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What are the thoughts of applying some type of Epoxy in addition to pinning? Essentially epoxying the same location/area you would weld.
I had a pipe come out, it’s going to get pinned. The one that blew will get fixed via CPO, same as factory; epoxy.
The other fittings will be checked and then all of them pinned. I am thinking after they are pinned why not epoxy weld them? Not going to hurt anything. The Epoxy can be removed later if it needs to be via heat and mechanical methods... What is there to lose?
If so, I have searched and can’t find any epoxy that claims to have some flexibility and be able to resist 250* temps for prolongs periods of time.
JB Weld is great from a heat and strength perspective, it just does not state anything about being able to withstands the thermal expansion (of the casing and the fitting).
sooooo.... my motor is currently out, and I have to take care of these coolant lines. With pieces off motor in hand, should i weld them or is pinning sufficient? Who sells a kit that has the aluminum bits to do this full job?
This has been covered in a bunch of other threads:
--Find a shop that is familiar with a method, weld or pin. Both can be effective, and both can be done poorly. You might post where you are located so people can make a recommendation. (although engine is already out!)
--If the pieces are all off the motor (you basically have to undress the whole topside of the motor to weld) you might as well weld at the point, as if you pin you don't need to go that far
--BBI sells an insert kit if you are welding.
--If you pin use the oem parts. you can weld oem parts but the metal is very thin and no tab to weld to
--For a GT3, it's 2 pipes on the oil cooler. Turbo is 3. Buy the kit from sharkwerks will save you an engine drop in the future. Get this regardless of pin or weld
--have shop inspect all rubber and clamps, expansion tank, etc for refresh
--Check seals for refresh
--Check water pump for replacement, same with thermostat
Thanks for the info... I will buy a kit and weld. From what I see, looks like 10 total fittings on my turbo model? 8 straights that you can get in a kit, but then the two "J" shaped ones that have to be cleaned and reused?
How prevalent is this issue of the coolant tubes blowing off ? Is this a track-day type of situation or is it a common driving-down-the-highway occurence ? I have an 04 996tt with a massive oil leak somewhere around the right (passenger side) timing cover which will require pulling the engine, and I was thinking since this is so friggin expensive in terms of labor, changing out the water pump, clutch and possible pinning or welding the coolant tubes. I'm not sure how big of a problem this is, however, as it appears most of the owners with problems had it happen on the track. Weird, isn't it, Porsche is such a performance designed car, and the coolant tubes blow off, the IMS bearing failure on non turbo motors, and other issues that you would expect on a cheap Chevy, not a Porsche. German hype or just bad luck ????
Your car is 10yrs old. Pin or weld the coolant lines while you have the engine out and pickup the 3 oil cooler sharkwerks elbows. Its not just a track thing. If you're flogging the car on the street same thing can happen. My car had minimal track time, 35k miles, and 2 of the pipes pulled out with little force when I had this done preventative.
Additional things to check/replace while in there: expansion tank, all rubber and clamps, front/rear seals, clutch, water pump, thermostat, drive belt, etc. Replacing all the stuff I just listed was about ~1k in parts on my car (except for clutch), if it goes in the future it's another 2500 for the engine drop. Anyway, your car, but if you plan to keep it's worth doing. Since engine will be out you're adding a couple k on the bill (plus clutch).
I had mine pop last weekend at a DE. I was planning to pin this off-season, but did not make it. The good news is that the motor and all the coolant was behind the tires so the risk to me was no-existent. It was a huge issue for everyone else on track though.
How prevalent is this issue of the coolant tubes blowing off ? Is this a track-day type of situation or is it a common driving-down-the-highway occurence ? I have an 04 996tt with a massive oil leak somewhere around the right (passenger side) timing cover which will require pulling the engine, and I was thinking since this is so friggin expensive in terms of labor, changing out the water pump, clutch and possible pinning or welding the coolant tubes. I'm not sure how big of a problem this is, however, as it appears most of the owners with problems had it happen on the track. Weird, isn't it, Porsche is such a performance designed car, and the coolant tubes blow off, the IMS bearing failure on non turbo motors, and other issues that you would expect on a cheap Chevy, not a Porsche. German hype or just bad luck ????
After you're done pinning, before restarting the motor, you can open the two coolant drain plugs on the bottom and all the coolant in the engine along with any debris will flush down and out. Drain it into a big clean 5 gallon bucket and after you can pour the coolant through a coffee filter into another bucket. If you pin it right and according to the directions I gave you, you should find none to almost negligible debris in the filter, but any, the above method will give you peace of mind. To do a full system drain/flush follow the directions below by disconnecting the hoses at the coolers.
About 2-3 gallons will remain in the system (heater system and such).
After that I prefer to refill with fresh Porsche coolant keeping the coolant to water ratio at 20% as per the GT3 Cup specifications below. Since the initial fill has formed the protective anti corrosion coating within all the internal walls of the cooling system components, the subsequent refill of a 20% concentration is all that is needed to maintain the corrosion protection. The mix of 80% distilled water also makes for a cooler running car as water absorbs and dissipates heat much more efficiently than coolant, anywhere from 10-20 degrees cooler over a 50/50 mix. I also add about 4 teaspoons of Jet Dry to the coolant to improve the surfactant properties of the mixture, which decreases water tension and improves wetting of the internal surfaces, just as Water Wetter claims. I am not a fan of Redline Water Wetter because I don't think it has the same anti-corrosion protection additives at the Porsche coolant, seems to have no lubrication for the water pump, and I've seen where it causes strange fallout of chemicals in the cooling systems.
08-06-2014, 01:03 PM
