JG 996T

6Mezger

Murphy's Law clearly states, "I will happen to you when your are the farthest from home and at the most inopportune time." It happened to my babied car with just 10K miles (never been tracked)!!!

It appears there is a bunch of bad mechanics out there. I just welded all the coolant lines on my car (I'm not a mechanic,) and I did not have to do "the whole engine out service..." Lower the engine to the max and everything can be pulled.

That's absolute bull. A skilled welder (the guy who did my car) can do this job and it will be permanent. Welding is 1000 times superior to putting a bolt through an aluminum fitting.

bmwtmx

I had a 996TT that served as my track car for 2 years and a 996 GT2 that was driven....well lets just say pretty hard. I now have a 997TT that is pretty much babied. With that in mind the coolant hose issue to me is a forum-generated over-reaction to a seldom seen occurrence that, while it may happen, affects a very small percentage of cars. The fix is ridiculously expensive and is not guaranteed. I looked into doing this on my 996TT and was advised NOT to by 2 race shops down here. I find the coolant-pipe fanatics fall into the same category as the DME fanatics who think the motor will spontaneously blow up if your car was over-revved. Again, this is my opinion but my experience and that of the shops I use brought me to it.

Skwerl

I disagree with the DME weenies as much as anyone, but the coolant pipe stuff seems a little different simply because there are real world examples to point to. People with hoses popping off, leaks, etc., vs DME stuff where nobody has ever found a Turbo that broke due to old overrevs. I am still in the camp of "fix it if it happens," though, because there doesn't seem to be a huge risk of catastrophe if it does let loose, unless you run the car dry and overheat it. There's a massive thread on PistonHeads somewhere with someone (who posts here, too) whose pipes dumped his coolant while he was doing 170mph or something and he burned up his motor and needed a replacement. That's definitely an outlier scenario and worst possible case.

F1CrazyDriver

Well the nice thing about planning is you know how long the car will be down vs. unexpected. Second, you don't have to pay tow fees or deal with the tow driver fking up your car. Third, it's not scheduled therefore your mechanic is backlog and your car waits outside the lot until bandwidth is available. Fourth, any other potential issues that could happen because of coolant hose ; example , trip ruined, potential accident, etc.

As for the 08-09 remarks of different glue. Ha ! Explain that to 2011 gt3rs 4.0 i had in hands, 7k miles....no track time.

Rambler_13

bmwtmx

I am just saying that the coolant issue has affected an extremely small percentage of cars built and to go out and spend literally thousands on a solution that is not guaranteed is a waste of money. My car blew a hose one time on track (the hose split) and I ran it on the track for 2 years. I knew a few other guys who had 996TT at the track with no issues. I always believe a good PPI from a good shop and "eyes on the area" throughout your ownership is enough. 2 race shops down here both advised against doing this unless I really really wanted to so I would take their opinion. I am not saying this has never happened before, rather I am saying it is a seemingly random issue that affects a handful of cars. I am on my third turbo with this motor and never had a problem so I would rather save the money instead of pulling the motor and opening a can of worms if things don't go back together right.

Dguth

Whether you plan to fix it proactively or wait till it occurs may be a mute point if you plan to take it to a track. Tracks are now requiring you to show proof that the lines have bee replaced, pinned or welded. For example just this past year at Mid Ohio they passed a rule that all 997s have to show proof or they are not allowed on the track. Mine is already done and I have the proof but I can imagine many others do not. Not sure how many other tracks are following what Mid Ohio did but if one does it, I'm sure others will follow suit if not already.

cstyles

Do they not give you the choice to instead run without coolant ie distilled water + water wetter? PCA UCR chapter rules here are all Mezger powered cars must A. have the coolant pipes pinned or welded or B. coolant flushed from the system and replaced with water & water wetter. I have gone the WW route for now, as did the previous owner of my car who is a PCA instructor.

Dguth

That was not presented as an option with our PCA rules for the mid Ohio track days. Sounds like it was a rule passed at the end of last year. It kind of surprised me when I saw it as I didn't remember any discussions/debate about it.

Kayaknfly

MadScience

Extra power should change nothing WRT the coolant leak issue. Extra RPM, or more time at high RPM will. As does age, and potentially heat cycling.

After the fact repairs are a bigger deal if the car slips in its own coolant spill and crashes.

My car is street driven, so I've noted this as something to do if/when the engine comes out. If I was tracking the car, I'd deal with it pro-actively. I'd also probably be running distilled water in a car I tracked more than once. Out of all the automotive fluids, I detest the feel of coolant the most. Of course pure water may lead to cavitation, which can cause all sorts of other "fun" issues.

SteveS83

After much reading and research as well as feedback on this thread, I'm on the side of waiting if/when that event occurs as it seems to be a rare occurrence. I think that a large number folks on a forum tend to join to find out about problems and sometimes create a frenzy over a seldom found issue. I'm not at all saying it doesn't happen, and as 6Mezger stated - Murphy's Law... When the time comes for a new clutch or some other engine drop service I'll probably tackle this as well. Welding vs. Pinning yet to be determined but I'd think welding is far more permanent, assuming the job is done right.

I'd rather that couple thousand dollars go toward an EP right now!!

Thanks everyone for your input!

SteveS83

The only NNJR event I've been to was the new member event at Paul Miller, but plan to do more...especially tech events. The picnic does sound like a good time - family friendly I assume? I do want to do some HPDE days but honestly I need to get back into the swing of driving a manual. It's been so long that if I did a track day the next owner/weenie of my car will look at that DME report and walk away!!

Paul Miller seems like a good shop, but just very expensive...like $400 for an oil change. I got a similar impression from PowerTech - but again only used them for a PPI. I'll check out Aspen. I'm in Denville so for me either shop is close.

Thanks for your help, and hope to meet you at an NNJR event one day.

-Steve

Nate Tempest

Considering the upgraded epoxy alone almost never fails, I'm confident properly pinned lines would literally never fail. (And even if somehow they did (extreme overheating maybe) the pin would ensure it wasn't catastrophic.) Welding seems like overkill to me. Not that it'll hurt if the cost is comparable I guess!