bweSteve

yep. Good friend of mine had his blow out on his Turbo out on the back roads. Thankfully he was not in a turn & pushing it hard. But it did leave him stranded for most of the day.

As FFaust, Bxstr & others have said here, it happens to BOTH NA & Turbos due to the age of the glue.

TheKane

Thanks for the responses, and all good points. I'm not looking for reasons to NOT have it done, just sharing information I'm getting and I hadn't previously heard about coolant pressure differences. I have a shop in Germany near the Ring who will do it as they are friends of mine, but I'm getting resistance elsewhere.

Raghu

The more I think about this, the more I wonder: It takes 5-10 years for this catastrophic event to occur. I have a feeling it is a combination of deterioration in the adhesive and reduced compliance and elasticity of the hoses that work together. Surely the hoses get stiffer over time as does the adhesive deterioration. The stiffness of the hoses (reduced compliance) probably increase peak pressures under load and the adhesive can no longer handle that load especially due to deterioration.

So this might be a solution: First drain coolant, remove the rings, throw away all the rubber hoses in the coolant system. Put new adhesive (factory spec or better) and a new hoses all the way around according to Porsche factory specs, let them set and put the rings back on. Put some compression or tourniquet on all the adhesive containing interfaces and let them dry to Porsche factory specs and then fill the coolant tank back up. Key feature might be to replace all coolant related hoses simultaneously.

If this procedure is successful the new system may offer 5-10 years of safety like the original. Perhaps we need to consider the coolant hoses and adhesive as a consumable just like tires and brake pads.

I am sure this will not be cheap but it seems like a more natural solution to an aging problem rather than putting in a hole in the metal and a bolt or screw to hold the rubber hose from leaking. If the adhesive gives the coolant could leak even with the pinned hose.

What do you all think about it?

Dervish

Just had the pipes welded on my RS, a must do.

monk46

Pinning the pipes means you will never have a catastrophic separation. I had my .1 re-glued and pinned along with a host of other common maintenance items
(water pump, clutch, hoses) at the 35K, 10-year mark. It seems a wasted opportunity to not pin or weld with any engine out service. I am not aware of any downside.

globed

I've got my 2011 GT3 (US-model) in Europe... where we can extend the factory warranty until 15 years. Just had an issue with the Front Axle Lift, so thrilled for the warranty coverage. Pinning the coolant lines is a no-no for warranty coverage (well, at least on the engine). Of course I can find a lawyer and make all sorts of claims about the pinning not causing whatever issue I might have... but fighting a car company isn't much fun. A bit cr*p having to choose between addressing coolant lines and warranty cover. Has anyone gotten Porsche to cover an engine issue under warranty with the lines pinned or welded?

Parikh1234

I’m not sure how relevant this still is but I had my 997.2 gt3rs engine out and asked the dealer after someone on Reddit told me to ask. I’ve been aware of this issue for a while but figured with 40k hard miles I might be an oddity.

Turns out there is a new updated parts kit with new water pump etc. added about $3k to the bill. Having it done.

Bxstr

Are they pinning/welding the lines? Or are they just re-glueing them? I wouldn’t necessarily use even an upgraded part. I would want them to be fixed in place somehow.

Curious since I think yours was the .2RS that had some water get in it, did you end up buying the car back?

CMDMD

Year: 2010
Model: GT3
Mileage: 48k
Circumstances surrounding failure: Turn 3, Thunderhill West. Mid turn felt a little loose then billow of steam behind the car, all the coolant on the track
Specific Coupling: top drivers side
Repair Solution: pull motor. Lines pinned as detailed on sharkwerks DIY on their website

Upgraded to LWF and loving it!

Bxstr

Glad you got it sorted. May want to report it to NHTSA. Lots of us have done this in hopes that Porsche will have to step up and take care of this issue.

https://www.nhtsa.gov/report-a-safety-problem#index

LFTOFFOVRSTR

Year: 2007
Model: GT3
Mileage: 39k
Circumstances surrounding failure: Turn 6, Homestead Miami speedway Fitting failed buddy behind me caught it, And I was able to shut down the car in 30 Seconds, didn't overheat.
Repair Solution: Car is flatbed home getting coolant manifold and SW fittings welded in.

GlenGT3

this was the incident in Pedro’s video?

LFTOFFOVRSTR

Yes! That was me, funny thing is last month I made an appointment with my race shop shop to have the lines welded first week of May. Since the previous owner tracked the car at one point I figured it would last one more day. I guess I was harder on the car then the last owner.

Robocop305

Sorry to hear about the failure. Who’s doing the work?

GT3_Toby

Year: 2010
Model: GT3
Mileage: 48k
Circumstances surrounding failure: just before the fast left-hander at Schwedenkreuz at Nürburgring Nordschleife. Long fast straight (~250km/h) before the break point, suddenly billow of steam behind the car, half the coolant on the track. Fortunately it was in the early morning hours and just few cars on track. 991 GT3 behind me must have been scared as hell - just like myself. Stopped immediately and put car in a "parking pocket" (is that the right word!?), turned engine off once safely stopped. No damage to anyone else nor me nor the engine.
Specific Coupling: Don't know yet
Repair Solution: Not sure yet, workshop will look into it this week