Calabasas Dave

I just bought a 2009 Base Carrera 6MT from out of town. I had a PPI done on it, but the car was delivered from the seller warm, and when I flew up to pick up the car the seller picked me up from the airport with the car (warm). I drove it home - and now when the car starts when it is cold, it is very notchy betweem 1-2 and 2-3 while cold. someone recommending changing the trans fluid - which makes sense.

It looks like the car is supposed to take 2.6L when you drain and refill it (you are supposed to fill it up to the bottom of the fill hole while cold).

I came across a receipt from the old owner showing he had the transmission drained and filled 8,000 miles ago (at 47,xxx miles) and the mechanic charged for 5.5 quarts!

I am fearful that they may have used the wrong side plug on the transmission (the upper plug) and overfilled the transmission drastically.

I read another post where someone mentioned that their car was overfilled and that it performed poorly - and it leaked fluid into the engine compartment (which mine has not done).

Does anyone know if this could cause damage to the transmission?

I plan to correct the fluid level soon ( I am traveling for the next week) but want to decide if I should have a local indie I trust do it or have the dealer do it at twice the price (but also be able to diagnose the transmission problems if there is the potential that it was seriously damaged).

Thanks for your thoughts.

jeebus31

It can blow your halfshaft seals. How do I know? It happened to me on a 200 mile roadtrip. I had my trans replaced under warranty and the shop filled through the wrong hole... idiots. Fixed the seal and it's been fine ever since. I would just change the fluid and see if your shifts improve. If not, then maybe take it in to see if the bearings are ok but I suspect it's going to be fine.

Of course, there is a possibility that they charged for 5.5 qts and they filled it properly. Only one way to find out!

mikemessi

Open the fill plug (middle of the 3) and let any extra drain out. Pretty easy. If there are no leaks then most likely no harm done. These gearboxes are notchy when cold. Key to smooth cold shifting is shift slow but don't let the revs drop. This means holding revs up slightly with right foot.

docdrs

Calabasas Dave

Thanks... curious what was wrong with your transmission? Hopefully not bad shifting from 1-2 and 2-3 when cold - I would not be very happy if I needed a whole new transmission...

Calabasas Dave

Thanks again to both posts above... that makes sense... although I was told by the Porsche dealer that if I do that I should make sure I do this while the engine is cold.

I will let you know what happens... after I do this...

jeebus31

Nah, bad bearing, possibly PO didn't know how to drive. Fixed under warranty so all good now. Not many trans failures on these cars, I'm the only one I know of.

dgjks6

Make sure you use the correct factory fluid.

Petza914

Mobilube PTX is the only fluid that should be used. Works better than anything else in these transmissions.

Calabasas Dave

The invoice shows that they used Porsche factory oil 999 917 546 00... but I did in fact order PTX from Suncoast... curious if I will notice an improvement.

Petza914

Bet you will and it will continue to get a little better over the first few days. Also, the lower drain plug on the manual transmission is the same spec as the oil pan drain plug (at least it was on my .1 cars) which means you can replace the regular factory plug with a magnetic one from LN Engineering for extra insurance against any ferrous particles circulating around in the gear box and causing any damage.