Folks, Since we are snowbound and it would be perilous to...
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Folks, Since we are snowbound and it would be perilous to drive my C4S around, on icy roads with summer tires, it is now the perfect time to do some maintenance and improvements on our beloved cars. First in the series of tasks, the installation of a third radiator. The good stuff with North Carolina is that you can get very low twenty's during the winter time and up to 110 at the peak of the summer. That 90 degrees F. swing takes a big toll on our car and I thought a central radiator would be most welcome to deal with the endless stop and go on I-540, every single day. The installation has been covered by many enthusiasts and I am not going to cover it in details. I will simply provide some pictures and comments when applicable. Porsche provides a great kit that can be obtained for no more than $165 before taxes at your local Porsche dealer. What you get for that amount is simply unbelievable, coming from a manufacturer such as Porsche. In addition, our 997.1 are completely ready for the central radiator installation and it is a piece of cake to retrofit it. I would say that the biggest challenge is carrying the enormous box (more than 5 feet long) that comes with the kit. It is almost like transporting a front bumper..... The kit comes with all the parts in the picture: The second challenge comes from the fact that there are no instructions provided with the kit. Fortunately, some searches on the Internet provided us with the following drawing:
Transcript of Folks, Since we are snowbound and it would be perilous to...
Folks,
Since we are snowbound and it would be perilous to drive my C4S around, on icy roads with summer tires, it is now the
perfect time to do some maintenance and improvements on our beloved cars.
First in the series of tasks, the installation of a third radiator. The good stuff with North Carolina is that you can get very
low twenty's during the winter time and up to 110 at the peak of the summer. That 90 degrees F. swing takes a big toll
on our car and I thought a central radiator would be most welcome to deal with the endless stop and go on I-540, every
single day.
The installation has been covered by many enthusiasts and I am not going to cover it in details. I will simply provide
some pictures and comments when applicable.
Porsche provides a great kit that can be obtained for no more than $165 before taxes at your local Porsche dealer. What
you get for that amount is simply unbelievable, coming from a manufacturer such as Porsche. In addition, our 997.1 are
completely ready for the central radiator installation and it is a piece of cake to retrofit it. I would say that the biggest
challenge is carrying the enormous box (more than 5 feet long) that comes with the kit. It is almost like transporting a
front bumper.....
The kit comes with all the parts in the picture:
The second challenge comes from the fact that there are no instructions provided with the kit. Fortunately, some
searches on the Internet provided us with the following drawing:
There are a lot of miscellaneous hardware provided with the kit, but only a couple of nuts and bolts will be required:
Out of this bag of trophies, only the two large nuts (13 mm), two large bolts (13 mm) and the two smallest bolts (10 mm)
will be used. Everything else does not apply. As it has been said, our cars are completely ready for an easy and
straightforward insertion of the central radiator.
The two hoses are easy to install with quick connect adapters and a grey dot on the rubber indicating which end of the
hoses goes into the central radiator.
The first task is to remove the front bumper. This has been documented many times and thus I will just say the
following:
- Jack-up the car in the front as high as you can. This will make working on the front much easier and will limit the
amount of coolant lost during the connection of the third radiator. Remove the front wheels for easier access.
- Do not forget the Torx 25 screws behind the side markers.
- Do not lose the little plastic clip used to connect the headlight washer lines on the left side of the car. Mine flew under
the headlight, when I tried to remove it.
- It is also a good idea to remove the headlights to prevent them from being damaged (they are very expensive).
- Disconnect the wiring harness from the right of the car (right front wheel, between the well and the radiator.
At this stage, I completed the removal of all the parts on the front bumper. I wanted to have it repainted and it was a
good idea to take everything off of it. The paint was very damaged due to thousands of chips, scratches and other
insects and tar damages. After close to 10 years of service and 70,000 miles it was completely justified to have a nice
paint job done on this front part.
The installation of the radiator is very easy if you do the following:
- Remove the horns
- Remove the bumper (aluminum)
- Remove the rubber tunnels to the radiators. The external plastic pins are very fragile. Be careful.
- Place a flat container under the left and right radiators to catch the coolant.
- Pre-fill the central radiator with some coolant mix.
- Install the main radiator assembly but do not tighten the bolts yet.
- Open the left side radiator first by pulling on the plug with a pair of pliers, after removing the lock spring. Do not twist,
do not squeeze, just pull in the direction of the plug, gently but firmly. The plug will give up and a stream of coolant will
flow in your container.
- Install the left side hose using the quick connect couplers.
- Now move to the right side of the car (your left side....now), and do the same for the right side radiator. Less coolant
will flow since this hose is higher than the left side radiator.
- Connect the second hose.
- Tighten the central radiator assembly to the chassis.
- Dry carefully all hoses and couplers with paper. We want to make sure that there are no leaks before going further, and
all the parts must be completely dry to the touch.
At this stage, I placed the front wheels back on the car, lowered it on the floor/ground and opened the expansion vase in
the engine compartment. I added coolant mix as much as it would take before starting the engine. Verify that the front
does not leak. Check carefully.
Start the engine. Go to the expansion vase, open the pressure valve (on the top) and slowly feed it some coolant mix. I
probably added about two liters before it refused to take anything else. The expansion vase will swallow eagerly what
you give it.
With the engine idling, go to the front and check for leaks. You will start feeling the pulsations of the pump and the
liquid after a little while, when the thermostat decides it is time to funnel the coolant to the front radiators. I started the
A/C to speed things up. After a few minutes, the central radiator will feel a tiny bit warm and you will be able to feel
some heat on the two new rubber hoses. Check your expansion vase and make sure the level is still at the maximum.
It will probably take a few drives to completely rid the coolant system of all trapped air, but this is a good start.
Stop the engine, check for leaks, check coolant level, close expansion vase and let the car rest.
Re-install all the parts after cleaning them with 303 Aerospace protection for the rubber parts. Do not forget the horn
assembly and re-connect all electrical connections (horn, temperature sensor).
Here is a picture of the front re-assembled and ready to receive the bumper. I have cut a grill to protect the central
intake. The K40 receiver has been relocated from the bottom of the front bumper to the top of the aluminum shield.
Hopefully, it will help and improve its detection capabilities.
The bumper came back from the paint shop and is ready to be assembled. Let's not forget the central exhaust openings,
protected by a grill.
All the electrical wires and headlight washer lines have been cleaned up and treated with 303 Aerospace.
I have fabricated two side grills and installed them with wire ties.
It is not a bad idea to glue the two clips on the back of the front bumper that are holding the electrical wires. The tape
used by Porsche is showing its age and not holding very well. I use GOOP glue and it seems to hold rather well.
After a couple of painful moments, crawling under the car, we can now enjoy the final results:
When re-assembling the front bumper, make sure of the following (why do I tell you?):
- Dress all wires and hoses. Make sure that fog/turn lights connectors are hanging out of the bumper. It is extremely
difficult to fish them out from behind.
- Before tightening the Torx screws, just insert them and turn by hand a turn or two to secure them. This will give you
some play to adjust all these plastic parts.
- Take your time and check multiple times that you did not forget anything. Once the bumper is in place, it is a pain in
the arse to remove it and start from square one.
- Clean and treat with 303 Aerospace all rubber hoses located behind the wheel wells. This is your last chance to do it for
a long time.
- Oh and don't forget the small Torx 25 behind the side markers. You will need some kind of magnetic pencil to position
them, or a magnetic Torx screwdriver.
- Let's not forget the larger TORX 27 that are going inside the protection pads, below the front bumper.
- All flat TORX 25 are going inside the wheel wells (4 of them on each side). All other TORX 27 with shoulders are going
under the car.
I am rather pleased with the result. Now, I really need to get myself a pair of LED based fog/turn light modules.....and get
a complete polish of the car to match the nice bumper paint.
Our next installment will be the front brakes..... (the car is already jacked up ).
