Coolant Leak, Even With Aluminum Tubes!

[RUMBLE8]

Hey Guys,

I wanted to see if anyone has heard of this before. I changed my coolant tubes to aluminum after the first leak. About three weeks ago, I had another massive coolant leak. My 04' Cayenne Turbo went back to the shop since I know I couldn't tackle it. This time I was told it was a rubber hose in the rear of the motor after the aluminum coolant tubes. Has anyone had this problem? Anyone hear of this happening? I just had to roll with the punch. $$$$.

[carreracup03]

There are some "t"s back there that are known weak points on the turbo's. I assume thats what broke.

[Faceman]

The plastic T pieces have about a 70K mile life. I replaced the small one with a metal fitting from the hardware store after it broke. The other one isnt as easy to fix and its harder to reach. Theres no metal replacement ive heard of so we are all kinda screwed on that failing.

[RUMBLE8]

Thanks guys for the response, so this is costing the same amount as the coolant tubes did because it's in that precarious area where you need to take off the intake manifold.... sound about right? ridiculous.

P.S. I know one of the T's was the problem. I was told it was a hose back there, after the aluminum pipes that caused the majority of the problem.

Edited April 12, 2013 by RUMBLE8

[wvicary]

There is a elbow shaped hose that connects to the aluminium pipe from the thermostat housing and leads to the after run coolant pump for the climate control. The second part of the system from the after run pump splits off into two "T" fittings for the coolant to the turbos.

[PKN]

The same thing happened to me. I saw it coming because so many other on this forum said to change the Ts at the same time as the main coolant pipes but because the main pipes were actually in very good condition I thought I would be OK. 3 months or so later the infamous T broke and I dumped my coolant.

It is doable if you are handy but the job took me a weekend to do. Like others, I replaced one of the Ts with brass but used the replacement plastic Porsche part for the one that breaks. I have to say that using any plastic piping under the hood of this car was a stupid design failure. It just gets too hot under there for any of them to survive for too long and most are so inaccessible the design fault is compounded. I have already replaced aslmost every plastic coolant part including the coolant tank and vacuum line with the sad knowledge that sometime in the future, some poor sould will need to replace them again because with the exception of the metal replacements, they still have the same designed in obsolescence.

I am sorry for the expense you have to make again so soon. I hope you have a good independant dealer who can make it less painful for you. Sorry for the rant but I had to get it off my chest....

Steve