deputydog95

Yeah, the 997 owners manual apparently says if you track the car, you're on your own

jmm01

2007 GT3
6000 Miles
On street pulling out of club. All coolant dumped out, car spun and hit curb. Broke front axle, spun around again and hit rear axle on curb. Insurance co. totaled car.

Xeattle

Sorry to hear that...What a horrible way for a GT3 to go out. Hopefully your insurance company will come through on the payout for you.

FFaust

... and hopefully raise the profile of the issue...

jmm01, what other damage to justify the write-off?

Frederickbortoloni

Is there a fix to avoid this? Like reinforced lines and special fittings?

lp997

Yes, there are a couple of fixes. Once my CPO is over next year, I will have Orbit Racing weld the fittings into the case. Roger at Orbit said he could set up our cars like the cup cars. Could we imagine if this could happen to one of the ALMs GT3s? Never.

If you review the previous pages of this post, a couple of places (I believe Gold Crest motors in ATL) have also posted solutions. To me, this is much like the RMS issue. If you know your car has a potential issue that could cost you thousands of dollars in damage (or a total loss, my sympathies to jmm01), address it in advance if the factory warranty does not cover it.

Frederickbortoloni

I just bough t the Car and the engine failed due to this reason which the previous owner did not mentioned. The car was fixed quickly and badly, which led to silicon plugging the oil of oil way #5 which made the engine cease... so I am in a brand new engine. wich cost an arm and a leg.
My question is (even though is too late now) should I have welded the fittings straight away? or should I use the warranty is they fail?
Is it possible that on a brand new engine from the factory this issue would have been resolved once and for all?

pill pusher

Lost all my coolant last night heading home from getting a pizza. No clue where I lost the hose or what failed but this is a bummer. Can't see anything from the back, guessing the motor is going to have to get dropped??

2005 GT3
40,000 miles
Noticed shortly after a 4th gear 6000 rpm pull on the interstate....

pill pusher

Update, mine was the fitting behind the alternator. Anyone know how hard the alternator is to repair from up top? Thanks!


See pics where it shows the alternator....

http://docwilenracing.wordpress.com/...-coolant-leak/

lp997

I have the 2007 GT3 and my fitting was the one behind the alternator too

lp997

Frederick,
I heard the engine is almost 50K? Ouch, sorry to hear this. Unfortunately, your new engine will have the same issue and I was told under my CPO that if I have the fittings welded in it would void my warranty. So I have to play the waiting game until out of warranty. Once Porsche is out of the picture, I will have Orbit Racing address the issue once and for all. I think you ask a good question though. If your engine totally fails due to the coolant loss, what will your Porsche dealer say?

I think the best course of action is to file with the NHTSA if you are in the US.
http://www.nhtsa.gov

LP

wapita

Has anyone had one of the lower hoses come loose? A shop I was speaking with said the engine wouldn't need to be dropped to weld the top fittings, which is where the failures typically occur.

deputydog95

Mine was up top too. Supposedly it is the most common fitting to go. I'm guessing it must be a heat issue in that location causing the glue to fail.

lp997

Wapita, If you lost a fitting from the top of the engine, I would say to consult another shop for a second opinion. I lost the fitting up top behind the alternator and the engine had to be dropped (service performed by Porsche).

FFaust

Who knows? It's near impossible to get an answer since these are "not a widespread problem" and fail "randomly"...

Anyway, another one at Mosport yesterday, 24 Sept. All I have is that it was a 996 TT, and it laid a trail of coolant from entry to T1 to entry to T3.

Poked my head under the hood while it was on the flat bed, just before it left. It wasn't the more frequent, RH, angled pipe, but I could not locate the leak in the few minutes that I had with the car.

To be fair, this could have been caused by a variety of failures, but the bottom line is that a GT1-blocked car spilled a lot of coolant... again.