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Engine transplant required to prevent 911 GT3 fires

Porsche 911 GT3

A Porsche US spokesman has confirmed the manufacturer has identified faulty conrod fasteners as the cause of the two fires which damaged 911 GT3s in Europe. To remedy the problem Porsche will be replacing the engines of all relevant models sold to date. That’s 785 new engines at last count!

“We are in the process of validating the revised part,” Nick Twork told AutoGuide. “We will be replacing the engines in each of the 911 GT3s that have been built thus far.”

Porsche will build the engines in Germany and then ship them across the globe so that customers can once again enjoy their GT3s. “It will take us a little while to build the engines. I don’t know specific timeframe but we’ll do it as quickly as we possibly can,” Twork added.

Some GT3 owners have received communication from Porsche already. It’s expected it will take one day to fit the new engines once they have been delivered to dealerships. At this stage it’s unclear what will be happening to the old engines.

There is also talk there could be compensation for owners, although Porsche says the focus now is on getting the cars fixed. “We’re going to be speaking with each of the customers individually [about possible compensation], the first priority is to minimize the inconvenience to our customers,” Twork said.

[Source: AutoGuide]

UPDATE 19 March: Now with an official statement from Porsche (below)

Porsche to replace engines of current 911 GT3 models

2014/03/18, Stuttgart. Sports car manufacturer Porsche will be replacing the engines of all 911 GT3* vehicles of model year 2014. This is the corrective action derived from intensive internal analyses that were initiated in response to two engine fires. Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that engine damage resulted from a loosened screw joint on the connecting rod. The loose connecting rod damaged the crankcase, which in both cases led to leakage of oil which then ignited.

After becoming aware of the two cases, Porsche promptly took action to avoid any risk to customers by advising them to cease using the affected 785 vehicles until further notice and have them picked up by a Porsche Centre. Now, engines with optimised screw fittings will be used in all Porsche 911 GT3 vehicles of model year 2014 – including in those that have not been delivered yet. The relevant Porsche Centres are in direct communication with customers worldwide to discuss the further course of action.

Porsche points out that no other 911 models or other model series are affected by this action.

*Porsche model series 911 GT3: Fuel consumption combined 12,4 l/100 km; CO2-emission 289 g/km; efficiency class: G

23 replies on “Engine transplant required to prevent 911 GT3 fires”

@Alpine – I believe when they were merged, for odd business reasons it was technically Porsche which absorbed VW even though VW was the bigger of the two pre-merger companies!

@Adam – he will at least be thankful the current season of Top Gear (and therefore the mockery) will not last much longer.

Eaglehawk, recalling 785 cars is different from recalling tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of cars…

That’s true WAY, but Porsche has still gone about this in a much more expedient and transparent manner than Volkswagen has in recent times.

While you may not be able to expect Volkswagen to handle the volume of recalls in the same way that Porsche has here, it shouldn’t be too much to ask for VW to follow Porsche’s willingness and openness to find and resolve problems.

Exactly. Liam nailed it the way I was thinking about it. Of course there’s a difference between a $30K Golf and a $360K+ Porsche GT3, but the PR could easily be the same.

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