Hi everyone,

I just bought an 01 911 Turbo and now have coolant leaking from the pipes going into the engine. I was told I would have to have the engine dropped, replace the pipes and have them welded on. The dealer I took it to quoted me $7000 for this work.

I know this is a pretty common issue so I was wondering if this is typically how much it costs to get fixed? I read quite a few other posts and see prices around $2k to $3k for this. Should I take this to a local Porsche auto shop rather than a dealer?

I also know this is a great opportunity to replace other parts that commonly fail and was wondering if people had suggestions for what else I should try to have done while the engine is out.

Any info would be helpful. Thanks!

 

8 to 12 hrs to drop and reinstall the engine. approx 6 to 8 hrs to remove everything and reinstall the parts. 2 hrs to weld everything up. figure 120$ per hr. no way 7000$ find a good indy mechanic and you should skate for under 3k$. replace the water pump and any rubber hose vacuum line you can get to.

 

Hey man, welcome to the community. Sorry to see your first post be your first problem, but hey, you're in good company - it's happened to quite a few of us.

Others may feel differently, but I suggest you not have this done at a dealership, but at an experienced independent Porsche mechanic. I'm guessing you'll get recommendations from others here in your area. It shouldn't cost you anywhere near $7k, assuming all you do is fix the coolant pipe issue.

But, since you asked, having the engine dropped is always a good opportunity to at least thoroughly inspect things, and fix/upgrade as needed/desired.

In my case, when my coolant pipes failed, I also replaced my OEM clutch with an ERP dual carbon clutch, and did a GT2 conversion, which involves removing the pneumatic assist of our stock clutches and replacing it with the more "honest" GT2 setup. I'd take a hard look at these two things. My car NEEDED a new clutch (right Tim?!), so this was an easy decision for me.

Other items I'm doing, which are 100% elective, include:
Hybrid K24/18g upgraded turbos
New Bosch DVs
New Evoms intake piping
Cat removal from RPi 3" exhaust
Injector upgrade
Fuel pump upgrade
997 Coils
997GT2 RS Intercoolers
Custom tune, courtesy of Tim941NYC

I'll detail all this stuff in my own build thread, and just say again here in yours another warm welcome and better luck with your Porsche very soon. You'll be having a blast in no time.

-V

 

Has anyone tracked the number of cars that experienced this issue vs the number built? Some people say that everyone will happen at some point. If this is the case isn't that the very definition of what a recall is for especially considering the safety and environmental impact?

 

^^^ Yeah, the NHTSA and PCNA. And the judgement is that they're not doing anything about it.

Happened to me, so I take no pleasure in sharing that with you.

-V

 

I had a minor coolant leak in one of my 996 Porsches. I consulted a friend of mine who happens to be a senior tech at a Porsche Dealership, he whispered "Alumaseal". A $6.99 additive to the cooling system is not what a $10 Mil salaried CEO Porsche Owner expects for a fix when he smells coolant after a drive. A $2K-$4K 100% permanent solution is what he wants and will pay for without flinching. Me, on the other hand does not mind experimenting.

 

Find local shop and save. I dumped 6k all ready after one week of owning the car. Replaced to aftermarket clutch, flywheel, coils and sparkplugs and plenum also ripped Outter boots. Evrything was original not bad for 11 yr old car.

 

Sorry to hear about your car. My engine and transmission were just dropped this weekend to replace my clutch and 2nd gear pop-out rebuild. Since my engine is out I am taking advantage of replacing a few parts since it's not much extra labor even though I have no issues other then with my clutch and transmission.

New Engines Mounts= $318.44
New Transmission Mounts= $188.95
New Water Pump= $307.42
New Expansion Tank= $133.22
New Fuel Filter= $39.41
New Accessory Belt= $84.04
New Plugs Denso Ik22= $47.51
New Crank Shaft Seal= $30.43
Pinning All Coolant Pipes

My Porsche mechanic only charges a flat $80 hour and is doing this all for 16 hours labor. It's up too you to have welded but IMO Pinning is the way to go read Sharkwerks technical page here =
http://sharkwerks.com/porsche/techni...urbo-cars.html

 

people can say whatever they like, but there's been nothing that i'm aware of that even remotely suggests that EVERYone will experience coolant fitting failure owing to them coming unglued though if you're one of the unlucky ones, then feeling differently about the topic is understandable, certainly.

so it *might have* risen to the level of recall ( if it were true ) but there is nothing to indicate that it IS true so *it* doesn't and wouldn't. in fact, porsche ( IIRC? ) was found not to be negligible in the ntsb inquiry.

 

Another data point...Mine did not fail, however my indy shop noticed signs of the glue separating. Their advice = weld the 3 most problematic pipe connections. Does not require dropping the engine.
They work only on Porsches and main biz is racing. They have rarely, if ever, seen any of the other pipes fail. I went with their approach. Worst case...one day, I do have to drop the engine.
Final cost was $950 - included 5 hours of labor. Been solid for 1.5 years since this was done.
I highly recommend, whenever 'invasive' work is done to bundle jobs. (if they drop engine - do clutch job, engine bay work - replace all rubber hoses and clamps - do a full boost/vac test) Will save on labor costs in the long run.

 

What is the name of the shop and do you know which three are the problems. I unfortunately just became one of the lucky ones who have the issue. My earlier post was just a question. apparently the Porsche gods didn't like me saying "recall" so they cursed me with the pipe issue

 

I had a small coolant leak recently, couldn't see anything from the bottom of the car so I took it into a Porsche focused indy shop that's local. They looked at it and realized some other shop didn't understand how to reconnect the coolant reservoir and it wasn't plugged in all the way.

It was pretty dangerous since it could have gone at any time, but it was a quick cheap fix. Maybe that's the problem you're having.

 

The leaks are from the coolant manifold fittings. They are glued in. You have to drop the engine to take the manifold off and have new fitting welded in. So as long as the engine is out, think of everything else you'd like done. Flywheel, friction disc, pressure plate, GT2 clutch slave cylinder conversion, motor mounts, tranny mounts, new hoses, tranny cables, etc. The list can go on almost forever, but labor cost of dropping the engine far outweighs the cost of these additional parts.