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So I had my car looked at by a local shop in denver since I did not trust the original ppi i had done before buying the car. Nothing new really
came up from the inspection except for “Small flake of coolant noted near exhaust runner for cylinder 1.” See the pictures below. Not really sure what to make of it. Shop did not seem
overly concerned; just wanted to let me know what they saw. They brought up potentially welding/pinning the coolant lines in the future but that was it. Has anyone seen anything like this before? Is it potentially a precursor to a coolant line catastrophic failure? They gave me a rough quote of 7k for welding which seems expensive (includes sharkwerks stainless steel elbows and new water pump and thermostat as well.)
I wouldn’t worry about it much. Just keep an eye on it and when you replace the clutch go ahead and weld the coolant lines. $7k is expensive. That price should cover a new clutch and flywheel too.
Is that coolant leaking from the block or from a fitting area? It looks like the former from the pics. If that's a pinhole in the block, it could be case porosity. My 997.2 GT3 had it and they rebuilt the engine and replaced half of the case under warranty.
Zac - others on here can chime in as they are, perhaps, better informed than me. However, even if you have a coolant line failure, the chances of it being "catastrophic" is slim (unless you're on a track, and even then it may be more catastrophic for the car behind you). I think it would be more of a powering down the engine, and tow to a shop if/when it ever happened. I never had any of mine done, not did the previous owners and at least 2 of 3 had track history. Additionally, my old dealer (Bay Area CA) told me not to worry about it unless I tracked my car. Bad advice? Perhaps...but that hasn't been my experience.
Like @Robocop305 said, keep an eye on it, keep an eye on the ground underneath pre/post drives, and depending on when/if your clutch has been changed out - pin them when you upgrade to a 4.0L clutch kit
Yeah I was planning on addressing coolant lines at some point. Not immediately; I am going to ask the shop if any of the lines felt loose to them. but if for some reason my engine has one of the rare issues (porosity in cylinder heads or case) then that is obviously a pretty big deal. Not sure if porsche will still fully warranty that or not. The shop did not mention anything along those lines but I am going to ask them where exactly the flake is (cylinder heads, case or coolant lines/fittings).
This is yet another item that the shop that did my original PPI did not notice. Very disappointed in that shop.
Z, crawl under your car and flick off that little pink cylinder like it's a skin tag. See what's under it. Could very well be a pinhole by the looks of it. I've never seen coolant set up like that. Normally its sprayed all over, not concentrated in a cylinder protruding from metal like that.
Spoke with shop in more detail; location is cylinder head area. Said it is an extremely small flake (even smaller than a quarter). When I go pick it up tomorrow he is going to show it to me. My plan is to clean that area off (just as u recommended ed) and see if a new one forms. The shop is not overly concerned; just wanted to point it out and make me aware. Could be some porosity but if it is such a small drop like that every 8-10k miles, seems like a non issue. if it was leaking like crazy and my coolant was indeed low, i'd say then we would have a problem.
Zac - others on here can chime in as they are, perhaps, better informed than me. However, even if you have a coolant line failure, the chances of it being "catastrophic" is slim (unless you're on a track, and even then it may be more catastrophic for the car behind you). I think it would be more of a powering down the engine, and tow to a shop if/when it ever happened. I never had any of mine done, not did the previous owners and at least 2 of 3 had track history. Additionally, my old dealer (Bay Area CA) told me not to worry about it unless I tracked my car. Bad advice? Perhaps...but that hasn't been my experience.
Like @Robocop305 said, keep an eye on it, keep an eye on the ground underneath pre/post drives, and depending on when/if your clutch has been changed out - pin them when you upgrade to a 4.0L clutch kit
I'll take the counterpoint to this.
I'm squarely in the "No 997 should be allowed on track without coolant lines being addressed" camp. Why? Because I've been on track and hit the slick that a 997 dumped...at speed. Car started to go a little sideways then regained grip before it got really ugly. One of the scarier things I've experienced on track. One of my best friends has hit coolant slick, spun and nearly hit a wall. I know others who've had the fitting go close to one of the rear wheels; spun them too. I've also seen cars in the wall as a result.
When I think about the idea that not taking a proactive safety step could possibly injure, kill someone or destroy their car, it's something I'm not ok with. I get the pipes done. I did it on my first 997 GT and I'll do it on the one I just acquired. I agree that if your car will never be tracked, it is much less important. The frequency of cars that let go on the street is very low since it seems the higher stresses and heat of the track are more causal. I don't track as much anymore but the people I do track with are like minded and that takes out one more risk factor in an already risky activity. YMMV.
I'm squarely in the "No 997 should be allowed on track without coolant lines being addressed" camp. Why? Because I've been on track and hit the slick that a 997 dumped...at speed. Car started to go a little sideways then regained grip before it got really ugly. One of the scarier things I've experienced on track. One of my best friends has hit coolant slick, spun and nearly hit a wall. I know others who've had the fitting go close to one of the rear wheels; spun them too. I've also seen cars in the wall as a result.
When I think about the idea that not taking a proactive safety step could possibly injure, kill someone or destroy their car, it's something I'm not ok with. I get the pipes done. I did it on my first 997 GT and I'll do it on the one I just acquired. I agree that if your car will never be tracked, it is much less important. The frequency of cars that let go on the street is very low since it seems the higher stresses and heat of the track are more causal. I don't track as much anymore but the people I do track with are like minded and that takes out one more risk factor in an already risky activity. YMMV.
I know others who've had the fitting go close to one of the rear wheels; spun them too. I've also seen cars in the wall as a result.
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You may be alluding to the large diameter rubber hoses that connect the engine to the radiator plumbing lines (fore -aft under car)?
Yes, they can also fail with results as bad as a fitting popping loose, probably worse since coolant comes out even faster from large diameter failure.
I know it has happened.
Surprised that this doesn't get discussed as / more often than fitting weld / epoxy fixes.
Just think how fast you loose coolant when a line that plugs into here fails.
I'm squarely in the "No 997 should be allowed on track without coolant lines being addressed" camp. Why? Because I've been on track and hit the slick that a 997 dumped...at speed. Car started to go a little sideways then regained grip before it got really ugly. One of the scarier things I've experienced on track. One of my best friends has hit coolant slick, spun and nearly hit a wall. I know others who've had the fitting go close to one of the rear wheels; spun them too. I've also seen cars in the wall as a result.
When I think about the idea that not taking a proactive safety step could possibly injure, kill someone or destroy their car, it's something I'm not ok with. I get the pipes done. I did it on my first 997 GT and I'll do it on the one I just acquired. I agree that if your car will never be tracked, it is much less important. The frequency of cars that let go on the street is very low since it seems the higher stresses and heat of the track are more causal. I don't track as much anymore but the people I do track with are like minded and that takes out one more risk factor in an already risky activity. YMMV.
Track driven car, 100% do them. Lots of PCA regions I think even requires it, along with some tracks. If you don't want to pin lines, run water wetter. Just make sure you change it out before winter if your car is not stored in climate controlled storage.
I had coolant lines done on my car last year, it's street driven only and it has no track history that I'm aware of. However, I couldn't help but think about losing a line when someone was behind me and them sliding off the road. Or the slippery coolant ending up all over my rear tires and me sliding off the road, or into someone like a cyclist. The $2500 cost to pin lines at my local shop was well worth it for the peace of mind. Yes, the cost will be considerably more when you add in the "while you're in there items" such as plugs, coils, belt, water pump, thermostat, fuel filter, rubber hoses (which I didn't do but many do), Sharkwerks elbows, and all fluids including coolant obviously. Being able to have the engine out gave me an excuse to baseline reset the maintenance of the car and save on labor while the engine was already out and things were accessible. I'd also recommend doing a fresh expansion tank with the revised .04 cap. I ended up doing this a year later since I was continually thinking about doing it and when I had the engine out I had to stop spending money on the service at some point.
Chris - congrats on the new GT2 by the way. Looks amazing.
I plan on getting the lines done at some point along with the water pump and thermostat. Given the low mileage on the car clutch will probably not be done at the same time as this unless this work is done years down the line. If I were to track it, I would only with the lines pinned or welded. I don’t plan on tracking it right now which is why I am in no rush. Right now I am just trying to learn the car and it needs other maintenance items anyways like plugs and coils which I will be doing I’m the coming weeks. It is still on original gear oil, plugs, coils, drive belt and fuel filter. I’m planning on doing all these things over the next year.
the pics I showed were of the cylinder head; super small flake of coolant (maybe the size of a point on a pencil). I physically saw it today. Scraped it off and plan on monitoring it. Could mean someday cylinder head may need to be replaced due to porosity but right now it does not look like an issue. The case is fine thank god.
I plan on getting the lines done at some point along with the water pump and thermostat. Given the low mileage on the car clutch will probably not be done at the same time as this unless this work is done years down the line. If I were to track it, I would only with the lines pinned or welded. I don’t plan on tracking it right now which is why I am in no rush. Right now I am just trying to learn the car and it needs other maintenance items anyways like plugs and coils which I will be doing I’m the coming weeks. It is still on original gear oil, plugs, coils, drive belt and fuel filter. I’m planning on doing all these things over the next year.
the pics I showed were of the cylinder head; super small flake of coolant (maybe the size of a point on a pencil). I physically saw it today. Scraped it off and plan on monitoring it. Could mean someday cylinder head may need to be replaced due to porosity but right now it does not look like an issue. The case is fine thank god.
Curious about which shop in Denver inspected the car - please feel free to PM me if you'd prefer not to share publicly.
I also have a shop you may be interested in talking with depending on where you are in Denver - head tech is very knowledgeable and an honest guy. Shoot me a message if interested and I'll get you the details and background.
It's really interesting for how infamous the coolant lines issue is how few cars for sale actually have it addressed.
I bet it's more than you would think, especially as these cars get older. I was at Sharkwerks yesterday and they are booked through the end of the year and a decent amount of work they do includes that fix. I see that as good news.
07-08-2021, 12:38 AM
Gt3 coolant lines question
