Friday, April 24, 2026

Coolant Sensor Fix and New Battery

For a while now at cold start I'd get a temporary "Failure Detected" message on the Cayman with the coolant temp gauge showing no value. Once the car warmed up, this would go away. After some research I found that this is a symptom of the coolant temp sensor going bad. Given that the car is now 19 years old, I suppose that's not completely unexpected. 

New coolant temp sensor, o-ring and reitaining clip

I ordered a new OEM sensor along with a new o-ring and retainer clip, dropped the car off with Lee at Hybrid Motors and he made quick work of replacing it and topping off the coolant. Unfortunately on my way home after picking it up, I got a nice bullseye from a rock and cracked my windshield. I used a Permatex repair kit to prevent further spreading for now but I will probably get the windshield replaced once I find a place I can trust to replace it with OEM glass. 

Cracked glass

Attempting a temporary repair using a Permatex repair kit

My Antigravity lightweight battery is also approaching 7 years old and while it's still fine, I don't want to run the risk of a battery failure when I'm out somewhere due to age so I pre-emptively bought a new 40Ah version to replace it.

New Antigravity Battery

Maintenance Update:

Mileage: 56,258

- New Antigravity 40Ah battery
- New coolant temp sensor, o-ring and retainer clip