brake sensor see is about 180hpa (this is the abosulte pressure), it is still quite a vaccum, but apparently car thinks it isn't enough. I followed your video and replaced the vaccum pump, then PIWIS test pass and it seems the brake sensor is now holding at about 100hpa. When I manually rotate the old pump, it was kinda gritty and strange, where the new pump is smooth. I checked online and it seems these pumps does go out quite often. Mine is probably on the way out, it is still pumping a lot but not enough. Your video definitely helped saving me thousands of dollar, dealer here charge $285 per hour.
@@stevebauer5491 Yes, expansion cap should be on. Bleeder valve open for the bleeding process. I wouldn't worry too much about the heater core. As long as the rest is bled correctly and the system temp is stable when driving, then the few bubbles of air in the system will burp themselves out over time.
For those who want a printout after watching the video:
1. Remove all interior trim pieces, uncover the engine and front engine compartment.
2. Jack up the car safely and remove underbody covers.
3. Drain at the two designated locations. 5-6 Liters should come out.
1. One bottom facing drain on the right side (driver POV) 25Nm plug torque
2. One side facing drain on left side, first unscrew and point the rotating drain hole down, let drain, then unscrew completely and drain the rest. This is a plastic screw so tighten snug, not too tight, once finished.
4. Then blow gentle compressed air from the expansion tank fill port (use a radiator test kit cap), using an air compressor no more than 15 PSI, and drain from the bottom facing drain.
5. Repeat for the side facing drain. Use a 6mm inner, 9mm outer hose to point the coolant down.
6. Undo one coolant hose near the side facing drain to gravity drain the rest. This concludes the draining process.
1. Can drain the hoses from the front radiator hoses but ok skip this as there is only ~700ML left in the system
7. To fill, put the vacuum valve on the expansion tank, try to get up to 27 Inches mercury vacuum. Then release. This should ideally fill most of the system. System takes ~6Gal of coolant.
8. To bleed
1. Turn on Heater core by turning off AC, temp to HI, fan on lowest setting.
2. Disconnect vacuum supply line to engine coolant hose solenoid and plug with golf tee
3. Disconnect vacuum supply line to transmission coolant host solenoid and plug with golf tee
4. Open bleeder valve
5. Turn on car, let it idle until engine temp reads 70 degrees
6. Put a stick on throttle and raise RPM to about 2k. Temperature should rise really slowly. Bleeder lines should start to get warm. Radiator return lines should still be cold because thermostat is still closed
7. Once engine gets to 90 degrees, remove stick to throttle, turn engine off.
8. Re-connect all the solenoids, close bleeder valve, Turn off the AC and Heater.
9. Start the car, select sport mode, put stick and raise RPM to 2k. Then another 5 mins, thermostat should open. The engine temp should drop and oil temperature should drop too. Radiator return hoses should start getting hot.
10. Let it run, watch the temperature to make sure it doesnt get too hot, run it for 10 mins.
11. Then give it a few revs to make sure everything is working properly, no overheating oil or engine
Typo on step 3: 5-6 gallons, not liters
Gotta thank you for this superb video Jeff. Did the job today & your video made it so much easier. I used my Autel MS906BT to bleed the system after refilling with my vacuum device. Good for another 5 years now 😊
Great job Jeff!! I've been wanting to tackle this job and now with your instructions I have the confidence to start the process. My local Porsche dealership gave me a quote of $795. I have a pristine, low milage 2015 base Cayman and I want to keep it that way!
Howdy from the US & a long time subscriber. I really appreciate you for taking your time to do all these wonderful videos of the 981 model. I’ve been doing pretty much all the maintenance on my 2015 981 and with the help of all your great videos, it makes my job so much easier. Again “A Big Thank You” & keep up the great work!👍👏
Thanks for the feedback. Glad you are getting something from them.
What an incredible resource. Thanks so much, subscribed.
Thank for taking the time to make this and all your other videos Jeff. I'm getting ready to replace the coolant in my 991 and this video gives me the confidence to do it myself. Greetings from California. Cheers.
Excellent tutorial Jeff. Subscribed.
Reference video. Many thanks!
Very helpful. I’ve been thinking I need to do coolant swap on my 2014. It does test ok so far.
Fantastic.
A really good explanation just one question my car a Cayman 987.2 PDK 2.9 and the vacuum solenoid is not behind the seat where the Jeff said all I have is tee y type junction just wondered if any knows I have three solenoids on top
Hi Jeff, great videos and tutorials. I'm going to do a coolant flush on my 2013 boxster and follow your video for sure. My question is how to refill the coolant, there doesn't seem to be a how to video that actually shows all of the steps on the 981 boxster. The boxster should have a bleeder valve but I have no idea where it is. Also when you add low air pressure to evacuate the coolant at the resevoir, how do you go about doing that? I know you're not making videos for dummies but we need all the help we can get. lol
Thank you for all of your fine videos.
All that info is in the video, except the basics of how to use a vacuum bleeder. Do an internet search and find a video that shows this. There are loads.
For all your other questions, don't skip through the video. It's all there, with a lot of other important information. I would watch it a few times so you are exactly sure of what you are doing prior to starting the procedure.
Can I drain as you outlined then fill it up with straight distilled water and re-drain again? Will that help get rid of all the residual coolant? Thanks again.
Yes, When I initially did a coolant replacement with a different coolant type, I did as you say a number of times until what was coming out was completely clear prior to filling with coolant and then doing the bleeding.
Hello Jeff, thanks for the usefull bleeding information. In internet I counldn´t find any information regarding which coolant-fluid spec is to be used. My question is: Which coolant is used for a 981 3,4S 2013 Cayman/Boxster ? Something like G+ or G++ or is it an Volkswagen-spec ? Or did you use any from supermarket :-( ? It would be kind to leave a short answer/comment here - Thanks !!! Martin from Germany
G'day Martin. I don't have any information on the spec. I simply did a bunch of research to find what was the best coolant for my circumstances. The 'lifetime' coolant that is used in these cars does degrade with time. It gets more acidic. The other ingredients don't degrade as quickly, but like all coolants it will get more acidic with time.
So I took the option of selecting a coolant that was going to perform very well, but require replacement every couple of years, as I wanted to not have the increase in acidity over time. For this reason I went with the green coolant that is standard for something like a BMW.
Love your diy tutorials, they’re the best. Just curious about the thermostat, you mentioned it can be bypass to trigger the opening of the solenoids. In this way you do not have to wait for the engine systems to warm up during the bleeding process which will make it directly the same as the piwis process. How do you bypass the thermostat electrically? Thanks a lot!
When using PIWIS, it will open the thermostat very early to allow bleeding, much earlier than normal. Without PIWIS I simply select sport mode so the thermostat 'set point' temp is reduced from 105 C to 85 C so it opens earlier than normal. Whilst the thermostat doesn't open as early as when using the PIWIS bleeding mode, in the end it has the same effect and allows full bleeding of the system.
Thank you Jeff! More power to you! Cheers!
Finally done it! I’m so happy with this procedure. I followed it step by step. It was fun other than the sored body.
Your videos are very helpful Jeff. Do you have anything on removing the coolant expansion tank? I have a very strange coolant leak at the oil/coolant filler console, and it looks like I’ll have to pull the tank to get it out.
I haven't done one on this but it was on my list. I'll do one. Just give me a few days.
Cant you just cap the vacuum at the vacuum pump?so you do lmt have to cap each solenoid individually?
Great explanation but my vacuum solenoid is not behind the seat as you might say I have a tee pipe about where the solenoid should be my car cayman 987.2 pdk 2.9 I have three on top of the engine
I don't have any experience with the 987 so I can't really help other than to say that you want to disconnect the vacuum supply side of the solenoids and plug these.
@@jeffrichardsoncardiy that is plug all the solenoid feed pipes
It’s got to be one of the three
I’m grateful for your help
If you find the output from the pump that then goes to a junction for all the other valve control solenoids, then disconnect that single hose and plug it would be my suggestion.
Jeff, what's the approx total L of coolant you have drained?
I think in the end it was about 17L, but the amount you get will be different based on the car and what is fitted. PDK, 3 radiators etc.
thank you.. @@jeffrichardsoncardiy
I love your videos, btw. I changed my coolant with the method you mentioned to blow air into the system. I did have PIWIS so I bleed with that method.
I have an ongoing vaccum leak going on and I think it is one of those change over valves (and COV that isn't shown in the video like the sport exhaust and sound composer). Is it possible to make a video to cover where each of the change over valve is at? They have a diagram showing where they are for 991, but not 981.
Have a look at these two videos that show the locations. Two on the transmission and one that supplies the heater core. Heater core show in HPFP video.
ruclips.net/video/vf4V15LggzQ/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/NN1wJ6s1O3I/видео.html
@@jeffrichardsoncardiy thanks a lot. Yeah those two on the PDK is gonna be a pain to get into... Do you know if there is a way in PIWIS to test those valves and pin point which one would be faulty?
@@JohsonChou I'd be trying to blow smoke through the individual tubes and see where it's leaking from. If you have access to the top of the engine, it wouldn't be too hard to disconnect some of the tubes to isolate a few at a time and blow smoke through like you would to do a standard vacuum leak test.
@@jeffrichardsoncardiy Thanks for response... I don't actually have a detectable leak. All my vaccum operated system still function. (PSE, heater all work). I just get a P1432 (vaccum system leak) code with a cooling system fault message every now and then (especially when idling after a hot lap). Since COV are such a common failure in 991s, I just thought these are the most likely culprit. I've already repalced the PSE Change over valve, which didn't fix the issue. My next highest on the list is the coolant bypass one. If that doesn't fix it I would just go ahead and replace all of them.
@@jeffrichardsoncardiy I used PIWIS and a manual vacuum pump and pinpointed the vaccum leak to the vaccum pump.
There is DME -> maintenance and repair -> vaccum test. Where it would test with all the vaccum valve on and off. I disconnected all the valves from the pump, then manually pulled vaccum, the vaccum held with all the valve on or off. So I figured it was not the valves.
I isolated the system to just the pump and brake booster (plugged the hole to the rest of the system). PIWIS still says there is leak with the vaccum test.
Then I manually pulled vaccum on just brake booster, and did various check on it (half press, full press) and found no leak. So this tells me it was the pump. It does appear that vaccum pressure recover somewhat slowly when brake booster consumed vaccum, and the lowest pressure the brake sensor see is about 180hpa (this is the abosulte pressure), it is still quite a vaccum, but apparently car thinks it isn't enough.
I followed your video and replaced the vaccum pump, then PIWIS test pass and it seems the brake sensor is now holding at about 100hpa. When I manually rotate the old pump, it was kinda gritty and strange, where the new pump is smooth.
I checked online and it seems these pumps does go out quite often. Mine is probably on the way out, it is still pumping a lot but not enough.
Your video definitely helped saving me thousands of dollar, dealer here charge $285 per hour.
Im at the point with the vacuum lines are plugged. Ive ran it for a few and no heat out of the heater core. Any suggestions
Also should the expansion tank be capped
@@stevebauer5491 Yes, expansion cap should be on. Bleeder valve open for the bleeding process. I wouldn't worry too much about the heater core. As long as the rest is bled correctly and the system temp is stable when driving, then the few bubbles of air in the system will burp themselves out over time.
Thank you
knock off piwis 2/3 for $800 usd works well