Getting disillusioned... need some guru advice please...

Okay so I think from my previous recent posts most are aware that my Turbo is currently 300km away at my OPC getting some repairs. In particular it's away getting a coolant housing replaced after it blew a bonded coolant pipe off this housing component. This is the 2nd one that's blown off in the space of 3,000km. With this second failure it left the OPC scratching their heads as to the cause. I did my own research and the feedback I recieved from a well respected independent was that they have seen this failure before a few times. Although rare it's not uncommon, is seen between 60,000 and 80,000km, and generally if one goes you replace both housings as the other is like to go shortly after... which seems to have run true in my case. The OPC were pretty confident that there was only the 2 housings, yet with the engine now out they discovered a 3rd. They are now asking me if I want to have this final housing replaced as a precaution. Apparantly it sits close to the water pump so is only possible to replace with the engine out... hence now. The thing thoe is that this housing is 4-5 times the price of either of the other 2, and more frustrating it's likely to be at least another 4-5 weeks off the road while they await the part from Germany. Which will see it off the road for close on 10 weeks. So my question... would you replace this 3rd housing as a precaution? To say I'm disillusioned would be an understatement... although I value my dollar, I value my time even more... Any advice is welcome... Kiwi

Absolutely you simply must replace it, if it were to go once the engines back in that would be sickening. I know its hard to wait and pay the extra but you know in your heart that you must do it. I run trucks here in england and we often encounter the same dilemmas. Could you not source the part from anywhere else yourself? best of luck Mike

Best to wait all this time now than have to wait again in the future :evil:

If you plan to keep it for a while then yes(for peace of mind). If not planning to keep it for a while I'd not bother.

3 oshit. The one under my alternator went about the same time as yours (1st) which got fixed under warranty!! Its now out of warranty. Did you get a pressure test done when you had the first one fixed? My rad failed at that point as well.......have your rads failed yet?? I think I'll be off to buy that warranty sooner rather than later. I know how you feel about your 996 Turbo, I felt the same about mine, It's spent so much time in the garage, you are just waitng for the next thing to go wrong... :sad: The part that failed on mine was on top of the engine and under the alternator, OPC said it was an engine out job, but my indie managed to do it just by lowering the engine on it's mounts.I don't suppose you have much choice in NZ though for a second opinion/quote!!

sucks...but you'll be constantly worrying about it and won't enjoy yourself properly if you don't get it replaced....has to be done. +1 for the indy though, even if it's an extra 100Km away!

The first bonded pipe that blew they were able to do in place. With this second bonded pipe they just indicated it was easier to drop the engine (I've posted some pics on my other post of this). The thing thoe is that talking to my OPC even they don't know if it's worth replacing the 3rd component. Which is kind of frustrating when they ring me up, advise there is a 3rd pipe/housing component that they weren't aware of and although it's fine now do I want to replace it... when I ask what would they do, they don't know... :dont know: They haven't indicated any issues with the radiators and as far as I'm aware they haven't been replaced. Likewise with the first repair they did pressure test the entire system well beyond the normal operating range. With the cost of this 3rd housing part being quoted at about NZ $2,150 (approx 800 pounds), and the fact that they are unable to advise if it should be done I've asked them to do some additional research as I do feel it's a little unfair for me to make a decision if they don't know themselves, as I am paying for their expertise and advice on this matter by having them do the work. I have a Porsche roadside assistance package that will recover and repatriate the car to and from my closest OPC in the event of breakdown. So going to an independent hasn't really been a choice.

can you get them to give you the Part number for the £800 part, then we can all look for you as well.... I'd also like to know as I've had one part blow and no one mentioned another 2 The part that went on mine was 996-106-039-73. It was £95+vat. Previous Post. http://www.911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t=51368&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight= BTW you will now always be driving with one eye on the rear view mirror, waiting for that plume of white smoke to appear!!!! It's a pretty poor show on the OPC for asking your advice, you could charge them $2000 for the advice and call it quits

The main pump housing is £844 inc VAT in the UK. Is this the piece they are referring to? (Item 1)

911C996TT - the part you had replaced is item 15:

OK, so are we counting the 2 pressed in sections as the 2nd and 3rd (the bits pipe 19 and 21 connect to), or is there a 3rd casting with pressed/glued in tubes? I think Kiwi said in a previous thread that the engine could be removed/replaced for about £520....With those figures and the weeks delay. Personally I'd take the risk and not replace it. Actually £520+840=£1360. Spend that on an OPC warranty, then if it goes, it gets repaired and anything else that fails you could convince yourself would be free and quids in :dont know: the money is already spent in your head.... I'm starting to think an OPC warranty is good value :?:

I can't see any other sections where the pipes are bonded in, and the pump housing seems to tally in price with the £800 Kiwi was talking about. Difficult to see on the parts diagrams where all the coolant parts are, as the descriptions are vague, to say the least.

Hi guys, yes it would appear now that the engine is out there is only 3 individual castings with this type of bonded coolant pipe attached. The one which failed 3 months (2,700km) ago, the one which has just failed, and yes Richard I'm guessing you are correct that 800 pound one aswell. It'd be fair to say my frustration got the better of me and I ended up writing a long email to the service manager, and an even longer letter to the new Porsche CEO in Germany about what I consider to be an unacceptable length of time it is taking to sort out what is essentially a very straight forward issue, due to length of parts supply and a lack of understanding relating to the issue. Although the email has gone to the service manager, I am yet to post the letter. I also spent quite some time today talking to a couple of independents which was very helpful, again a task I feel I shouldn't have had to do as that type of knowledge and advice should be on tap from my OPC... will see what happens tomorrow as the service manager was away today... very frustrating as we essentially would have wasted almost a whole week going round in circles with no resolution. Especially given that it'll be 5 weeks on Friday since the car broke down and was shipped to them. It's getting really old all this hassle and delay, to the extent that all my mates who all loved the car now laugh at me for owning it... :sad:

What baffles me is why it takes 3 weeks to get parts from Germany. If I order Special Order parts from Porsche UK via my Indy, they take 2-3 days to arrive. If he orders parts direct from the Motorsport department, they are here next day! I know you are on the other side of the globe, but when I send parts from my business to customers in AU and NZ by FedEx or UPS they only take 2 days to arrive. Sounds to me like the problem is with your OPC, probably waiting to combine parts orders and ship them by a cheapie method, rather than have some additional cost for an urgent delivery.

My OPC keep quoting me 3 1/2 weeks ex-Germany on any parts... What I suspect happens is that their orders get consolidated once per week with a national order, which in turn goes through Australia... to me it's just rubbish... 1 week at the most is what I would have expected given our location...