This is in response to my awareness of the federal safety agency pe13-009. I am the third owner of a 2004 porsche gt3 that I use primarily for track driving days and occasionally for street use. When I purchased the car in 2010, I was aware of many reports from owners of similar cars that had experienced sudden coolant loss from any of eight glued-in tube-like aluminum fittings to which coolant hoses are attached. The reports described the catastrophic effects of coolant loss, primarily on the track, that in some cases resulted in loss of control to the affected car and/or loss of control to cars following that car. A number of crashes were reported. These reports are contained in various online forums, including rennlist.com. Because I was concerned about the possibility of this failure occurring to my car, I prophylactically had my engine removed and all eight coolant pipes welded into the aluminum manifolds that they had originally been glued into. I did this at a cost of $2500. I think it would be prudent for porsche cars north america to recognize the issue created by this poor design and correct it by recalling cars that have not been repaired, and reimbursing owners, like me, who took it upon themselves to correct the problem before there were any consequences. It is interesting to note that various similar-engined factory race cars made by porsche during that era, including the 2001 gt3 rs that I own, used a completely different (and more robust) threaded means of attaching these coolant fittings to the coolant manifold.
2004 Porsche 911 GT3 engine complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 26 of 26, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I purchased my 2004 porsche gt3 in may of 2009. It had just under 20,000 miles on it. In august, 2010, I was driving on track at texas motor speedway and one of the coolant fittings came loose from the engine. The epoxy that holds the press-fit coupler to one of the heat exchangers had lost its ability to retain the fitting and came disconnected. All of the engine coolant was lost in a single instance. [catastrophic coolant loss]. I had that fitting replaced by the porsche dealer in dallas under aftermarket warranty. I can provide info regarding the on this at your request, and I have some pictures of the offending part. I had a second (and separate) fitting fail in january 2011 at 35,000 while driving on track at motorsport ranch houston. They same symptoms were found - the press-fit coupling had come loose resulting in complete coolant loss. This was also repaired with a factory replacement part under aftermarket warranty at the porsche dealer in houston. I believe there are 8 known press-fit couplers on the gt1 engine block in the 996 and 997 model gt and turbo cars. Each of these is known to fail based on the press-fit coupler and poor design (use of epoxy on a high pressure component). I understand that this is a known problem on porsche gt/turbo cars and has been discussed on the internet (e.g. Rennlist) for many years. 25% of mine have failed, and almost every other gt driver I know has had at least one fail.
I had pro-active repairs performed on my 2004 porsche gt3 coolant system due to known issue of coolant pipes separating from the engine. I had the repair performed because I was afraid of losing control of my vehicle (it is my daily driver) or causing a crash behind me. The repairs cost me $3900 + ca state tax (7.75%) for a total of: $4200+.
Experienced sudden coolant loss while driving on public roadway. A bonded-in aluminum tube (spigot) on the coolant distribution manifold popped off, resulting in a massive, instant coolant loss. The coolant dumped all over the rear tire, causing the vehicle to go in to an uncontrollable skid, rendering the vehicle inoperable. Luckily myself, my passenger, and no one else was injured. My vehicle is currently at a porsche independent shop in seattle, wa where the engine is being removed from the vehicle to address this failed fitting as well as address all coolant line fittings to prevent future glue failures. The shop is welding all coolant fittings as it seems the factory glue is not sufficient at holding the aluminum tubes together. Total out of pocket cost to me is estimated to be more than $4500 for parts and labor. The following article written by a porsche tuner does a very good job of explaining the problem in detail: http://sharkwerks.com/porsche/technical-articles/327-the-gt1-coolant-pipe-prevention-fix-on-gt1-block-gt3-gt2-turbo-cars.html additional information ascertained from research and discussion with reputable porsche independent shops, race teams, race shops: in these engines, coolant/anti-freeze circulates through aluminum castings and rubber hoses. Hoses are clamped onto aluminum sleeves that are inserted into the bores of the castings and held in with adhesive. Problem: adhesive eventually fails, which allows the sleeves to "blow" out of the engine, resulting in a sudden loss and spillage of slippery coolant/anti-freeze onto the vehicle rear tires and road surface. This causes an immediate and dangerous loss of traction to any vehicle driving through the spill, including the one spilling the fluid.
The coolant lines on this car have well known and documented failure problems. I am very concerned for my safety and the safety of my passengers and as such am going to have the repairs completed as a precautionary measure. With the failure rate of the coolant fittings on these cars, and the usually catastrophic results I do not feel safe driving this vehicle. I'm going to spend my own money to correct a problem that should have been fixed by porsche.
I bought this car brand new from porsche and although it only has around 14,000 miles on it, I feel I must limit use of the car until it gets the glued coolant lines repaired. I have not had a failure yet but the risks of waiting until that happens are high and could easily go beyond the financial aspects and result in physical harm to myself, a passenger, or other motorists. The problem of catastrophic coolant line failure is well known with this model due to the use of glue rather than mechanical or welded connections. As an interim solution I plan to run the car with only water as the cooling liquid but due to winter freezing temperatures in my area, this will have to be undone in the fall. My biggest concern is that a coolant line failure on a public road and on a curve can lead to a multiple car accident for anyone following.
Early coolant pipe leakage at one of the fittings. Unable to repair without engine removal. I chose to repair all coolant fittings at that time.
Previous owner stated that coolant lines disconnected due to failure of the fittings. Coolant was spilled all over the road behind him. Another driver barely missed the coolant but there could have been a major accident. Porsche fixed the problem under warranty, but the fittings were not welded as the fix recommends, merely re-glued. I'm afraid this will happen again.
Coolant lines came loose where they were glued to the motor. I have seen catastrophic failures, and did not want to have an accident. Had the motor removed, and repair shop said some of mine were loose and showed signs of leaking. Had all welded at an independent shop. Porsche would not fix unless there was a failure, and would only re-glue those that were loose.
Failure of factory glued in coolant fitting caused an instant dump of coolant onto the rear tires of the car causing loss of control and a spin. This is a well documented problem in all porsche gt3's and porsche turbo's and porsche refuses to identify the design flaw of having these fittings glued together.
While participating in the one lap of america in 2012 I had a coolant pipe fitting (behind the alternator) come loose causing the car to dump all its antifreeze on the track. 3 cars behind me ran into the antifreeze and had off road excursions but luckily no damage occurred to any other vehicle. Upon further inspection of my vehicle after the incident I observed another coolant fitting to be on the verge of failure. These fittings are glued into the engine block and as the car ages the glue is failing to hold the fittings in place causing catastrophic cooling system failure. I subsequently had the engine removed and all of the failure prone fittings welded instead of glued to prevent this from happening again.
Engine has press fit (and glued) couplings for coolant lines. When coupling fails, there is rapid coolant loss which is a toxic hazard as well as potentially dangerous to traffic.
Pressed fittings for the cooling system failed dumping coolant on the rear tires causing the car to crash. The replacement part failed the same way three weeks later.
Driving in a high performance driving event on a hot day going around a fast right hand turn and felt the car being a little loose then noticed the on board computer flashing low coolant. I slowed down and pulled in to a safe place to check the motor and saw a coolant j shaped press fitting completely popped out and dumping mass amounts of slippery coolant on the engine and rear tires. I popped the fitting back in and safety wired it so hopefully it will not come back out. Replaced coolant fluid with new and burped the system.
Porsche gt1 engine press fit coolant coupling failure. High pressure coolant coupler fails causing rapid loss of all coolant. This is not only a toxic hazard, but a safety concern on the road. Further, loss of coolant jeopardizes engine life. The gt1 engine has 8 press fit couplings. So far, 2 different couplings have failed on my car. 1 on the heat exchanger, and 1 on the steering pump housing.
Porsche gt1 engine press fit coupling for coolant lines. When coupling fails, there is rapid coolant loss which is a toxic hazard as well as potentially dangerous to traffic. Also, without coolant the engine is in jeopardy of overheating.
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