Sawborg

I have an '09 PDK C2 and just did the 60K mile service. The PDK clutch oil just needed to be change and the full service with the pan replacement isn't until 120K miles. The oil service was about $350-400ish at my local indy shop.

ltcjmramos

Sawborg, It's my understanding that changing out the ATF clutch fluid requires PIWIS since the unit requires it to be in "fill mode" between a certain temp range (30 - 40 deg c). Does your Indy have PIWIS? If not, I'd be interested in how he did this correctly.

phaphaphooey

Also I thought that many 09 cars required the pan replacement at the PDK service since the drain plug had a tendency to strip out or something along those lines.

Wayne Smith

True, but not absolute. Merely a tendency. I wanted a pan in dealer inventory in case I needed it.

F308gt4

I wanted the new pan for peace of mind. It's ~$400 at the dealer, and in the big picture, a small price to pay for that peace of mind.

Got my car back yesterday, and am so happy now. The Cayenne loaner that they gave me was really nice, but just does not compare to a 997.

syzygy333

sawborg, are you in socal? I am looking to have this done soon (san diego area)

StormRune

I wondered the same thing Joe. I'd really want to make sure they were trained on the correct procedure, had the correct tools (PIWIS), and used the correct fluid since a mistake here could be costly. At my dealer, the service rep actually arranged for me to talk with the tech doing the change before I scheduled it. He walked me though the procedure so I was pretty certain he knew what he was doing. I was willing to pay the premium for the assurance it was done right.

If they only drain the fluid from the unit until it is empty and filled it back then that wouldn't be at all effective, the fluid in the lines, clutch, and valving would still be old stuff since the pumps and switches weren't activated in fill mode. Or if they used some other fluid that would be catastrophic. There is only one you should use since it acts as a coolant, lubricant, and a clutch friction modifier and it includes warnings it will not mix with other similar fluids.

I guess Sawborg's cost isn't completely unbelievable though. I still wouldn't give my car to any indy until he could explain what the correct procedure for the PDK clutch fluid change is though. There's just too much at stake. I guess all this reminds me of the Audi story on Jalopnik back in December where the tech cut a hole through the aero pan, drained the dual-clutch fluid instead of the engine oil, then poured a full load of oil back into the already full engine and left the clutch fluid empty! http://jalopnik.com/lazy-idiots-at-l...pan-1748394648. Sawborg, I'm not saying that your indy would do anything like this however. I'd just want to know what he did do.

I went back and edited my prior post #11 after glancing back at it and realizing my estimates of the cost without the filter change were likely in error. I ended up estimating as little as $520+tax at a dealer if you were allowed to bring your own fluid so you don't pay their huge markup on that. Even the place I bought the fluid from no longer has it that cheap, I guess demand is ramping up now that more PDKs are hitting the 6 year point. If an indy charges significantly less for the labor and doesn't mark up the fluid, then I guess the posted prices are reasonable.

Sawborg

I got mine serviced at StuttCar Service in Pasadena, CA (http://www.yelp.com/biz/stuttcar-service-pasadena). I've had my car for about a week since getting it serviced and I haven't had any issues. Peter and his crew does great quality work at reasonable shop prices. Peter was very thorough, I'd doubt they would take shortcuts and risk their great reputation by fumbling on a service job.

Wayne Smith

Being an indy does not imply not having a PIWIS. One of the local indys here has two. And this is absolutely required to do the change properly.

But I was fearful about not having a Porsche dealer do this service. So I avoided the indy. That was my independent decision.

I ultimately opted to change the pan as well for a few reasons. I wanted to avoid a marginal seal in case of thread damage (not a factor on later cars ... mid 2010 and beyond), I wanted to see the filter (it was so clean I would not feel compelled by this again), and the dealer pulled the pan as a matter of routine (and the pan is not re-usable).

The last item was the kicker. The dealer did not know the first two concerns. Upon discussion, they gave me a heavy discount on the new pan!

At the end of the day, I'm happy.

mdrums

I'm totally with StormRue on this one...for me...no way would I let a indy touch PDK....A indy that doesn't has PIWIS and the proper tools can not properly service a PDK fluid change.

turbozv

I got my PDK clutch oil changed today (7 QT fluid + labor), $380 at the dealer

cool flash

My indie has a PIWIS and I would think that all other Porsche indies have one as well.

I mean how are they going to work on these cars without one...?

CF

ltcjmramos

Perhaps in Germany, but very few here in my local area. Lots of maintenance can be done without.

Q 997.2 C4S

My Porsche dealer quoted me $495 (labor & materials) for the PDK clutch oil change. When I asked if I could bring the oil, he said yes, and that I'd need to bring 2 quarts. That makes me nervous to take mine in, so I haven't scheduled it yet. Anyone else had their dealer do this where they used only 2 quarts of oil?

EDIT: I looked at my quote again and now I'm wondering if the 2 things I got quotes for got mixed up. I asked for a quote for the PDK oil change along with a quote for the AWD controller oil change. I'm wondering if my service advisor swapped the details on these 2 oil changes.

This is what he quoted:
AWD Drive Controller Oil Change: $415, P&L, including 8 quarts of oil
PDK Clutch Oil Change: $495 P&L, including 2 quarts of oil

Maybe they're swapped? Thoughts?

StormRune

The only data point I can offer is that I took in 6 liters of fluid and they used about 5 and a quarter of that (I got back about ¾ of one bottle). 2 quarts certainly isn't enough since quarts and liters are close to the same.

Did they provide a part number or brand name on the quoted fluids? On my change they used Pentosin FFL-3 (Porsche part 00004320729). There are reports from others that another fluid has been used in their changes. On the Pentosin bottle it warns against mixing with any other similar fluid. If guess if the Pentosin is thoroughly flushed out when using a different fluid it would be okay, but in my case I'm glad they stuck with Pentosin since it raises no concern there.