P76

So took the p car in for a nail in my tire today, and they said they need to reprogram the PDK. Anybody have any idea what the PDK changes are? Mine's a 2013 s model. Got it late summer/early fall last year. Did a quick search but no luck. This is relatively new I think because they did a bunch of campaigns when I took it in for the last nail somewhere around New Years.

2wheels4me

Dunno. Had it done last week to my February 2013 build C2S but cannot tell any difference yet.

Cogito_Ergo_Zoom

Had it done last week when my car was in for another service item. Dunno, couldn't find anything either. Haven't driven it Sport+ to see yet, but I'm hoping they shortened the shift times and made the clutch engagement even more aggressive. Likely was the opposite if anything. Maybe they're starting to see broken PDKs with all the launch control starts like Nissan did with the GTR. Their response was to neuter the shift times and limit the amount of times you could engage LC. All speculation, of course.

Tsmith84

Even though you noted that you have no real basis to say these things, there are people that read this type of stuff and then think these problems really do exist. Just yesterday I spent about 15 mins explaining to a customer that there was no "magic" DME reflash to make his properly running car run any better despite he "read about it on the forums". Yes, there are times that new software gets loaded to fix certain issues, but rumors like this spread like wildfire.

Also, if your 991 requires the re-programming, it will come up when you bring it in for your next service. And you can always call your Porsche service department and have them check your VIN for open campaigns.

Here is the reason for the PDK campaign...

A shift rod movement at a shift gate that was not selected can be detected incorrectly on the affected vehicles due to a software error. As a result, fault code “P1767 – Hydraulic multiplexer fault” can be stored in the fault memory of the PDK control unit and the PDK transmission can switch to the reduced driving programme until the ignition is switched off and on again.To prevent this from happening, the PDK control unit on the affected vehicles will be re-programmed with an updated data record. On vehicles with Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus (I-no. 221), the updated data record was also used to optimize the adaptation behaviour of the rear-differential lock.

Cogito_Ergo_Zoom

Cool. I'll blag about the things I know about, but will state when I'm clearly talking out of school about something I don't. Father, uncle, and grandfather were engineers but I am an IT sales and marketing exec. Man has to know his limits.

Thanks for clearing this up. Just out of curiosity, how did you get the details? I'm especially glad to hear about this part:

mtony

Could any of this be related to the slight hesitation I feel when accelerating from 2600 to 3000 RPMs?

chuckbdc

I just hate it when that happens, but my rear-dif lock is so relieved now!

No seriously- thanks for the actual information on this update. Besides being just flat out interesting, it goes a long way to tamp down the speculative assertions that become Internet "factoids".

Noah Fect

Easiest way to fix this kind of 'speculation' is for Porsche to document the various service campaigns and software updates on their Web site. Unless/until they start doing that, their customers can't be blamed for guessing and speculating and generally imagining things.

No reason why the dealers should be the only ones who can look up a VIN to check the service status.

Cogito_Ergo_Zoom

I definitely get your point and agree more openness would lead to less speculation. This would ultimately make life easier for their dealer service network.

Porsche's newest customers are a generation accustomed to having information on demand and at their fingertips in an instant. It would probably be in their interest to start thinking about how their new customers want to interact with the company in situations like this.

Steele

I have a 2012 PTT. Since taking delivery in feb '12 randomly there will be a 1/2-1 sec "lag" btwn one clutch disengaging and second engaging. When second engages it jolts the car. During this "lag" the it's as though the car is in neutral w/the engine off. We took it in a couple months later and no codes undicated any defect. A couple months ago there was approx a 3 sec lag which put me in a life threatening situation. We took it in the next thinking something would surely show up, but nothing did. After lots of pressure on PCNA they did have a field tech look at it, but still nothing. Technically they're of the hook, but I'm cont to pressure them to just test the car in a controlled environment until this problem replicates its. My husband won't ever let me back in the car, which I can't even look at it (its been at the dealership since 3/16) and would've already sold it, but I need to do as much as possible to protect the next guy.

Noah Fect

3 second lag? This definitely needs to be reported to https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/ as a safety-related defect. The dealer (and Porsche themselves) should not be allowed to shrug their shoulders and mutter something about no codes being stored.

Steele

We have done that, but thx for the suggestion. I can see where PCNA could shrug this off given they are probably bombarded w/so many claims w/no basis demanding compensation of ridiculous amounts of everyday.
However, this is our 6th Porsche, 3rd turbo and 4th from same dealer. We have an impeccable reputation and aside from this issue, the only thing I ever complained about is there being no option for a blk dashboard regardless of interior color. I have cognac, so had to get same dashboard. Reflection is what I call hazardous from incidences when driving. Reply from PCNA was to wear polarized sunglasses......are you serious? I spend $155K on one of your cars and I can't order it w/a blk dash? At that price I should be able to have any color I choose.
Just a little side rant, now bk to the original story, reputation: so all I'm asking of PCNA is to take the car to a test facilty, so when it replicates its it won't put the driver in a life threatening sit, but so far they've rejected my request. That was about a month ago, since then I wrote Mr. von Platen a hand written letter, then a few days ago emailed several heads and hopefully von Platen and vp of western service area, Pedro Mota w/pics of me, my family and my cars. So as to put faces w/the sit. I'm even offering to pay to ship the car to them and not requiring any compensation of any kind til the problem is found out. We have reason the believe its an electrical defect in the steering wheel that controls the manual shifting buttons. The field tech tested for this, but found nothing, but..... I feel this is a problem that is slipping through the cracks, but until my husband says he's not sitting on a $100K ivested in a car that's just sitting on the dealer's lot I'm going to keep asking PCNA to please take this serious. Bottom line, thx to all the idiots out there pissing and moaning about triviality I can't blame PCNA to get all up in arms over my claim!

veilsideLGD

I work for an auto manufacturer and I can understand the frustration of an intermittent issue. Unfortunately, anyone can have an alleged complaint but if the dealership can not replicate the issue then no repairs can be made. "Blind" repairs can not be made as well based on assumption. Intermittent issues are difficult because they can not be reproduced on a whim, so I understand the frustration.

Noah Fect

This is the sort of thing that ought to compel the manufacturer to pull every powertrain engineer off of whatever they're doing, though. Something like what Microsoft did when the Windows virus/worm count exceeded the Earth's population. Basically call a halt to the addition of any new features until the existing ones are reliable.

If there's insufficient datalogging in place to understand what happens when PDK fails to engage for multiple seconds, that in itself is a failure that should be remedied PDQ. In fact, that's a recurring theme in the owners' complaints on both the 991 and 981 models: weird intermittent glitches that the dealer is (understandably) helpless to resolve. Everything in these cars down to the taillight bulbs should be recording and timestamping everything that it does and every parameter that affects its operation. When something unusual happens, the manufacturer should not have to say "I don't know."

This is one thing that is prompting me to keep an eye on Tesla. Those guys have rocketry in their corporate DNA, a field where you literally live and die by realtime data, and where excuses are a career-limiting move. With microcontrollers costing less than $1 each these days there are no excuses left IMO.

veilsideLGD

If it were only that simple. Unfortunately, not everything is datalogged. Depending on the PCM's parameters and sensors placed throughout the engine, many aspects of the vehicle are monitored but not everything is. If the issue is not triggering a fault code in the computer, then it did not "trip" a sensor. The engineering department at Porsche can not troubleshoot what they can not verify. I see this all the time at the manufacturer I work for and it is unfortunate.