Pin / weld coolant pipes in Seattle - who did you use?
 

My 997.1 is dumping coolant w/ 48,000 miles, located in Seattle. Curious what shops others have used for this repair and if they pinned or welded. My normal shop is Gerber but was also considering Cantrell, thoughts/advice?

Sorry to hear. You absolutely sure it’s just not something else?

Call Kevin at UMW.

I had a slow leak from somewhere for about 6 months but not really noticeable and it seemed to be AC condensation most of the time. I then had the oil changed a month ago and the shop said they were surprised the low coolant warning hadn't come on yet as they had to put in a fair amount of coolant to bring it back to the max level.

Yesterday, after a 100 mile drive the coolant warning came on and it took almost 1 gallon to fill it back up and I made it the 100 miles back home without the warning light coming back on, water temp was 175 the whole trip which is around normal.

Shut the car down at home and there was a a large continuous drip (almost a stream) of coolant coming from under the engine, dripping off the oil pan area. This leak continued for an hour or so with the car parked, there is coolant in multiple areas on the bottom of the engine as well. Looked this morning at the reservoir and it is maybe a third to half way full so I am guessing I lost a gallon or two coolant.

Your passenger side return line and or the elbow has been compromised. A borescope could immediately pin point it. I have one that I use for diagnostics.

atcbi5 - if you are correct does the engine need to come out to fix this?

Filled the reservoir back up today then started the car for a minute and shut it down and refilled reservoir. In total it took 1 gallon to fill it back up to max.

Can’t go wrong with Cantrell.

There is a quick fix for the and very doable on that side of the car. It took me about 4 hours to perform it. You can reach that elbow and the return line that feeds it. So no engine drop to correct it if it’s the problem. What usually happens is the return line comes from the right passenger turbo. It’s pathway is upward and makes a turn and goes between the intake runners. It transitions form an aluminum type tube to a compression type rubber hose. That hose joins the plastic elbow that feeds the heat exchanger. Worst case It’s this hose that begins to rupture and dumps coolant in the heat exchanger area. You’ll see the coolant drip at the rear next to the oil reservoir area. Or...the elbow begins it’s gradual breakdown and moves opposite of the bolt that holds it in. The coolant under pressure leaks at that area and collects atop the engine. I will post some pictures of the fitting. I discovered mine via the camera that I have. I took video of the elbow leaking when I pressurized the system. You could clearly see the elbow not aligned and coolant leaking.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...9bdbb6af4.jpeg
Hose ruptured and dumped half the contents of the coolant reservoir. This happens more than you would think. Most on these forums WILL have this happen. That why I call the car the TTB( ticking time bomb). Most misunderstand my posts but it is the truth. A weak point in the design and is caused by a lateral movement of the part.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...804f5aeb7.jpeg
My fix.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...a51662439.jpeg
Coolant leaking at around the oil reservoir.

I think that every 997TT owner that has not fixed/pinned there coolant fittings AND replaced there heat exchanger 90's should invest in a Borescope.

Yep, saved me tons of troubleshooting work with friends.

Walter and Mark at Gerber are known entities, not sure who's there now. Cantrell and Dundon are very familiar with these.

Cantrell is the only shop that will ever touch my Turbo.

Schedule an appointment and take the car in and they will tell you exactly what it needs or it doesn't.

I have lift and full garage of tools so I do most everything on my own, but when I can't do something it goes to Dundon Motorsports in Gig Harbor. I live in Bellevue but they're worth the trip down south.

Not me, I go nowhere near a dealer or independent shop. I repair my own Porsche. Only to Champion Motorsports for wheel and tire mounting and alignment. I did when I had warranty after that I am the warranty.