imvemu1

Hello!

Long-time lurker, first time poster. (Thank you to all--I have learned a ton from this forum--and just enjoyed seeing pictures and reading stories)

I had a sad day today. My 996TT had what appears to be a catastrophic coolant leak. Pictures below. This did not happen during a time of intense stress on the engine (ie not tracking or driving terrible aggressively).







My mechanic did not seem to be aware that this is a common failure point, but I am told from reliable sources that he is a Porsche expert.
Forgive my ignorance, but are these the lines that people talk about pinning or welding?
Should I ask the mechanic to pin or weld the rest of the lines?
While the engine is out, should I have any other work done?
Perform compression test?
Any advice for me? I am in Dallas, TX. If that helps.

Thanks,

Carlo_Carrera

Sorry for your troubles. The coolant pipe that failed on your car was glued in place at the factory. That is how Porsche decided to build these engines. Pinning or welding the pipes is how owners now repair or prevent the pipes from failing. This subject comes up periodically. There is a lot information in the thread linked below. Please read through it and let us know if you have more questions.

https://rennlist.com/forums/996-turb...ant-hoses.html

s65e90

Weld lines when out. Buy the better (Torque solution) fittings to do so. Then while engine out, replace all hoses, rubber o-rings, clamps, etc. Car will be like new for another 15-20 years. Spend money up front to spend less later on.

Turbodan

curious what is catastrophic about your coolant pipe failure? :-)

Colorado964turbo

I would be very concerned that someone claiming to know Porsche’s is not aware of this issue.....

Unless he is an old school air cooled person that is.

Mike Murphy

+1. I don’t even have a turbo and have heard about the pipes dozens of times from this forum and from talking with others.

2fcknfst

Catastrophic = undrivable...

Interesting that the failure did not happen on a track...

2fcknfst

I pinned mine; I was a little worried about welding a cast material and introducing further problems.

manimal

We're gonna start seeing this more and more.

2fcknfst

Agreed. It almost makes you think that it is adhesive 'usable life' issue versus a track induced failure.

Carlo_Carrera

It's a 'usable life' issue now.

Spyerx

The shops that work on water cooled GT3/Turbo mezger motor cars know all about this issue.

If your shop is not familiar with this, you should find a shop that is. You will need to drop the motor, remove the components with the glued in lines, and have them all welded or pinned. Additionally, change the oil cooler elbows (can’t recall if these are plastic on the 996 turbo).

BBI Autosport who is a forum sponsor does these every day. They sell a billet pipe kit that has flanges that allow much easier welding. They pressure and tank test every part that they do this on. Your shop can ship the components to BBI or if they are good aluminum welders can perform the service themselves.

BBI did the coolant pipes on my GT3 several years ago. ZERO issues.

ipman

How many miles? Interested in what shop you choose, as well as the path you choose to fix it. Please report back.

Turbodan

catastrophic to me means causing great damage or suffering, such as an engine blow up (just a little fun with semantics)
in my opinion the only reason why it would occur more on track is the higher temperatures (pressure still always remains below 20 psi I believe), although there seems to be just as likely to happen to a garage queen that has been parked. The epoxy used is the problem, it does not stand up to time.
BTW this fitting could easily be reglued using jb weld and then can be addressed at a more convenient time and do the while your in there stuff like clutch coolant hoses, coolant tank etc...

kmagnuss

x2