PDK, Gearbox and coolant fluid change
Yesterday, 02:09 AM
#1
Advanced
Thread Starter
PDK, Gearbox and coolant fluid change
So I own a 2014 Base 981 with PDK. It's got about 44,000 miles on it. I've wanted to replace the PDK & Gearbox fluids and the coolant for a while but always hesitated. But just recently I decided I could do the work and save some cash. So I did a little research here, on Planet-9 and on YouTube before starting the work. I found an asset in a guy named Jeff Richardson. (You can find him on Planet-9 and YouTube) His how-to videos are extremely helpful and I highly recommend checking him out if attempting these jobs.
So the first thing I removed the interior panels to access the top and front engine covers and the under body panel below the engine. Next I jacked the car and placed it on four jack stands and removed both rear wheels. Next I removed the drain plugs mentioned in Jeff's videos. While draining the fluid I carefully measured all the oil removed from both the PDK box and the gearbox. I did so to make darn sure I would put back at least as much as I took out. With the oil drained, I then used a small hand pump to force fluids in each box. With the gear boxes filled I followed Jeff's method of running the engine and going thru the percedures needed to move the fluid around in the PDK unit. I do own a scan tool but it doesn't have the steps needed to perform the operations needed when changing the fluid in the transmission. Jeff's videos points out a way to get around that. Using his method everything seemed to go well and I was finished for the day. The next day I started draining the coolant, again measuring exactly how much I removed. To drain the coolant I only removed the two drain plugs deciding not to break any hose connection to drain ever more fluid. I did apply some compressed air to the overflow tank which helped to force out even more fluid. (Again Jeff explains all this in his videos.) When it came time to service the system I used a vacuum coolant system filling tool. This is highly recommended as it helps keep trapped air in the system to a minimum. Filling was easy with the tool and I ended up using almost the same amount of coolant as came out. Next I followed the steps Jeff spells out in his video's to bleed the system. Again his procedure is in lieu of using a scan tool to bleed the system. He basically has you remove and plug two vacuum lines, open the bleed port, turn on the heater and run the engine. I followed his steps exactly. When running the engine I got several computer faults. This really surprised me because in all my research no one mentioned that this would happen. In the back of my mind I wondered if running the engine while all four wheels were off the ground would cause these faults. After shutting down the engine I attached my scan tool in an effort to clear the faults. They would not clear. This got me a little concerned, wondering what caused these faults. Before looking into that further I finished the coolant work. After running the engine and letting it cool down a while I only needed to add about a quart more of coolant which surprised me a little because I had already filled the system with about the same amount as I removed. (The system was full before I started) Next I lowered the car off the jack stands and then said a silent prayer that running the engine with the car back on the ground would clear all my faults. Thankfully it did. Now all that was left to do was to drive the car to check out the PDK shifting and to move the coolant around. During the drive the PDK shifted perfectly and the coolant temp stayed perfect. The next day I re-checked the coolant level and had to add just a bit more to top it off. All in all the jobs were very straight forward and easy using Jeff's helpful videos.
So the first thing I removed the interior panels to access the top and front engine covers and the under body panel below the engine. Next I jacked the car and placed it on four jack stands and removed both rear wheels. Next I removed the drain plugs mentioned in Jeff's videos. While draining the fluid I carefully measured all the oil removed from both the PDK box and the gearbox. I did so to make darn sure I would put back at least as much as I took out. With the oil drained, I then used a small hand pump to force fluids in each box. With the gear boxes filled I followed Jeff's method of running the engine and going thru the percedures needed to move the fluid around in the PDK unit. I do own a scan tool but it doesn't have the steps needed to perform the operations needed when changing the fluid in the transmission. Jeff's videos points out a way to get around that. Using his method everything seemed to go well and I was finished for the day. The next day I started draining the coolant, again measuring exactly how much I removed. To drain the coolant I only removed the two drain plugs deciding not to break any hose connection to drain ever more fluid. I did apply some compressed air to the overflow tank which helped to force out even more fluid. (Again Jeff explains all this in his videos.) When it came time to service the system I used a vacuum coolant system filling tool. This is highly recommended as it helps keep trapped air in the system to a minimum. Filling was easy with the tool and I ended up using almost the same amount of coolant as came out. Next I followed the steps Jeff spells out in his video's to bleed the system. Again his procedure is in lieu of using a scan tool to bleed the system. He basically has you remove and plug two vacuum lines, open the bleed port, turn on the heater and run the engine. I followed his steps exactly. When running the engine I got several computer faults. This really surprised me because in all my research no one mentioned that this would happen. In the back of my mind I wondered if running the engine while all four wheels were off the ground would cause these faults. After shutting down the engine I attached my scan tool in an effort to clear the faults. They would not clear. This got me a little concerned, wondering what caused these faults. Before looking into that further I finished the coolant work. After running the engine and letting it cool down a while I only needed to add about a quart more of coolant which surprised me a little because I had already filled the system with about the same amount as I removed. (The system was full before I started) Next I lowered the car off the jack stands and then said a silent prayer that running the engine with the car back on the ground would clear all my faults. Thankfully it did. Now all that was left to do was to drive the car to check out the PDK shifting and to move the coolant around. During the drive the PDK shifted perfectly and the coolant temp stayed perfect. The next day I re-checked the coolant level and had to add just a bit more to top it off. All in all the jobs were very straight forward and easy using Jeff's helpful videos.
Yesterday, 07:21 AM
#2
Excellent. Thanks for the details. I have been putting this off because of the uncertainty of finding some "Porsche complexity" implanted to ensure only the stealer can do the job.
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Osiicks (Yesterday)
Yesterday, 05:38 PM
#3
Advanced
I followed his videos for the same fluid changes, and a bunch of other maintenance - all worked out well. I still cant believe he takes all that time and effort to post his videos with that level of detail and commentary.
Yesterday, 09:29 PM
#4
Rennlist Member
I have changed all fluids multiple times per his videos, no issues.