Tmistry

Hi all,

I'm considering a 2007 997 TT with ~50,000 miles. The car ticks many if the boxes for me, but I'm concerned about the coolant pipe issue. The pipes haven't been pinned on this car. Simply want to go into this with the correct perspective. Are pinning the pipes a must do, as preventive maintenance, on an 07? What cost can I plan for if there's a failure?

I realize it's subjective, but how would you guys address this on a 2007 turbo? It's a manual and though I haven't seen the DME yet, it doesn't appear to have been tracked.

If I move ahead on this car, I'll be flying in/ driving back, which means about a 1400 mile drive out of the gate. Would hate to have an issue on the way home!

Thanks,
Tim

lliejk

I have an '07 997 TT and this is a task I will need to undertake at some point. From what I have read, it seems that the coolant pipe epoxy failure is more likely on tracked cars, however I have seen posts where the failure has occurred on non-tracked cars as well.

What I have not been able to piece together is whether it is a mileage or time based issue (or some specific trigger, for that matter). I am currently at 33K miles and will probably do this when I need to do a clutch, but I have not taken any long trips, and had the car delivered to me (about $700 in a covered car carrier). That may be a viable alternative for you, if you are concerned about that first trip.

Like me though, I would have that project in your plans at some point (one of two big issues, the other being pinning the cams, though that is not as critical to me based on the number of issues I have seen reported).

Ed

Terry Adams

Mine not tracked went at 90K. Not preventive maintenance, unless you have $$$$ to throw at an issue that may not happen for a long time. Buy, drive and enjoy.

Skwerl

It sounds like it's really pretty random - non-tracked, tracked, low miles, high miles, or not at all, I've seen reports across the board. The 09s appear to be pretty immune to the issue, at least so far. Most of the time when people fix it as a preventative measure it's a "while you're in there" operation while addressing something else. If the car seems to be in good shape and isn't leaking yet, I bet your 1400-mile return drive will be uneventful - well, except for the speeding tickets you might get .

Quadcammer

If you track, have it fixed.

Otherwise, I wouldn't worry about it that much.

Ruskiy

I could be wrong... but haven't we heard about pinned leaking too and not being perfect "when not done right".

I'm not even sure I'd want mine pinned as I don't track.

32krazy!

pinning the fittings keeps the fittings from blowing out of the housing. as the glue degrades you could see some seepage as time passes. if this occurs or a fitting blows out before pinning you can use jbweld liberally push the fitting back in and pin. they will never leak after that.
or you could remove all the fittings and housings and weld them for the same result.

Skwerl

The risk with welds is the temperature cycling can start to crack the welds again. Since the coolant is only running through at a few PSI, pinning it and regluing with better adhesive should be pretty permanent.

Terry Adams

Porsche dealer who pinned mine did it with the updated OEM adhesive.

Did a bunch of "while we are in there" stuff. e.g. new water pump, whether due or not. Also 90K service, on which I saved some e.g. R&R plugs. And Sharkwerks fittings.

PS Did a cross country 8K mile r.t. road trip in Sept. Lot of canyon carving and boost checks. Son drove some; he is no lightfoot. Nothing broke, just added a half quart of oil.

996pp

+1 Terry<br />After owning two 996s and reading all the crap about the IMS bearing i fully enjoyed both of them without any issues other then just regular maintenance, and now im hoping i have the same luck with the 997tt. There are those that will just take a part anything and everything and try to make it better and hope for the best and those that will enjoy it until it breaks then decide to fix it. Im with the later, I don't track my car other then the occasional canyon drives and a few WOT pulls on freeway entrances. That said i think an 1400 mile road trip will be epic in a 997tt.

atcbi5

Over hyped on this forum from fake news sources. Nonsense that is being throttled by independent shops in an effort to make money. Then this nonessential nonesense carry’s like wild fire and becomes unsustainable and the bandwagon of experts loads up. Drop the engine and remove a properly functioning part and rig it with dissimilar metals drilled and tapped and secured with red locktite.

Kevin

The fittings that circulate coolant to the TWO oil coolers are made of plastic. The plastic fails and coolant starts to leak.

If one is concerned, use a Borescope and look for dried coolant traces. Pay your shop to inspect. They can also view all the other coolant fittings. They are either okay or they aren't.. It is a simple task.

With that said, it's a crap shoot when the coolant fittings fail. Don't combine all of the fittings into one basket. You have plastic fittings at the oil cooler and aluminum fittings in place. The aluminum fittings are glued in place.

My opinion is to replace when they fail. When doing a PPI, one should ASK the tech to Borescope all the fittings. If you get your new car home and spring a leak>> you will be paying on average $4K to have this issue fixed (the shop will drop the engine) Cheers.

robhamster

I have an '07 997.1 tt that now has 62K miles on it. at 44K miles I noticed some coolant underneath the car during its winter storage and at 49K miles had it in a shop here where they pulled the engine, welded what they needed, changed plastic fittings to Sharkwerks, did the clutch, water pump and two radiators that had slight leaks as well as a heat exchanger that cooled oil, which was leaking coolant. It was more than I wanted to spend but I now have one less thing to worry about. I never track my car and so it was just good honest wear that precipitated the issues my car experienced.

It is a minor thing that is expensive to fix because of the engine drop.

DesmoSD

In my relentless 997 shopping, I called Porsche specific indy shops to pick their brain and get the best possible on the coolant line issue.

HPDE require them to be fixed for tech and the cause is from the excessive heat cycles during track days. So the problem can occur on the street or at the track and will depend on driving situation is.

A few local shops didn't recommend pinning or welding due to the porous metal and possible leaks. The best solution is knurling the adapter along with a stronger adhesive.

Kevin

If one is going to spend the money to knurl and re-glue.. They better ask the tech to install pins to lock the coolant fitting. Knurling the coolant fitting does not lock the coolant fitting in the casting or housing. It creates more surface area. What is the tech doing for the female casting inside diameter? As the last step a drilled and threaded hole thru the casting and coolant fitting which is then locked by a fastener is a very good fix/solution. Again, removing the coolant fitting and cleaning/roughing up all the surfaces is required. Knurling will help the coolant fitting. But so will 45 or 60 grit emory cloth worked over the coolant fitting and inside bore. I have used glue/pinning and/or welding new CNC'd fittings for 10 years with zero failures.

For future resale, documentation and telling future buyer that your coolant fittings have been re-glued and pinned is a "sales" plus