Gofishracing

This is a real issue. Even those that were in doubt before had failures. They will all fail. Also - rubber hoses get old. I'd rather fix the fittings than deal center locks for sure.

Big Al HURT123

Thanks. I actually just posted a thread in this section on Track Day insurance. Kind of ironic all things considered. https://rennlist.com/forums/997-gt2-...l#post12900374

lmnsblu355

Better yet, do pinning, engine in. Do it yourself for less than $50 or have a shop do it for much less than engine out.

Gofishracing

Can't get all the fittings- Hoses should be replaced and more if you want to do it correctly.

Nugget

It happened to my 997.1 at 20k miles. I've seen it happen to one othe car (a 996 GT3) second hand, and had it happen a third time with me in the car instructing (a 997.1 Turbo).

I feel that taking a car that hasn't been pinned or welded on track with other drivers is tremendously irresponsible. The glue is crap and it's a ticking time bomb. If you're lucky it will only be your car that wrecks when it happens to you.

lmnsblu355

On the 997.1 and 2, all 6 fittings can be done, engine in. I agree that all new hoses is also good insurance (as is replacing the plastic elbow with sharkworks metal) but the problem to be solved is the failure of the fittings and engine in pinning solves this on 997's for very little investment.

I'd rather be on track with cars with pinned lines (even without new hoses) than cars that didn't get pinned or welded because the engine drop was "too expensive".

rja

I'd love to see the procedure for pinning with engine in place.

One of the lower (accessible w/o removing engine) fittings started backing out at Laguna Sept '14 (19K mi on 7.2RS). Warning signs were slight smell of anti-freeze (I run water wetter but you can still smell anti-freeze) and low coolant morning of second day. Wasn't obvious at the time it was a fitting issue but opted to end my trip there and not continue on to Sonoma -- wise choice. Very fortunate for me (and others) it wasn't a catastrophic fitting failure -- could have easily gone the other way.

I've heard the fittings can be pinned with engine in place, but after seeing the fitting locations it's hard for me to imagine the work being done in a quality fashion. Just my take to be taken with a grain of salt, but -- again -- would love to see a documented procedure. Too late for me to benefit because I opted to have engine pulled and fittings pinned (as well as all hoses replaced), and it hurt having to pay for something Porsche should have covered. All I can say to VW group is ... Karma's a bitch.

Nugget

I'm unsympathetic to that complaint. The work costs roughly the same as two sets of tires. If someone can afford to drive the car on track at all then they can afford to get the work done.

mooty

cup cars dont seem to suffer from this issue, or not as much. not sure why and i dont really care.
if you have a street car, IT WILL HAPPEN. i will bet my pink slip on it.
it's a matter of when not if.
it has nothing to do with mileage, use, or whatever. i have garage queen, canyon drivers, track cars, and likely more RS under my ownership then most shops ever worked on. it WILL happen. and when it does, you will be VERY sorry for not spending the $5000. it's like catching STD b/c you thought condom is not cool and it wont happen to you. well, buddy, guess again. one slip, kiss the wall, it's $50k. on spin on canyon road, you drop down 200', DEAD. that will not be so funny all of a sudden.

even if just for peace of mind, i would do it.

would you buy your kid a car with dead wheel bearings, and no air bag or abs and think... well maybe the kid will be the next senna and can handle the car and just hope it's all ok, and baby's done need baby seat. just put them in the trunk.

dont be an idiot

Spyerx

LOL so true.

Regarding pinning in the car, I've seen those threads, at some point you are at a loss for the efforts to remove the parts of the engine in place to do the fix vs. just pulling the engine. And then you risk issues with reassembly due to the access.

For example, I had an oil pressure sensor go wacky. Its behind the intake manifold back near the oil tank. You cannot reach it in the car. You could pull the AC, power steering, and intake manifold, and a bunch of other parts to get to it. At that point you're at a LOT of labor and now risking issues reassembling components and introducing more issues. A good shop can pull an engine and put it back in there faster and with less risk of not putting something back together right.

So yeah, if you're trying to do it yourself then maybe that's one way to go about it...

Bottom line, get your pipes fixed. And for the newbies that hit this thread, yes your car is affected if it's a:
996 turbo, 996 gt3, 996 gt2, 997.1 gt3/rs, 997.2 gt3/rs, 997 gt3rs 40, 997.1 turbo, 997 gt2/rs - ANYTHING that uses the mezger design.

Big Al HURT123

I know this has been discussed at nausea but I can't go threw this entire thread and read everything. Engine out pinning or welding. I read sharkwerks say pinning because not welds are equal. I still the think welding would be the way to go. Mooty???? Spyrex???? And can anyone recommend someone in south Florida? Since my shop really seems disinterested I don't want to force it on them.

FFaust

Doesn't matter, both methods get the job done. Thing is, with welding, you need a good welder, whereas with pinning, any good tech can do it. Pinning is also less intrusive.

Gofishracing

Mooty has spoken. That makes it official.

mooty

^ haha, mooty is full of sh**t

i have both welded and pinned. both held up. i cannot say which is better.

Gofishracing

either way- doesn't matter as long as tracked cars are fixed.