n8p5022

Let me tell you a little story…about a PDK.

I am writing this strictly to document my experience with a PDK issue and what the resolution was. A few months ago I purchased a 2009 Porsche Cayman S from the original owner, with all service history and 30,300 miles on the odometer. After purchase I immediately sent it to a local Porsche shop and had a ‘once over’ done. They completed a 40K mile service, aligned the wheels, and replaced a windshield wiper arm. I suggested changing the PDK clutch fluid due to age, but the shop felt it wasn’t necessary.

I drove the Cayman for about two weeks without an issue. One day I was cruising down a local road at about 45MPH, not accelerating or decelerating and suddenly the dreaded ‘Transmission Emergency Run’ (yellow) message appeared and I lost the ability to accelerate. I coasted off the road. At this point the car had 30,530 miles on the odometer. I was able put the car from ‘D’ to ‘N’ to ‘P’. Using Google, I quickly determined that there had been other Porsche owners with PDK issues over the years. So, I turned off the car and waited a few minutes. I turned it back on, and the ‘Transmission emergency run’ message disappeared, however a new message appears stating ‘Service engine’(don’t remember color). I put the car in ‘D’ yet it didn’t move. At that moment I was devastated! I had owned the Cayman for two weeks, and now I am on the side of the road. I decided to try shutting the car off again, this time turning off all accessories – radio, a/c (it’s Arizona), you name it. I waited five minutes and started the car. I placed the car in ‘D’ and it moved! OMG! My life is full of hope again! I was able to successfully drive it to my destination, still with the ‘service engine’ light on, without issue. It shifted through all the gears, so I figured, ‘hey, just a hiccup’.

When I went to leave my destination (maybe 3 hours later), I placed the car in ‘R’ to back-up and it wouldn’t move. WTF? I was able to shift the gear selector between ‘P’, ‘R’, and ‘D’, but it wouldn’t move under its own power. I had it towed to the independent shop I had used earlier. The shop pulled a code ‘P17D1’, which states that it is an issue with the valve body, however they didn’t feel confident just relying on the code. They tried all the other known PDK glitches –condition of battery, condition of coil packs, etc. They took a sample of the PDK fluid, clutch fluid, and sent it to a lab to determine if any ‘mixing’ had occurred. It had not. At that point they offered to replace the valve body but could guarantee it would solve the problem. So, I was faced with replacing the valve body and taking a chance or replacing the entire transmission – I didn’t like EITHER option.

I contemplated selling the Cayman ‘as-is’, even listing it here on Rennlist. You may have seen the post ‘A great Cayman S with a not so great PDK’. On the advice of friends and coworkers I decided to get a second opinion and decide after that.

I had the Cayman towed to the local Porsche dealer and filled them in on what had happened. They determined the same issue existed; I needed a valve body. The difference, they were confident that if the fluids had not mixed, the valve body would solve the issue. I opted to have the valve body replaced. Painful, but otherwise it was a 3000-pound piece of art. I am pleased to report the replacement was a success and the Cayman is behaving like a Stuttgart Stud!

I have been driving the Cayman for two months now and it is a gem. What are my lessons learned from this experience? 1. Even if you have a car inspected, something can still happen. No one could have predicted this. 2. Purchase a service plan. They are painful in price, especially on a 10-year-old German car, but they can prevent a financial pitfall like I suffered. Needless to say, I will not be modifying my exhaust system like I had hoped – that will have to wait. 3. Just like they say before an operation, get a second opinion. Though the opinion was the same in this case, it gave me the confidence to go ahead and have the repair done.

I want to thank Beck's European in Scottsdale for their tireless diagnosing efforts to determine the cause, and Porsche North Scottsdale for ultimately making the repair. I’m adding this story to the forum so that readers can benefit from the knowledge. Now, back to road!

Dr.Bill

You were very lucky. The PDK issues I had required the entire transmission be replaced.
Only some sort of sensor error, but they don't fix them, just replace.
The one under warranty was an inconvenience.
The one out of warranty was expensive.

Voyager6

FYI, the 09-12 PDKs only had one water to fluid heat exchanger. Starting with 2013 they added a second. Porsche doesn't add something like that unless it was to fix a problem. So a good general rule of thumb is on a used PDK car, have them sample check the ATF and gear fluids for darkening. At 30K miles, without history of the car, I probably would have the fluids changed anyway. I would also insist on the pan being changed as it contains the filter (not removable) and newer pans are less likely to leak (a problem with 09s. New pans are black to differentiate the change and radiate more heat) . A new filter might have saved the valve body (then again, it might have already been too late).

V6

schell

I had the same crazy Transmission Emergency Run error come up on my 2010 CS, I have to say I was worried, it ended up being the coil packs, I have owned the car about 3 years and kept up with the service, about 6 months previous to event PDK Service fluid and pan change, I am sure at some point I will have a expensive repair, but I must say when I bought my car 3 years ago with under 15,000 miles it was $35,000 cheaper than a new one, at some point you spend some of the money you saved buying used.