Porsche 911 GT3 (997.1) air conditioning repair and netting on the front grill

Air conditioner gas leak from condenser due to flying stone

Last year, I bought a used 997.1 Porsche 911 GT3. At first, I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to drive it.After the car was delivered, I went on a 1,100km drive right away.Because of this, I got used to it pretty quickly and thought, "This is fun!", and it has become one of my favorite Porsche.

That's why I use it occasionally when I go somewhere by myself, and one day I was having a great time driving to a certain place (using the highway) and was heading home again when something happened.

As we were driving on the highway, the inside of the car gradually started to get warmer.

It was a sunny day.

"Ah, it's nice weather. Of course it's going to get warm inside the car," you think, and without a second thought, you lower the air conditioner's temperature setting.

However, the temperature inside the car is rising...

"Hmm? Isn't this strange?"

A while later, I got home, and even though the air conditioner temperature setting was at the lowest setting of "LO," the air coming out was not cold at all.

At this point, you may be wondering, "Maybe the A/C isn't turned on?"

How to turn the air conditioning on and off in a 997 Porsche 911

The next thing I was wondering was, "How do I turn the air conditioner on and off?"

In modern cars, there is a button like "A/C" that you press to turn the air conditioner on and off, right?

I couldn't find the A/C button on the 997.1 GT3.

So I thought, "Maybe I pressed the button by mistake and the air conditioner turned off, and now it's just in fan mode?", but I don't know where to turn the air conditioner on and off.

In the end, I went to the dealer and told them that the air conditioning didn't seem to be working, and asked them where to turn it on and off, and it turned out this was how to turn the air conditioning on and off in a 997 GT3.

This is the "ECO" button.

What the heck is ECO?

I thought it would be better to leave it on A/C, but when this "ECO" is turned on and the light on the top right of the button is lit, it means that the air conditioning is off (the compressor is not running).

Conversely, if ECO is turned off, the air conditioner will normally work.

So, even when I tried it with the ECO button turned off, at the lowest temperature LO and maximum airflow, the air coming out still wasn't cold, and it just felt like normal air was being circulated, so I took it to the Porsche Center with a relaxed attitude, thinking, "Maybe the air conditioning gas or something has run out."

But unfortunately, it's true that the air conditioning gas had run out, but it wasn't just that it had run low, it had been leaking.

This is the area circled in red. I've made it a little brighter, but can you see it?

The capacitor is now clearly visible.

Apparently a rock was hit here, causing a hole in the condenser and causing gas to leak.

At first, he said, "To determine where the gas is leaking, we inject something that will color the gas, and after a few weeks, we'll be able to tell where the leak is, so today we'll first inject something that will color the gas."

After they filled up the gas house and prepared for me to go home, they apparently located the gas leak in such quick time it was like, "Wow!" (laughs).

Usually, it takes several weeks to realize where the leak is coming from, but this time, they realized that gas was leaking from the front left condenser as soon as they applied the color.

That's terrible (lol).

Can you see the green one?

In fact, they had just filled up the car with gas, and as soon as I started the engine I could hear the "pshhhhhhhh" sound of gas leaking from the front left condenser.

So, it turns out that the air conditioner malfunction(?) was caused entirely by a flying stone hitting the front left condenser.

They identified the cause within a few weeks, so in a way it was a great help and saved me a lot of time.

So, I ended up having it fixed. I'm really glad it happened before the hot summer.

997 Porsche 911 GT3 front grille with grill net

They were able to quickly identify the gas leak that was causing the air conditioner to stop working, and I was relieved to know that it could be fixed at the Porsche Center.

And one more thing, when I was telling someone about this flying stone incident, they said to me, "There is a possibility that something similar could happen again with flying stones in the future, so why not put up a net?"

Once again, he has given me new information.

The moment I heard that, I thought, "Wow, that's the best solution, I want to do it!"

From there, I did some more research. It seems that there is a grill mesh (grill net) made for the 997 GT3, but it is currently out of stock, including overseas, and even if it is available, it is quite expensive.

After further investigation, I found many people who said they bought the netting themselves at a home improvement store and stuck it up.

Yes, yes, I bought one too. They cost about 4,000 yen each online.

I measured the front of my GT3 myself and bought two pieces to give myself some room to spare (2 pieces of 120x40cm), but in the end one piece was enough.

By the way, while I was researching, I came across a lot of reviews saying that "if the place sends the net rolled up, it's difficult to straighten it out," so this time I chose a place that would send the net properly flat, without rolling it up.

After further consultation with a Porsche mechanic, the mesh size was finer, measuring 6mm x 3mm.

and! !!

Here, the bumper was removed properly and the sticker was applied from the back (and he didn't do that himself (lol)!).

To help with attachment, I had given him some strong double-sided tape, but he apparently used an even thinner version instead.

Unfortunately I cannot introduce the person who installed this net this time as they are not interested in taking any other orders for this type of net installation, but they did an incredibly wonderful job of installing it carefully and beautifully.

At first glance it may look the same as before...

First, I would like you to take a look at the initial state before the net is attached.

This is the center part of the front.

If you try to make it a little brighter, you can see what it looks like:

This is the left and right opening↓

When I turned it on, it was so wide open that I thought, "Wow, if a stone or anything came flying at me, it would hit me!"

And this is what it looked like after the net was installed!!

Can you see it? There is fine netting on the left, right and center.

This is applied so beautifully that it stays in place even when you press it lightly, and no matter how you look at it, you'll think, "This is that expensive product made specifically for the 997."

It's hard to believe that this is a net that was bought for 4,000 yen.

Now I don't have to worry about flying stones hitting this place anymore, and it looks really cool too!

From a distance it may look the same as before, but when you look at it up close it's completely different, and above all it gives you a different sense of security.

I am truly grateful from the bottom of my heart to the person who put the netting on so beautifully and perfectly.

Thank you so so much!

I'm also grateful to the Porsche Center Takanawa Koishikawa who fixed the air conditioner (condenser). Now I can enjoy driving this summer too.

Thank you very much!

By the way, this 997 GT3 is no longer under Porsche's warranty period, so any repairs will be at your own expense (not covered by the warranty).

Please don't break too much (lol).

Related article:
◆The 997 Porsche 911 GT3 has been delivered
◆Drive 1,100 km in a Porsche 911 GT3 (997.1)