Yesterday as I was driving in freeway, my friend was following me from behind, he noticed smoke and coolant leaking making his car's windshield dirty. So we stopped at gas station and noticed good amount of coolant leakage from underneath which make the back of the car and tires big mess. I noticed, before my friend's call, the handling and grip of the car was little off, I didn't know why but then I realized leaking made the tires slippery. Tow the car to my house and just wanted to report this. It seems lot of people complain about this issue when I started reading about it last night.
The worst 2004 Porsche 911 problems
Ranked by number of owner complaints. Mileage and cost come from what owners wrote.
- Engine8
- Body1
- Transmission1
Problems by type
Tap a problem to see which part fails, at what mileage and in which other years.
- Engine8
- Body1
- Transmission1
Recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Defect investigations
Rapid coolant loss
On April 26, 2013, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE13-009 to investigate 10 complaints alleging incidents of sudden coolant loss while traveling on public roadways in certain model year (MY) 2001 through 2007 Porsche 911 vehicles.The complaints alleged that pipe ends joined by epoxy to certain cooling system components may fail suddenly and separate, resulting in large volumes of coolant leakage.The investigation was opened to assess evidence of a design or manufacturing defect in the coolant pipe fittings and any related safety consequences. In response to ODI?s Information Request letter, Porsche identified a manufacturing quality issue with the supplier?s application of adhesive to coolant pipe fittings that resulted in elevated failure rates in approximately 6,800 early production 997 generation vehicles (MY 2007 and early MY 2008).ODI?s analysis of field data showed that the age-adjusted failure rate for these vehicles was approximately six times greater than MY 2001 through 2005 996 generation vehicles and MY 2008 through 2011 997 generation vehicles built after a process improvement for adhesive application was implemented by the supplier.Most of the leak complaints reviewed by ODI did not appear to involve complete separation of the fittings and many were detected when the vehicle was parked.There were no crashes or injuries reported to be related to the alleged defect in any of the subject vehicles.ODI identified two allegations that coolant leakage resulted in loss of control incidents, but neither involved vehicles affected by the assembly process quality issue.A third loss of control allegation involving a vehicle built during the period affected by the supplier process concern is not counted since ODI was unable to contact the owner to confirm the incident.See the full closing resume in the document file for PE13-009 for additional information about the subject cooling system and ODI?s analysis of field data related to the alleged defect. A safety-related defect has not been identified at this time and further use of agency resources does not appear to be warranted.Accordingly, this investigation is closed.The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by the federal safety agency that a safety-related defect does not exist.The agency will monitor this issue and reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances.
PE13009
Technical service bulletins for the 2004 Porsche 911 383
Bulletins tell dealers how to fix known problems. A warranty extension means the manufacturer pays for that repair for longer.
- Parts Information for Parts Withdrawal
- Parts Information for Parts Withdrawal
- Parts Information for Parts Withdrawal
- Parts Information for Parts Withdrawal
- Parts Information for Parts Withdrawal
- Parts Information for Parts Withdrawal
- Manufacturer's Certificate for Overview of Approved Porsche A40 Engine Oils
- Manufacturer's Certificate for Overview of Approved Porsche C30 Engine Oils
- Manufacturer's Certificate for Overview of Approved Porsche C20 Engine Oils
- Manufacturer's Certificate for Overview of Approved Porsche C40 Engine Oils
What 2004 Porsche 911 owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
The m96 motor supplied with this vehicle line has had the following problems. Engine block leaks the block is porous. Resleeved cylinders were maker fix ,the sleeves moved causing engine destruction. A main crankshaft bearing was designed out. Allowing the crankshaft to move frt to back and with gravity causing a failure of the rear main seal could not fix if crank had moved more than a few degrees from orig spec.primary problem ims( intermediate shaft) failure. Result, complete destruction of motor. No fix from manufacture. After market only supply. Over ten thousand after market repairs done.conservative apx cost $,3000 I have much more evidence.
My gt3 has cooling pipe on the engine external to the block. I have read this is a systemic issue with the engine used in gt3 and turbos (metzger motor). A fitting comes loose due to adhesive failure resulting I loss of all or most of the coolant fluid. The repair requires engine removal and repair of the fittings. There is some issue as to the proper or best repair approach. What is know is that the adhesive failure is almost sure to occur. I have been lucky as I have few miles on my vehicle and have not yet experienced this failure, but very concerned this will occur and the sudden loss of coolant fluid will most like result in a spinout or crash. Even if no accident were to result, I am out of normal warranty, this failure will set me back $1500-2000. I have followed reports of the numerous failures of these fittings on 6speedonline.com. As I have not yet had a failure, I still want to register my concern should there be a the federal safety agency directed recall to porsche.
The event happened in 2008. Purchased porsche gt 3 from porsche dealer in 2006. Accelerating onto a limited access highway from an entrance ramp the car made a violent fishtail movement in a counterclocwise direction causing a 180 deg. Spin. I tried to correct but no response and then applied brakes heavily but car continued its movement eventually hitting a concrete barrier in the right rear. The car had to be towed and eventually totaled by the insurance company. At the impact site I did notice fluid on the road and also back up the road. Since my wife was injured and needed to be taken to the hospital, I was more focused on tending to her but as I look back and also reading about the coolant problems this car is having I would not be surprised if this car had a discharge of cooling fluid. As a side note, I do hold a competition drivers license with the scca and have competed for over 30 years and have owned porsches for over 40 years. I presently own another 2004 gt 3 and very concerned about this problem. *tr ## VIN failed ##
The above car has a factory water cooling system that involves aluminum piping that is epoxied into the block after approximately 24 months of use the epoxy fails and all the coolant is evacuated from the system all over the engine and the ground the motor could seize and the coolant on the road in that volume creates a dangerous situation for other drivers.the epoxy fix offered by porsche failed 3 times for me (twice more subsequently)until I had a shop weld the aluminum pipes to the block. *tr ## VIN failed ##
The coolant lines are glued in by factory to save costs. However the glue is failing and the coolant lines pop out and anti freeze is dumped everywhere causing an unsafe condition . Porsche is aware of their problem but doing mothing about recalling older cars to be repaired. I paid to repair my car independently but porsche owners are being encouraged to report this safery issue.
Traveling at a speed of 30 miles per hour at a low RPM, I heard a loud grinding noise underneath the car. Initially I thought road debris was caught underneath the car and I was dragging it along while driving. I quickly turned the car to the right off the road and turned the motor off. Underneath the vehicle I noticed all of the engine's oil spewing out from the bottom of the engine. I contacted my insurance company and arranged for a tow vehicle. I thought an object struck the undercarriage of my car. The car was inspected by my insurance company and determined to be a complete engine failure. No evidence of a road hazard perforating the engine was seen. Since I filed this letter I have learned that my engine suffered an intermediate shaft failure. This is a defect in the m96 porsche engines (1999-2009). This defect occurs in water cooled porsche engines. Porsche motor company denies responsibility in these vehicles but recognizes that engine failure do occur. I have accurate records with the cost of the repair. How can an automobile company recognize that a defect exists but will not issue or be responsible for repairs? Thank you for your help. Updated 09/12/11
Driving on freeway when heard a weird noise from the back of the car and a message in red came up on the instrument cluster, lost power to engine, pulled over and oil leaking from engine. Engine completely destroyed due to ims failure. Engine was replaced with re-manufactured engine by dealer.
Compare the 2004 Porsche 911
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Questions about the 2004 Porsche 911
Is the 2004 Porsche 911 reliable?
Owners have filed 8 complaints about the 2004 Porsche 911, 1.6 times a typical 911 model year.
What is the most common problem with the 2004 Porsche 911?
Engine and cooling, with 8 complaints, typically around 17,042 miles. Next is body (1).
How many recalls does the 2004 Porsche 911 have?
No recalls on record.
VIN decoder
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