Porsche Will Replace the Engine of all Faulty 911 GT3s
After a few weeks of inspections and testing, Porsche has announced that they will replace the engine of all 911 GT3s presenting the risk of self-immolation.
The story started a few weeks ago, when Porsche asked its dealership to halt sales of the GT3, after receiving reports about some vehicles spontaneously catching fire during driving. The manufacturer then contacted the 785 people who bought a 911 GT3, asking them to stop driving their cars until the issue was resolved.
Porsche now says that they have found the problem: a connecting rod fastener would loosen up, and during acceleration, the bolt would punch through the engine block (!) and allow oil to leak onto the exhaust system, which is what caused the fires. The solution? Install a whole new engine in all the cars affected.
This may seem like an overkill solution, but it is actually the easiest way around the problem. Taking the whole engine apart, installing new fasteners and then putting the whole thing back together would take too long, and it could create even more problems. On the other hand, installing a whole engine takes about a day, and is (relatively) easy to do.
Porsche has not offered a timetable for the engine installation, they are however doing everything in their power to minimize the inconvenience to their customers.