chris.lorine

In 2015 I bought a used 997.2 with very low miles (12,400) that had been kept in a garage in Florida and only driven a few months a year. See

Ceramic Coat March 2019

Ceramic Coat March 2019
picture inset I live in Scottsdale, AZ and had just totaled my 2009 997.2 manual with only 30K miles on it. Totaled the car and missed the coyote. If ever faced with the choice again, the coyote is toast. But I digress.

The 2011 997.2 I purchased was in perfect condition. I mean showroom condition with only 12,400. I changed all the normal fluids and filters and got new tires and have been enjoying the car ever since. I had a PCA recommended Indy mechanic go over the car and have tracked it four times at PCA events here in Arizona. I love this car and take good care of it. I ceramic coated it back in the spring and am thrilled with the results. I will write about that another time. All this time, my mind kept wondering when I should change the PDK fluids. I have 28,700 miles on the car now (I just don't drive many miles), it is my daily driver. As mentioned earlier, I have tracked it four times which included 4-5, 20 minute runs each day on a 16 turn track going as fast as my ***** would let me.

I change my oil every six months which is way before the mileage requires because I just don't drive that much. I replace the air filters and do other simple maintenance myself because I'm cheap. I have been reading about the PDK fluid change process and how difficult or expensive it could be and just kept putting it off. Well, I finally decided to bite the bullet. I called the local Porsche dealer and the Indy mechanic that I trust who is an awesome Porsche guy, and I got a price. I scheduled the work and dropped it off.

I am happy to say that all is well and the car shifts as smooth and as fast as I could ever wish. Important Note - Both the dealer and the Indy Mechanic told me that there are two different fluids that get changed in a PDK system. The PDK fluid should be changed ever 6 years or 60K miles. I have exceeded the time but came nowhere near the mileage. The other fluid is the GEAR fluid which should be changed at 120K miles and is more difficult to get at therefore the cost for that change will be more because it requires the PDK and the Gear fluids plus labor. Again, this was just the PDK fluid change that was done on my car.

Here are the details of the costs and the issues that the Indy mechanic had while changing my oil:
Porsche Dealer cost estimate $550-650 plus taxes (all prices USD)
Indy Mechanic (I will happily name his shop if you IM me) $545 plus tax
My car is a 2011 997.2 Carrera S with 28700 miles

I dropped the car off at 8 AM and received a call at 4 PM that they would have to keep it overnight. Apparently the process to change the oil is very involved. They had to take measurements at 10 degrees C and at 30 degrees C several times during the process. Living in Scottsdale has an issue in that in November it really doesn't get that cold (10 C = 50 F) so the fluids don't cool down that fast and not to the desired temps. Porsche has very specific instructions as to how this fluid change should occur. There must be some equipment that the dealers have to enable them to do this temperature change and measurement process. Anyway, The Indy provided me with a picture of the PDK fluids before and the new fluid that went in. I thought you would like to see it and hear about it since I could not find anything like this on the boards. You will see from the pictures that even though I had half the miles than the mileage requirement, the fluid looked pretty crappy compared to the new fluid. I attribute this (and I am just guessing) to temperature and friction from track days as well as degradation from time. I am at over 8 years from manufacture.

I will tell you that the car shifted very nicely before and is even smoother now. Don't put it off, the clock is ticking and it isn't that bad a cost.

CORRECTION: I spoke to my Indy shop owner after all the questions were raised about the massive color change. I provided you with INCORRECT info. This picture is Diff fluid NOT PDK. I was initially misinformed and wanted to correct this ASAP. Thank you for your understanding, mistakes happen and owning up to them quickly and completely is critical to good information flow.


New PDK trans fluid on left, Old Yuck sludge on the right.

ADias

I changed the PDK clutch fluid recently and the old fluid was lighter than the new fluid you show on your pic above. The fluid in my case had more miles than you car has. Something is off with those fluids.

chris.lorine

I did not do the work and was not present during the job. I have no knowledge of the physical properties or color of the fluids that are used. I was assured that these were the proper fluids, and I trust this shop. Their reputation is stellar. I only presented the info as I had it available. I welcome input like yours and that is why I wrote the article. If anyone else has representative examples of new fluid and old fluid, they should post it for us to compare and contrast.

Bruce In Philly

Did they say the dark fluid was what came out or what was going in? Just confirming.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

Wayne Smith

Like Tony, on both my 60K mile and 120K mile changes the old oil looked identical to the new.

In each case I specifically asked for no software update. In each case I felt no appreciable change in driving characteristics.

2010 C4S PDK.

chris.lorine

Dark liquid came out and lighter one went in.

chris.lorine

Here is another article I found with a picture of the fluid. It is similar in the results my Indy showed.
https://www.renntech.org/topic/52352...-change-today/

chris.lorine

Have you tracked your car? I stressed the PDK 20 min x 4 x 5 on the track as well as road driving.

ADias

I have not but if I had and knew the fluid would change like that I would change it far more often, and I have already changed mine twice during 37k miles.

spyd

Could you tell a difference after your changes, or just being on the pro-active 'safe' side?

ADias

Difference? I decided to maintain the PDK transmission more often than the factory states (60k miles or 6 years). I did the first service at 4 years (16k miles) and the second one 6 years later (37k miles). At 4 years I did the clutch fluid and the gear oil. I think that when complex systems are serviced well, they last longer. If I tracked my car I would have changed the clutch fluid more frequently.

In both changes the old fluid was just a light shade darker than the very light new fluid. Anything darker than that means high temps, oxidation, and viscosity shearing.

Difference in performance? No, not in my case.

Wayne Smith

No track time but instances above 160 mph and many extended summer (hot) runs over mountain passes at near red line lasting for much longer than track time would represent with motor oil temps hitting 275F. Each of those runs represented hundreds of shifts going in and out of turns along with steep grades (up and down offering high acceleration and deceleration loads on the gears). The Sierras are a wonderful place to play!!! While my car sees many freeway commute miles it is not a stranger to spirited days as well 8)

I am not sure what to say about your dark colored used oil. I am interested in seeing if others (or how many others) have had your experience.

FWIW, at each of my oil changes (including pan replacement each time for a new filter) the filter was shiny white ... as in brand new looking.

ADias

And yes, like Wayne's my PDK and engine are well exercised even if not tracked.

Qwksnke

I'm assuming at that price your pan/filter was not replaced since the service kit that includes the filter and fluid is $500.
Like others, my pdk service was done this year at 60k miles with no change in performance and very little color difference.
If the filter wasn't changed as I suspect, I would make damn sure it was the next time you service the pdk based off the color of your fluid

snaphappy

None of us know what was in that bucket before they put in the dirty fluid. The dirty fluid may have been much lighter in color, but there may have been something else in the bucket that turned the fluid to a darker color. This happens all the time in shops.