Porsche 997TT Sharkwerks Coolant Pipe Repair

As I eluded to a few posts ago, I had a little coolant leak to fix on the 997TT.

Step 1: Remove engine. This reads just like a Chilton’s manual eh?

If you were about an inch tall, you could walk into that cave there under the cooler and get to the leaking coolant pipes! Since I am not an inch tall, I have to remove a lot of stuff from the top of the motor to get to the pipes!

Step 2: With the motor on the table, there is a heck of a lot of stuff to remove, so remove that stuff 🙂

The Sharkwerks replacement coolant pipes. Made of metal instead of the crappy plastic the Porsche engineers used. I always laugh at people who claim Porsche engineers know what they are doing all the time. Again, just like the Cayenne….plastic, coolant, and heat do not mix well over the long term.

Driver side intake removed. Still a long way to go!

Underneath the coolant pump, are two fittings, with the other fitting being on the passenger side.

Coolant pump….still can’t see the fittings can you? Hint…I can see both of them 😉

Passenger side intake removed. This one is easy to get.

Right there under the oil cooler. Easy pleasy. One bolt and a couple clamps.

New pipe installed.

Then back to the driver side. The one pipe was almost completely broken in half, and pulling on it finished it off leaving half of it inside the aluminum housing. No big deal, the secret is to pull the oil cooler off and use a screwdriver to knock out the remains from the backside.

Leaving you something like this. The mode of failure is that the pipe splits near the oring area of the fitting.

And the two new pipes installed on the driver side. It takes really small hands to get in there without pulling the entire engine housing, but it is possible…..and a lot less work. For the fitting towards the tranmission, the coolant hard pipes, and starter wiring harness need to be removed/moved to gain access. Still much less work than tearing the entire block off the top of the motor. After that, I finished off by pinning the remaining fittings (which we have discussed on GT3 motors here before), and then reassembly, and shoved back in the car. No more leaks 🙂