mudman2

I know the PET does not show the pipes but I highly doubt they replace them with nothing haha

Brad_ Any input ?

Cole

When was the service bulletin issued? If it was pre 06 then that would probably be the answer.

Would not be good to issue a sure vice bulletin for cars not yet on the market.

mmmbeer

45/07, as far as i know that means week 45 in the year 2007.

I am clinging to the possibility that my mechanic is right about the MY06 having aluminum pipes installed from the factory... but we'll have too see i guess.

What is the definition of "up to MY06", does that include 06?

Cole

I would imagine that "up to" is including the mentioned model year.

mmmbeer

I imagined so to, but after some thinking it does not necessarily mean so. Does someone know the correct definition Porsche uses?

wirunner

I thought they never installed aluminum from the factory (there's probably still a big plastic stockpile). I know my 06 has plastic bc the dealer told me they 'looked great' when swapping them to the new engine.

mmmbeer

Thanks for the info. This punches a hole through my hopes of the 06's having aluminum originally installed like my Porsche mechanic claims.

Alan05

Hello everyone - first post here... My '05 Cayenne S with 85K miles blew out a coolant pipe. Estimate was $2,400. I asked the dealer to contact Porsche for a goodwill repair. Took 1 day for Porsche NA to respond after I provided dealer with all the service records and they agreed to cover 75% of the repair. Ended up paying $900 but that also included replacing the starter. I believe once you put in the aluminum pipes you don't have access to the starter unless you pull out the pipes. Based on that and the fact it was soaked with coolant I replaced the starter as a preventive maintenance item. Dealer only charged for the part and not labor to install the starter given they were pulling it apart to do the pipes. If I didn't replace the starter the cost to replace the pipes was $600. With the starter it came to a bit over $900.

Given it had 85K miles I thought it was about fair. I do believe the pipes should be a recall item and covered 100% for everyone, but I was happy to get what I got. There are a lot of people out there who have paid full price to repair this design flaw. With all the lawyers who drive a Porsche, I'm wondering how a class action lawsuit has not sprung up for this yet?

In any case, $900 was much better than $3,000 it would have cost to do the pipes and starter without Porsche covering most of the repair for goodwill. On a side note, the vehicle was up to date on all the maintenance which was done at a Porsche dealer. The dealer said the key to getting the repairs covered is to be the original owner (or have purchased it very new used) and to have had the car serviced at a Porsche dealer. Still, it never hurts to ask them to cover it even if you are not the original owner. This is clearly a defect and in no way related to the maintenance on the car. With the goodwill repair they are hoping to keep loyal customers happy so they buy another Porsche and that is why it helps to be the original owner and to have used their dealers in the past.

scottmotorsports

Ok I have it all apart all of the pipes are out. They broke off clean at the fittings, now i have to find a way to get the broken plastic out of the fittings...any Ideas?

jpurdue425

First thing first...

@porsche52
Thank you for the great illustration of this project.

@Vino
Thank you for the Parts List. Helpful

@JohnnyBahamas
Thank you for the Avatar… Defiantly takes the mind off of the frustration. Oh and thanks for the TSI Link. "Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, Teach him how to fish and he eats for a lifetime"! I didn't know that Porsche had such a thing. No wonder I had such difficulties locating a Service manual online. Oh, and Thank you for the avatar!

I will be hopefully performing this task this weekend (pending parts arrival) on my 04 S. I will stop at Costco and get a super sized bottle of Advil as well.

jr1966

Doesn't the plastic and aluminum pipes cover the same area? What difference is there to the aluminum pipes to make the starter inaccessible? Please enlighten because I will be doing the aluminum pipe coolants soon and with my CTT at 72k miles, I may have to replace the starter as well, if this is indeed the case. Thanks.

jpurdue425

All went well! Thanks to the folks here who contributed to the task.

It took me about 4.5 hours (not including fishing for the 16mm socket for 45 minutes I lost putting the torque brace back on... Grrr). I have to say it was a bit of a struggle getting the old plastic pipe out of the block and distributer tube. I was at first reluctant to use the torch as I didn't want to start a fire. I took extra precaution with the fuel feed 16 Inches away from the area. I cut the fingers off of my rubber gloves and zip tied them over the feed as well as the return.

Now that I am finished I suppose I could go on and on about having to spend near $600 due to someones bad idea in engineering. But it wont do anyone any good. My safety wasn't in jeopardy, and since I was attentive to the gauges on the dash nor was the longevity of my motor. I still have great respect for german engineering. I do admit I scratched my head at the placement of the starter when I saw it. I now think it will be just as easy to change it as it would be to on any other vehicle that mounts the starter below.

Once again, thanks for the help.

jpurdue425

Though I didn't remove the starter with either the plastic or aluminum, I think you will be fine. The pipes do not feel as if they are meant to come out on a regular basis.

Vino

jpurdue425,

Good job!!
A great thread for sure and should help a lot of people out from this costly repair.

Hopefully we don't see anyone soon popping their heads through the engine compartments like on the air-cooled forums.

jpurdue425

I can only assume theres allot more headache involved with working on the air cooled models as space seems limited.

I cursed at the brake booster on the passenger side when I was removing the plastic ignition coil cover. Pretty tight there and found removing the 3 bolts holding the booster made life a tiny bit easier. This allowed me to also remove the vacuum line from the bracket and give me a little more room when removing the intake. The vacuum line on the back of the intake distributer almost feels like ABS plastic which usually can become brittle after heating.