Where is the second curved pipe? Is it the one on the PS bracket at the front of the engine? Pics? TIA

 

I've done waaay too much research on those same options and the trade spaces. Read just about every article from near and far.

It's worth the piece of mind to R&R the motor to address this. Otherwise, it'll be a looming issue both in your mind, and in reality. You'll second guess whether you really want to take a trip to some remote canyon roads or desert flats for some hard pulls. Then if and when it happens, it might be on the hottest day of the summer and you're left stranded. Worse still, are the safety implications, to yourself and your fellow drivers. Then there's the liability issue for your motor if you overheat.

Pinning is the appropriate fix for this. With additional Marine JBWeld epoxy on the two elbow joints. If you really research, pinning is a rock solid fix. I can't say I've found one story of a failure after this. Read this - http://sharkwerks.com/porsche/techni...urbo-cars.html

Welding is not a great option. I've read about numerous issues after the fact, with welding. Biggest issue is the likelihood of a porous weld. So not only have you paid a premium for a supposed proper fix, as everything needs to come apart, you may have to R&R the motor yet again for a pinhole leak. And do you know what they tend to fix that with? JBWeld.

Don't bother pro-actively replacing a part for another new factory part. Others again have done this, only to watch their "new" part fail again and have to resort to a non-factory type fix.

Pin! And JBWeld the elbows.

 

JB Weld. The gluers glue of choice!!

All horses agree!

 

Most excellent thread for DIY - http://rennlist.com/forums/997-gt2-g...n-the-car.html

Two curved pipes
1) Passenger side, off to the right and behind the hydraulic/PS pump.


2) Driver side, behind the alternator.

 

Thanks for the detailed response; sounds like good advice. I'm wondering if it makes sense to do a dab of JBWeld proactively to avoid the need to pin or weld? It's a low pressure situation, and JBWeld can withstand the heat. Anyone done that and have long-term success with it?


So far, the only shop I've spoken with so far said the best solution is to weld. Does anyone know of any respected independent Porsche specialty shops in the metro Atlanta area that has the ability to pin the pipes? I know I don't!

 

So far looks like 12.5% of people that answered have had failures. I would guess even less than that who aren't on this forum also haven't had failures.

 

2001, 47,000 miles, bolt on mods (K16 billets, 997.2 RS intercoolers, etc), pinned when I had the clutch upgraded.

 

I'll take my chances. Not worth the money when it may never happen. Others are free to spend their cash as they wish.

 

12% in my mind is already very significant.

Though that interpretation of the population just in this poll alone wouldn't be completely accurate. As that would assume that the preventative group is a part of the "have not failed" group. Some did the fix very early on in their ownership, or were forced to address it as they participated in PCA lapping days.

Taking the current snapshot in time:
Original, have not failed - 113 or 67.66%
Pinned/welded preventatively 34 or 20.35%
Pinned/welded due to a failure - 20 or 11.98%

A better assumption would be that the preventative group falls with neither.

This would make the failure rate 15% or 20 / (20+113)

Also, as these cars trade hands often, I'd bet there may be some owners that weren't aware of a previous failure in their cars that were repaired.

 

i'm suffering paroxysms of laughter at the notion posted above that one should "second guess their decision to go for that canyon drive" because their coolant lines have not been retrofitted. , and yes, i do seem to recall someone following me up as remote a canyon road as one might hope to find, while theirs went at the breakneck speed of 55 mph.

still, i'm not concerned in the least. i drive in remote canyons every single day from one end of mulholland highway to where it ends ( or begins depending upon ones starting point ) at pch.

 

No one's forcing you to do anything about it. We're just sharing our perspectives right?

I'm hardly risk adverse. Though I figure if I'm spending money on upgrades, and pushing my 600hp roller coaster hard from time to time, what's wrong with spending some resources on a known liability? Preventative maintenance.

 

I've not done mine but will at first opportunity. It's a known failure point and age won't make it any more reliable, of that you can be certain. I will likely pin at first opportunity and might be willing to pull parts I can reach to do myself. 12 or 15% is hardly a consolation when you're stranded trying to get a flatbed driver to not mangle your car onto a ramp. The numbers of folks who have found fittings nearly falling off is sign enough to me to get it done at first opportunity.... Meanwhile I'm not going to change my driving habits over it (shrug)

 

I'm sure the failure rate is much lower across the whole 996TT population since it is likely only a very small percentage of people post on this forum and most here probably drive their cars much harder than the average Porsche owner.

That said, it does make me a little hesitant to take any long road trips in the car. Getting stranded far away from home would suck. Thankfully my AAA towing reaches 200mi, so most canyon roads are well within that radius

I'll have the lines done when the engine needs to come out; really don't need anything done at the moment.

 

The numbers were large enough that a federal agency felt the need to look into it and not so insignificant enough that they left the case open for further input. It's also happened often enough that clubs and venues felt the need to make rules addressing it to protect both the owners of our cars and the cars that have been collected behind us when it's occurred. That glue isn't getting better with age...

BTW, this doesn't only effect 996tt!

 

Don't get me wrong, this is absolutely unacceptable and I'm quite honestly very disappointed (not surprised) that nothing has been done about it! Even if the failure rate is below 5%, it is still ridiculous.

All I meant is that we can't live in complete fear either and park the car until we're ready for the fix. I would really like to do it now but spending $3k+ without needing a clutch or any other work is hard to justify.

You'd expect more from a manufacturer like Porsche. Unfortunately they're not the only one. My diesel Mercedes is known for oil cooler seals failing prematurely; fixing it is easily $2k and pretty much ALL the V6 diesel engines have the issue. That is a LOT of cars and Mercedes has done nothing at all about it.