I went a little different route and pinned/glued the BBI fittings. They fit perfectly and are much more robust than the thin stock fittings. My stock ones looked rough. I'm >4k miles out from the job and there haven't been any leaks (knock on wood). As Ed said, I don't think it matters whether you pin or weld, but it has to be done right otherwise you'll be going back in to do it again.

 

As others have said, both methods are effective. It's all down to who does the work. Pinning is far easier to do properly than welding though. I had my 996T pinned and never saw a drop of coolant leak in the 7 years I had it. My current situation is the result of having a tech not follow the procedure correctly. I took my inspection camera to find the seepage source and the tech pinned a fitting that was already loose using a minimum amount of green loctite. I can see that he didn't bother to remove the fitting and clean/scuff the surfaces but instead just ran a bead of loctite around it after pinning. Welding is labor intensive and often requires multiple attempts because seepage occurs after a few heat cycles and re-welding is required.
Another thing - if you are going through the dealer they will try to sell you new parts for some areas and re-glue others using the factory procedure. Most dealers will not pin or weld anything for you.

 

That's what I'm concerned about right now, Shall I go ahead with the dealer which I have a very good relation with and have the peace of mine for two years under warranty or go the other route and get those done wither with welding which I'm more likely to do rather than pin. The season here is different than the other parts of the world. I want to enjoy it in the winter months since it'll not see much use during the melting summer here.

My dealer would most likely pin/weld things for me or even let me have the part and do it elsewhere but that will not be warrantied and while I keep reading about this issues everywhere it seems a hit and miss kind of situation. Tarrett will weld the manifolds if you send it over and pressure test it but it's a bit steep. calculating how much I'll spend in an indy and the dealer the cost come close to equal.

 

If your dealer is flexible about using non-factory repair methods then consider yourself lucky. I have researched this topic for years and truthfully neither method is better when it comes to results. Anyone who can properly mix epoxy and drill/tap metal can repair the issue permanently. Finding someone who can perform a perfect weld around each fitting without a single pin-hole on the first try is much harder. The weld bead only covers the outside of the joint whereas the epoxy (JB-weld hi-temp or equivalent) seals the entire length of the fitting inside the housing. Combined with a stainless steel screw also epoxied in place the chances of a pin-hole leak are far smaller. My current situation is rare and I haven't read about any other cases of pinning the fittings failing. I'm also in a place where winter is the best time to enjoy my car (Florida). It becomes a steamy hellscape in the summer months. The car can take the heat but I can't. Last summer it was over 100 degrees with 90% or higher humidity and the only place I want to be is in the pool, at the beach or inside my house.
Whatever you decide I hope you end up with a dry garage floor in the near future!

 

Thank you! Yes my dealer is flexible but I'm going to wait and see what method will they use to prevent this in the future. It gets up to 125 here and I can take it out for a spin but reasonably I only do it in the early morning on a weekend when it is in the mid 90's. If you can live with minor leak then kudos. I don't like to drive my car unless it is solid which is becoming hard for our cars because of age. I had Ohlins fitted for couple of months before they recalled them and I'm still waiting for a the shocks from Germany. I miss driving the car and this week I'll probably hit the gym and forget about all of this for a while.

 

Actually Meshari, you're right about wanting the car to be trouble free and 100% leak free. I found another leak this morning that is also very small but it only took 12 hours from my last drive for it to reach the floor. Now I have two small leaks and I am definitely questioning the quality of the work. I sent the shop a link to a video that shows how to proper do the pinning procedure and I'm going to bring it back. I shouldn't have to tolerate any leaks after paying them so much to fix it right.
I am very upset with them now.

 

As you should, since you already paid them for the job the least they could do is fix it. I'd not go all in on them and try to discuss options with them. if they are unable to do it properly they might handle the bill for another shop to do it. I've seen a few videos online for some shops that seems to know what they are doing.

My dealer just informed me it is going to take 5 weeks. I'd usually travel but giving the circumstances we live in right now I might just invest my time reading into this issue deeply.

 

The engine needs 4 days to come out, I was informed that there is a new solution to the problem and now porsche offers a screw in type rather than glue? anyone knows about any of this?

 

4 days to remove engine?

 

4 days for the whole job is reasonable but just to remove the engine that's a long time. Do you know if the screw in solution involves new fittings that actually screw in? That would be an ideal solution but I have not seen that anywhere. They may just be talking about pinning the fitings which also uses screws but still relies on epoxy to keep the fitting from leaking.

 

Are they tapping everything with pipe taps?

 

Yes, I brougt it last week and they removed the engine today. I checked it out and I can confirm the gearbox is mercedes benz.

They are awaiting parts from Germany which takes 2 weeks even though I asked them to deliver it with DHL. but apparently logistics companies are overwhelmed right now.

That I will know more about when I see the parts and confirm the differences. diagrams do not give much info as from what I was told. I'll update the thread once the actual parts come in. Yes apparently Porsche fixed this issue with a new solution as what the heritage asst. manager said to me. I'm not sure... he didn't mention epoxy.

Looks more like threaded fittings... from what I understood as language that was spoken wasn't technical.

I'll try to update the thread as the job goes on.

 

I have not heard about screw in fittings, though you would have to cut threads in the manifolds where they are placed to match the threads on the pipes. I have a call into my P-Car dealer to see what they have to say.

They may mean "knurled" or otherwise modified fittings where the surface has had a patterned machined into it to "grab" the glue.

It could also mean they are cutting threads.

Ed

 

I read a thread years ago in the 996T forum where this was discussed. One member was going to try to get them made but of course the receiving end needed to be have threads cut as well as Ed said and it turned out to be far more work and expense than welding or pinning and the idea never went anywhere.
Doing some searches since this came up here and I haven't found them anywhere online either.

 

Very informative thread, thanks for sharing.

My 08TT6MT is seeping coolant, I’m just waiting for my ## at jbe so I can do rods, studs and the whole pkg in one shot.