13mit

A few days ago, I was driving on a local road at about 30mph and the car suddenly started freaking out, throwing 3 error messages at me:

1. Auto start stop function deactivated
2. Fault Engine Control, Possible to drive on
3. Transmission fault Poss. no R gear Drive on poss.

I couldn't switch gears out of 1st so had to immediately pull over and turn the car off. Because it had said possible to drive on, I tried turning the car back on and the gears started working again. However, I still had errors 1 and 3. Weirdly enough, the errors went away the next day when I filled up at the gas station.

Fast forward a couple days and I'm on the highway at about 60 during rush hour. All 3 errors pop up all of a sudden and I can't switch out of 6th gear on the highway. It was a terrifying experience. Somehow, I managed to get the car over to the side and turned it off. This time, I turn it back on and the gear won't change from 6th, meaning I can't move the car at all. I then proceeded to turn it off and call Porsche Roadside to get it towed to Porsche Tyson's Corner.

They've had the car for a few days and say it's looking like they're going to have to replace the PDK entirely. Apparently PCNA is delaying to see if there are any other solutions but after the highway incident, I'm not inclined to accept anything other than a transmission swap. Anyone experience this before?

CSK 911 C4S

What year model and milage?

mtony

Was it raining when this happened? I had those errors briefly when it was raining one day, but I was still able to shift gears. After a restart, I never saw the errors again. Been a couple of years since that happened now.

StormRune

You'll find more discussion of this type of problem over in the 997 forum if that helps (without the start/stop aspect of it of course). There are quite a few threads discussing it. It doesn't seem to happen as much in 991s.

STG

Like the second or third PDK issue I've read about over the last 3 years. They're cars, things happen. Warranty will take care of it.

A friend of mine just had the PDK-S replaced on a new GT3RS with under 3K miles. Want to hear about issues, try the GT3 forum.

The 991.1 Carrera's have been very reliable.

TimboCarrera

Same thing happened to my 991.1. It was replaced with a Remanufactured (used) unit. So...
I traded the car. Now you know the rest of the story

plenum

? Warranty replaced with a rebuilt unit? ? Haven't heard of that one before....

GSIRM3

I wouldn't be surprised. Most, if not all times, when a owner needs a "new" engine under warranty, the customer gets a re-manufactured engine, not a new engine. I have often wondered what Porsche does with the PDK transmissions that are replaced under warranty. Short of a total catastrophic failure of the transmission, I find it hard to believe they just trash them. Good chance they get them back and analyze the failure, repair the transmission, and use it as a "re-manufactured' replacement part. Most likely any repairs made would be by the transmission manufacturer of course, not Porsche.

justabout

Does Porsche repair these or does the supplier? Also read somewhere that, at least for older transmissions, the internals are completely new. Not sure about younger trannies.

Porsche911GTS'16

I had number 3 happen a few weeks ago - "Transmission fault Poss. no R gear Drive on poss." I too was stuck in one gear and the car drove very sluggishly. This occurred about five minutes into a drive on a city street. I was able to get the car to the side of the road. I turned the car off and when I turned it back on, everything was fine. I have not had the problem since but if it happens again, I will take it to the dealer for evaluation and I will also ask about it when I have my maintenance in the fall.

GSIRM3

I don't know, but I would assume it would be the manufacturer that repairs them. If Porsche had the expertise to repair them, they probably would build them also.

13mit

It's a 2013 C2 with about 33,800 on the clock.

No, it was beautiful outside, hovering around 70/75 degrees. I'm glad it worked out for you though.

Don't get me wrong, I still love my 991.1 and I don't think they're unreliable cars. I'm sure the GT3, with all of the its performance parts has higher rates of failure. I'm just surprised at the PDK failing as I'd always heard that they're basically bulletproof transmissions.

Was there an issue with the new (used) unit? Or did you trade it because they wouldn't replace it with a brand new one?

Definitely keep an eye out. In my case, it was fine the first time it happened but when the message came back, I couldn't shift into any other gear and eventually, couldn't shift into any gear at all.

LexVan

Could this be a change/cross over valve issue?

STG

Good point. Could be

TimboCarrera

The dealer Ellis ATL has been great and told me ahead that it would not be a new unit. The replacement unit did not shift as crisp as the panny loaner, that with other issues I was having and turbo envy (love torque) were some of the reasons I traded for new. My previous 991.1 was gorgeous, however each push of the sport response button on the 991.2 is making the memory fade.