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The purpose of this is not to freak everyone out but to educate and share if its common. Also, let's not make this an issue of whether welding or pinning the pipes is better.
I'll start:
Porsche: 997.1 Turbo
Mileage: 26k
Welded, Pinned, or Replaced: Welded
For those that may not have experienced the issue here are some pictures. The glue was so deteriorated that the plastic clips were the only thing holding the coolant pipe in. 3 of my coolant pipes were weeping coolant all over the engine and one was very close to blowing entirely. I had to drop the engine to find the source of the problem.
Emptying all your coolant onto your rear tires is very bad!
The purpose of this is not to freak everyone out but to educate and share if its common. Also, let's not make this an issue of whether welding or pinning the pipes is better.
I'll start:
Porsche: 997.1 Turbo
Mileage: 26k
Welded, Pinned, or Replaced: Welded
I'm curious to know the fix, but I'm more curious to know the % of people who've had the issue too
As everyone knows this has been a heated debate with 996GT3 and 996 Turbo owners. No one is immune from this failure. The caution that I tell folks is.. If your choice is to WELD, do so with new aluminum fittings. The heat from welding "IS" cracking the fitting and many owners are going in the 2nd time to fix the issue. Rebonding the fitting and pinning is a "good" fix. Welding new CNC'd aluminum fittings is a "good" fix. Going back in to repair the repair causes grief.
Public service "warning" When your fitting blows, and you receive the Coolant low Warning, pull over and shut the engine off >>sooner vs later. If you drive the car you risk a cylinder head gasket breach.
What is the official Porsche repair procedure for this issue? I see that some have had this happen while still under warranty so i am curious how it was handled.
1) Replace the part with new under warranty. Out of warranty they will offer to replace the part with new OR
2) When you balk at the quote, they will then clean the failed fitting and re-epoxy it. This is a possible short term fix with the remaining connections.. This is why pinning secures the glued joint and keeps it intact. Yes you can heat and remove every coolant fitting and re epoxy, and then pin to ensure a longterm fix.
Welding is also an option, I discourage rewelding the old aluminum fittings. Stress and thermal cracks are reintroduced in this method. The better option is to purchase CNC'd aluminum fittings and weld> and then pressure test prior to assembly.
This is NOT a new failure.. One must look at the cost vs the long term successful fix.
Is there a list of what the actual parts are (i.e. the ones that are replaced) somewhere? Looking at the sharkwerks write-up it appears that some of these parts are quite elaborate(on the diagram at least) and could be very expensive to just replace, unless of course covered by warranty. I'll admit, i haven't spent a lot of time researching this issue but will soon be in the market for one of these cars and want to learn as much as i can about any potential issues before I buy. I counted 6 fittings in their diagram (997.2GT3RS), so the turbo may have more (8?) fittings to address. I am now seeing why repairing via welding or pinning can offer significant cost savings over replacing the parts, especially considering that the new parts have the potential to fail again in the future.
I also noticed that sharkwerks recommends against welding due to the risk of leaks down the road ... this is somewhat contrary to what I've been reading on this board where most people seem to prefer welding in lieu of pinning.
The other question i had was when these pieces are drilled, how does one handle the shaving residue that will undoubtedly fall inside the pipe cavity. Or is the pinning to be done with the pieces disassembled from the engine? How are the pieces pressure tested to ensure there are no leaks after welding and/or pinning?
Lastly, if the fitting is already loose or detached, how is the pinning done to ensure no leaks will occur?
I would use Loctite epoxy or the improved Loctite locking liquid. You can knurl the stock fittings. but I would pin them all! Ebay offers the fittings from various sellers.
One of the bends (that Sharkwerks supply a replacement pipe for) on mine started to leak, so my engine is out and I'll get the others pinned as well. I'm struggling to find the 7 pipes that are referred to needing pinning.
There are the two near the smaller water pump for the turbo, and the three off the back of the main water pump. Where are the other two?
Also, the smaller pipe (in the first photo, one above the pipe that has popped) has unstuck on mine. My OPC recommends that I replace the whole housing and then pin; from what I've read, using loctite or JB weld and pinning the existing would be a better option?
I just recently had mine leak bad.. not on the common "glued" joints but the plastic elbow that sharkwerks sells the stainless versions for.. since my engine had to come out on account of the elbow being on top of the engine and a pain in the as to get at.. I had my mechanic do the sharkwerks stainless elbows and pin and epoxy the "glued" joints.. a few were ready to come off and my car only has 25k miles on it.. lots of labour but at least its complete now. pisses me off since i had only 1000Kms on it since i bought it and already had the engine out lol
Just did all mine (pinned) and did the sw pipes as the engine was out for some tyranny warranty work. One looked like it was ready to come out (maybe).
02-04-2015, 09:48 AM
