997TT coolant leak....help!

[2porscheguy]

So I was just in the process of putting her away for the winter when I discovered a small puddle of pink coolant on the garage floor. Upon further inspection on my lift, it appears to be coming from above the right side of the engine:



Where would the origin be, ya think? OK, what needs to be done to gain access for repair? I've worked on my '80SC but not on a 997 yet.

Thanks for all your help fellow Pelicans!

Cheers!

[JFP in PA]

996 and 997 Turbo cars have a well documented problem with coolant fittings the separate (while all metal, they are actually glued together, and the glue fails). This problem became so bad that some tracks now require all Turbo cars have either pinned OEM fittings, or aftermarket welded units.

Now the bad news; to change all of the fittings (there are 10-12 depending upon year), the engine has to come out.............

[2porscheguy]

I was afraid of that....argggh! JFP, any ideas on how much such a repair would cost me?

Thanks!

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by 2porscheguy

I was afraid of that....argggh! JFP, any ideas on how much such a repair would cost me?

Thanks!

Varies a bit with model year and which "fix" you choose (pinning the OEM fittings or totally replacing them), but I would budget around $1k for parts and $1.5-1.75K for labor. If there is anything else needs doing while the engine is out (clutch, LSD, trans work, exhaust, etc.), this would also be the time to do it.

[David Goodman]

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

996 and 997 Turbo cars have a well documented problem with coolant fittings the separate (while all metal, they are actually glued together, and the glue fails). This problem became so bad that some tracks now require all Turbo cars have either pinned OEM fittings, or aftermarket welded units.

Now the bad news; to change all of the fittings (there are 10-12 depending upon year), the engine has to come out.............

Although it might be the coolant fitting problem, given the volume of coolant I would suspect something else.

Most people experiencing the fitting problem have a catastrophic failure - meaning the entire fitting is jettisoned from the housing dumping a large volume of coolant.

I would start with some dye in the coolant, and a pressure tester. Disassemble the overhead intake and piping until you can actually see the leak. You might be surprised to find it is something simple.

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by David Goodman

Although it might be the coolant fitting problem, given the volume of coolant I would suspect something else.

Most people experiencing the fitting problem have a catastrophic failure - meaning the entire fitting is jettisoned from the housing dumping a large volume of coolant.

I would start with some dye in the coolant, and a pressure tester. Disassemble the overhead intake and piping until you can actually see the leak. You might be surprised to find it is something simple.

Good point, however, we have seen several of these cars start out with small leaks coming from one or more of the fittings rather than an immediate catastrophic coolant dump. But it never hurts to confirm the source before moving forward.

[2porscheguy]

Originally Posted by David Goodman

Although it might be the coolant fitting problem, given the volume of coolant I would suspect something else.

Most people experiencing the fitting problem have a catastrophic failure - meaning the entire fitting is jettisoned from the housing dumping a large volume of coolant.

I would start with some dye in the coolant, and a pressure tester. Disassemble the overhead intake and piping until you can actually see the leak. You might be surprised to find it is something simple.

Thanks for your reply David! This leak is a very small amount...maybe a drop or two per day, so not that sizeable. In fact it's gone from the high mark to the low mark on the expansion tank in about 1 month.

What needs to be removed to gain access to the possible problem area? (You mention the overhead intake and piping.)

Thanks again!

[jud997]

Hello,



I found exactly the same problem on my 997 TT.

How you have solve it finally ?

Thanks for your kind support.

[jcb9025]

I have the same issue, did you figure out where the leak was coming from?

[rufrob]

I just had the same issue. Coolant pipe fitting blew straight out on the highway. Check out my tread on Rennlist called Me too’ed by my car. I posted here on Pelican but I got no love here.
I did it myself in my driveway.
I recommend changing the fuel hose as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rick conrath]

You actually dont need to take out the engine. You can lower the engine down to the crossmember and take off all of the stuff in the way to gain access to all of the fittings. Just removed all of my fittings, jb weld and pinned. Some people decide to weld......different topic. Fixed a bunch of other stuff while I was there.
I will say that when I pulled on one of my coolant hoses, the insert came completely out in my hand. No joke, its an issue with these cars. Not if, when.
Rick

[edgemar]

JFP - what method do you use for the coolant pipes?

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by edgemar

JFP - what method do you use for the coolant pipes?

Welding them in is a once and done fix.