cgfen

yes, I've seen my local tech do it twice.
not fun, but doable.
but then he has 35+ years experience too.

cgfen

and brought to the top again.
Thanks Steve W, I'll use this as a guide when I perform engine out playtime this winter.

Craig

Marv

Thank you, Steve, for this write up. I just found it!

One trick I might add with respect to keeping the risk of metal chips getting into the coolant passages, instead of a normal tap, use a thread forming tap. These are available from McMaster-Carr. (link to 8-32 UNC)

Thread forming taps compress the material to form the threads instead of cutting them. That means no chips!

The downside is you require a larger drill for the hole. For an 8-32 thread you need a #25 drill.

Steve W

Guys, glad to hear this thread has been helpful, and a bit surprised to see it's still going on 6 years later! cheers

awew911

BTW - Just had motor dropped this week to do a rear main seal, clutch assembly, and sharkwerks pipes. Inspection of the in-car pinning job I did showed no leaks after a few thousand miles.

Thank you Steve!!!

OpieT

This thread should be mandatory reading for 997 owners! Thanks Steve, greatly appreciate your leadership.

Turboslut

I see you are in Florida...where did you get the work done if you don't mind me asking.

awew911

The pinning of the pipes I did myself.

Wasnt bad once you have all the tools.

The clutch/rear main deal/sharkwerks pipes were done by Porsche Jacksonville.

Streetmasters

Has anyone in the Houston, TX and/or surrounding areas know of any shops they can recommend that have performed this work successfully? I realize this is a DIY. Props to Steve for the amazing write up.
Cheers
Jz

*Edit: Spoke to Rennsport, all good.*

Fecotrentini

I'm droping my 07' 997TT engine this week due to a minor coolant leak - seems like its the plastic elbow failure - and will do the pinning following this DIY.

For the record, never tracked the car and has 17k miles

Thanks Steve

BDCGT3

Wow, no tracking whatsoever, only 17k miles of driving on the street and already a coolant leak that seems to be from a failing plastic elbow.

Although I am relatively new to the world of Porsche GT's and despite having previously used the "search" function rather extensively in search of an answer, I was unable to ever ascertain if any attorney who specialized in class action lawsuits [and of course owned a Porsche with this widespread manufacturing defect, not to mention routinely perused this forum], had ever weighed in on whether or not this matter possibly merited being addressed from a class action lawsuit standpoint?...I am guessing the answer might be in that enormously long sticky about the subject, that I tried to wade through before finally giving up at the 80th comment or thereabouts...it just seems absurd that something that routinely rears its head at track events [not to mention with street driving too apparently], thereby putting anyone and their vehicle behind a Porsche dumping its coolant all over the track/street in harms way, does not mandate that the manufacturer be obliged to issue a formal recall to correct this widespread problem at their expense!?

These days there seem to be successful class action suits for things that one would think hardly merited the trouble of filing...but in this case, not only does it involve a well known potentially dangerous automotive defect, something where seemingly in the past often just the threat of a class action suit against many automotive companies would bring manufacturers to the table, but in this case the corrective action of needing to pin the coolant pipes usually requires removal of the engine and thus represents a hefty expense for the owner.

I am reminded that in 1989 or 1990 and within a year of my having purchased a 1988 BMW M5, I received a letter saying I could expect to receive a cash settlement of, as best I now recall, something like one or two thousand dollars...which represented an agreed to settlement with a female attorney who owned a 1988 M5 and who threatened to file/or had filed a class action suit against BMW for importing 1200 1988 M5's and not the maximum 600 hundred or so that BMW had first advertised...her argument being that in doing so BMW had diluted the exclusivity and eventual value of M5's purchased by the first six hundred of us...while of course I happily cashed that check, I nonetheless could not help but wonder about the merits of such a lawsuit to begin with.

LateBraking

I feel like this should be a sticky, with the influx of new members that refuse to pay to get such a service done. If they were aware that it can be done so economically maybe they would choose to do so.

boxhead

Thanks, Steve. Great write up!

For anyone who's actually done it, what do you think about only drilling to 6.5mm, as to not pierce the fitting and no chance shavings could enter into coolant system. It would be easy with a drill bit stop. It's not as strong as a through pin, but if it got .5mm penetration seems that would be plenty strong enough.

Mike Billings

There's lots of room to work in the engine compartment after you move some of the equipment out of the way! 2007 turbo

JG 996T

Nice thread. Looking to pin-in-place (2008 turbo). Anybody in NNJ have this done?