Manifold/header/muffler/tail Pipe problems of the 2004 Porsche 911 Gt3

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. . Read more...

While driving the car on track, a coolant fitting broke loose and dumped all the antifreeze down onto the track surface. A vehicle on track behind me ran over the antifreeze, lost control and skidded off the track. The driver of the other car wasn't injured and there didn't appear to be much damage to his car, except perhaps some scuffing of the paint on his front bumper. The fitting that came loose is one of 8 fittings that Porsche glued into place when they originally built the engine of my 04 gt3. When the glue gets old it lets go, and thats what happened to me. I had to flat bed the car from the track to a repair shop, pay them to drop the engine, completely disassemble all the coolant manifolds that use these glued-in fittings, bring the manifolds to a welding shop, have the welding shop weld all the fillitings into place, and then have my repair shop reassemble the entire engine and re-install in the car. This resulted in a considerable expense, and the loss of use of my car for a couple of months while this work was being performed, waiting on parts to arrive, etc. I have pictures of the fittings that had to be welded, while my engine was still in pieces during the repair process.

This is in response to my awareness of NHTSA 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.