The 991.2 is generally praised for being an exceptional, usable sports car. So far, I've been impressed by how the C4S handles school runs, my commute, pouring rain to Indianapolis, two lane romps, and pretty much everything in between. It's a lovely car to drive.
The 991.2 was made from 2017-2019. During my search, whenever I came across a 2017 or a 2018, one thing I'd look for in the Carfax is evidence of the coolant pump being replaced. Due to a manufacturing defect, Porsche extended the warranty on the coolant pump and the valve block to 10 years or 120,000 miles from the car's in-service date. When I looked through the history of my car, I saw that the pump hadn't been replaced. Knowing this is a weak spot on 991.2s, I figured it was something I'd get taken care of perhaps next year when the car goes in for its annual maintenance.
That all changed when I went to scoop Enzo up from school yesterday. It was a gorgeous day and I hadn't driven the C4S in a while because I was waiting for its permanent plate to arrive so I don't have to drive around on a temporary plate. But, I was really missing the car, so I put the PA temporary plate back on the car (the flimsy Indiana plate must've blown off the back when I was driving, note to the Indiana BMV: make sturdier temp tags...), and drove to get Enzo.
It was one of those lovely early spring/summer days. The air temperature was relatively cool, but the sun was quite intense. I was enjoying the icy AC of the C4S and reveling at how good it is for just driving around. As I tend to do, I got to the pickup line early, shut down, and waited the five minutes or so until the line started moving.
When it was time to inch forward, I fired the car up and started crawling forward. Looking at the gauges, I saw the temperature gauges start to climb towards the red zone. I was pretty surprised when I heard the cooling fans kick into "hovercraft mode," followed by this alert on the screen:
Now, I thought this was pretty odd. Allison's Boxster doesn't struggle in the pickup line, and I mistakenly thought the C4S's cooling system couldn't handle the idling. I've seen the temperature gauge climb like that in the 964, and figured I just needed to get the car moving and some fresh air into the radiators and things would calm down.
Enzo hopped in the car, and I headed up to Redfield Road. It's a lovely 2-lane road with minimal traffic, and I figured it would do the trick. Sure enough, the temperature gauge quickly returned to normal. "Cool," I thought to myself, "though it is odd that a water-cooled car couldn't handle idling for a few moments on a not-very-hot day."
We got to the roundabout at Redfield and Gumwood when things took a dramatic turn for the worse:
It was at that point that everything clicked, this wasn't the C4S's inability to keep up with the ambient temperature, the coolant pump had let go! Curses! Bitten by the weak spot of early 991.2s!
Fortunately, I have a pretty good mental map of the area. Less than a mile from the roundabout is a quiet neighborhood that's next to the Knollwood golf course, and I babied the car to the entrance, then promptly shut off the engine and coasted to a stop. Of course, Enzo was pretty nervous, but I assured him that the car would not catch fire.
As soon as the car rolled to a stop, Enzo and I got out. I went around back, and sure enough, you could easily smell the coolant. The pump just let go and that's all there is to it. Boy was I glad in that moment to have a CPO warranty!
I immediately called my brother, as I trust him implicitly and he knows what to do in these situations. I then texted my service advisor at The Exchange, and he said the best way to do it is to call 1-800-PORSCHE for roadside assistance. He even texted me the phone number so I didn't have to dial it myself - that's classy.
I also called Allison to let her know what was up, and made plans with Olivia for her to come and rescue Enzo and me.
Then, I called for help and was texted a link to a website where I could specify the location of the car, whether it could be placed into neutral, and what type of assistance I needed. I specified that I needed a tow, but I was apprehensive about the ability to specify The Exchange as a destination, since there are other Porsche Centers that are closer to my house. However, I just scrolled to the bottom of the web page and specified The Exchange under "different location." Easy.
Olivia came to pick Enzo and me up, and as requested, brought a couple of sheets of paper and a Sharpie. I put Enzo to work making signs to leave in the car while I talked with roadside assitance and confirmed The Exchange as the destination. The towing company also called to discuss the issue.
Long story short, Enzo created perfect signs which I put on the dashboard:
And in the driver's window:
The conversation with the towing company was great, and we agreed that an enclosed transport would pick the car up the following day.
Today, after Enzo's 5th grade graduation, I went out to meet Marcin, the transport driver. I was thrilled to see that it was an F-350 and a single-car enclosed trailer:
That's just perfect, safe, secure, and hidden from curious eyes. After confirming that the car was safe to drive for a short period as long as the temperature didn't exceed 225 degrees, Marcin drove the car up onto the trailer for transport.
I was super happy with the setup, and bid Marcin a safe journey to The Exchange. Due to the miracle of AirTags, I could check in and see its progress:
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| AirTags are so cool! |
In the late afternoon, I got a text from my brother that the car had arrived safe and sound. Perfect.
Of course, its permanent license plate arrived today:
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| Still a valid plate! |
Fortunately, I'm heading to Chicago tomorrow to give Olivia a ride to the airport as she embarks upon her summer of Arabic language studies in Egypt. I'm taking advantage of the opportunity to hook up with my brother for dinner, so I can just bring the plate when I go. Easy.
At the end of the day, I feel super thankful that this happened when and where it did. I was close to home, close to a safe place to park, and not on a cross-country trip, or a pilgrimmage back to The Brown Bottle for pizza, or heading down to Indy on a rainy evening, or any of the numerous other possibilities.
It was also a good opportunity for Enzo to see how to handle the unexpected. He learned that when things go wrong:
- Pay attention to the car
- Stop immediately
- Call your brother to talk through the best thing to do
- Make the calls
- Be thankful it happened in a non-emergency situation
Mechanical things break. I knew this was a weak spot, and I'm glad it failed because now it's getting fixed! All's well that ends well. It's a wonderful day to be alive, and I feel super lucky that having this part fail doesn't impact our ability to get around. As I tell everyone, there's no urgency to get this fixed, better slow, safe, and correct than rushed.
At the end of the day, things break and we can fix them. What a wonderful world!
