Coolant Leaking problems of the 2008 Porsche Cayenne

Coolant distributor bolted to the back of engine block has a glued -in pipe that connects to a hose. The glued-in pipe is leaking and half way pushed out of the distributor. The imminent failure of this part could have caused immediate overheat and fire due to catastrophic coolant system failure. The repair is extremely expensive. Porsche has a new part that has the pipe threaded in instead of glued. Porsche should recall this and pay for the repair. This is an obvious design flaw and safety issue. Imagine 8 gallons of hot coolant discharging all over, say a motorcyclist going 70 mph. This issue was noticed while doing other coolant system maintenance that was also necessitated by poor design of the vehicle.

Under moderate acceleration a coolant distributor pipe failed without warning and sprayed/leaked coolant all over the engine bay and underneath the car. The failure occurred at the back of the engine where a pressed in pipe fitting came loose from the engine casting. Repair required removal of the engine at a cost in excess of $3. 500. All the coolant was lost from the engine and luckily I was on a side street and not the highway.

We found a huge leak in the coolant system while the car was parked, a porshe technician identified that on the coolant distributor behind the engine there is a coupler which was glued onto the distributor. The glue detached and the coolant pipe blew out causing the entire engine to lose coolant. I believe that it is a pure design issue and Porsche did not issue a recall on it. It was very expensve to fix that problem due to bad design.

The car suddenly developed a huge leak in coolant. After diagnose, it was identified that on the coolant distributor behind the engine there is a coupler which was glued onto the distributor. The glue will break down over a few years and the coolant pipe be blown out causing the entire engine to lose coolant, which is extremely dangerous. This is a pure design issue and Porsche did not issue a recall on. The most ridiculous thing is that in order to fix it, the entire engine and transmission has to come out, which will cost most than 5000 to 6000 dollars.

In 2010, I bought a '08 Cayenne turbo at 40k miles. Prior to delivery, I had Porsche dealership run a system check to confirm the vehicle was mechanically solid & free of defects. Subsequently, they performed a repair on the coolant pipes (still under factory warranty) and assured me it was in excellent condition to purchase. 105k miles: Cayenne's starter was making noises and not functioning 100% of time, so I brought vehicle to the same Porsche dealership who had been servicing it since 2010. The starter was immersed in coolant. I was informed that my (previously "repaired") coolant pipes had a leak & required repair. I reviewed my previous invoice from original "repair" under warranty at 40k miles & it appeared to be the same issue, same part #s, etc. I received another call a few days later informing me that my Cayenne now had a second coolant leak at the crossover pipe toward the back of the engine near firewall (required removal of the engine in order to repair). The service guy & Porsche tech told me the second leak occurred because the "first" repair (actually the second, if you consider it was already repaired under warranty at 40k miles) then properly pressurized my coolant system, causing the next leak, requiring the "next" repair. Apparently the initial repair done at 40k miles was only enough to hold out until the vehicle was out of warranty. Porsche made the repairs & replaced plastic pipes with aluminum ones this time, on my dollar. I had to pay for two coolant repairs, + a new starter, solenoid, & battery, all collateral damage due to the pipe leaks. '03-'06 Cayennes have well known and documented coolant pipe defects resulting in a class action lawsuit against pcna (see: Cayenneclassaction. Com). '08s + are sure to follow. I confirmed duplicate part #s/labor for warranty repair (no cost) and this repair ($$$). $5,000. 00+ repair. Not a typo.