My Cooling Tubes Just Went Out (Cayenne S)

[Determined]

Well, I knew it was a matter of time but I did not expect it at 63,000 miles. My Cayenne S left me on the freeway last Friday. Fortunately, I pulled over quickly and I turned on my heat as high as possible when I say my temperature climbing.

I did have most of the parts for the repair but I need to rush to my dealer for a few small parts missing. It took me 6-hours to disassemble and remove the tubes. All my tubes only came out in pieces, this was the longest task. I took my time on cleaning and prepping since I only want to do this once.

It's back together now for the most part, a pressure test was performed with good results...no leaks. Now, I'm waiting for my Airlift 550000 to arrive to finish the job. It was surely a challenge, much more than changing out the drive shaft bearing support that went out several months ago. I'll post some pictures of my tubes installed later.

[Determined]

Here is some pictures of my tubes in place.

This first pictures shows my plastic tubes leaking:


Rear view picture:


Nice Feeling knowing they are in:


Finished!


I pressure tested it at close to 22 psi and no leakage. My airlift system arrived and next is to pull vacuum on the system and back fill it with Porsche Coolant. I can't say it was easy because it was not, if anyone goes into this themselves. I recommend first organize your tools and make sure your kit is complete and that you have plenty of coolant. Lastly, have lots of patience and don't take any shortcuts, do it right and take your time. Hopefully you don't swear as much as I did.

[Determined]

Well, I used my Airlift to pull a vacuum down to 25-26 range and held it for 2 minutes as Porsche recommends. No leaks or any movement on my gauge!

I back filled it with Porsche coolant and it worked out perfect, no air in the system. Test drove it on the freeway and no problems any more, I'm pleased. Next, I hear the coolant tanks go out but I inspected mine and thus far looks good.

[airbil]

Congrats!
It's not a matter of if, but when.
Did this late last spring.
Worked on it for a week on n off.
Agreed it's not ez. The beauty is that with so many connections apart, they can only go back together one way.
I also changed thermostat, water pump, ribbed belt and the two T connections at rear of engine. It sat a few days waiting for a Bosch rebuilt starter. My pipes had not burst but once in there I thought the $175ish for the starter to be well worth it.
Some ends of the plastic pipes des integrated upon removal. There were also signs of slow leaks developing on some of the T connections.
I added coolant without any kind of vacuum device and all was well on the first try.
To do everything I did must take a real tech a full day at least and they would never do as thorough a job due to time constraints.
The usual fails I know of have all been fixed in this beast; rear gate n window struts, center drive bearing, havoc blower fan, radio.
These trucks are solid as a rock..., cept for the dumb plastic coolant pipes of course.

[Determined]

Thanks for the words Airbil, it was somewhat fun to do something different. I love this car and my Carrera as well, they are fun to work on.

[ninelevenick]

Well done and thanks for the documentation.

[tadink]

Looking to purchase a 2008 V6 model Cayenne - is the cooling tube problem applicable to the -6 as well as the -8 engines?

thx

tom

[ninelevenick]

No, you don't have to worry with the V6.

[Determined]

This is correct, it's my understanding that only the 8-cylinders were a problem. However, I believe there are other issues like the coolant tank cracking over time. I think this is true for both 6 and 8 cylinder engines.