Guys, there were 2 available 2009 997.2 with PDK failures in my area. One sold but the other one remains. It states that the car will not shift into drive or reverse.

​​​​​​Of course given that its inoperable, the price is down low. Is not shifting into drive or reverse one of the problems that is unfixable, or one of the few things on PDK that is common and can be addressed?

Asking cause the owner of my Indy garage recently had a PDK failure in his 2013 991, and he has to replace his for $17000 and labor is free of course.

They have changed a few, but since they never attempted to open up and fix a PDK before explains why I am asking here.

Second question. Can the PDK be switched to a manual transmission?

Thanks for any advice.

 

Concerning the repair of the PDK in question - based on comments in this forum by some other members who are very knowledgable on the topic, it may well be that the replacement parts needed to fix the transmission would not be available.

If repair is not possible, there appears to be an avenue for conversion to a manual transmission per the source below...

https://www.ladismantler.com/porsche...dk-conversion/

I have no experience looking into that myself. You may be able to pull together the facts after contacting them. They do mention something about a PDK to manual trans conversion kit...

Good luck with the process.

 

Need the PDK failure codes, without them it's nearly impossible to localize the fault. The TCU will often disable functions in response to a fault so something may seem really broken when it isn't that bad. I group the faults into four categories:

• External to the transmissions (TCU, shift controller) - cost to fix up to $1K
• Internal but accessible in the car (valve body, temp sensor) - can range from $100 to $2k
• Internal but requires the transmission be dropped (pressure sensors, some fluid leaks) - Several $k in labor but low part cost
• Internal and replacement parts aren't available (distance sensor) - need to replace the PDK until we come up with a better solution

So it can range from $100 (new temp sensor or solenoid) to $20k (new PDK) depending on what failed. Gotta get the codes to have any idea what it is.

 

manual swap?

 

I guess you need a special code reader to get the codes right?

 

Yeah, that'd be great since I wouldn't have to worry about the PDK crapping again after investing in the repair... If it's repairable🤷‍♂️

 

It's repairable unless there's external damage to the core. I have a current thread going on my second PDK failure. According to Rennlister PV997 who seems very knowledgeable on PDK issues, the fault code that was pulled from my unit indicates it could well be and is most likely due to nothing more than a faulty heat sensor that costs about $300. Problem is, neither Porsche, nor ZF sell that part.

I'm not even sure they sell any internal parts since the dealerships aren't allowed to open the PDK's so why would they need internal parts. I guess that's the reasoning. Some indys have opened the PDK's doing their own autopsy work but run into the same issue. They figure out what the problem is but can't get the part or parts. This is the reason for full replacements at close to $20,000 even though in some cases like mine for example, all that's needed is a $300 part. As I've said more than once, I wouldn't own a PDK car without warranty for this reason. You can drive it everyday like you're taking grandma to church, have it serviced right on schedule and still have a $300 electronic component fail giving you no choice but to replace the whole thing for around $20,000.

 

Thanks all, I guess I'll pass. Anyone knows if the PDKs on 2015-up Panameras and 2017-up Macans are as problematic? Did Porsche change anything to the PDKs since their introduction?

 

I belive the PDK in the Macan is a different unit. I've read about more Macan failures than 997 and 991 failures, but that could also be because there are more Macans out there than 911 models and it's the only transmission available in the Macan, so may be purely a numbers game and the failure percentage is actually similar.

Personally, I'll stick with manual transmissions since I do my own repairs and also don't like aftermarket warranties, though Fidelity Platinum seems very good.

 

I probably would not purchase or own any 997 period without a warranty. These things are getting some age on them. The chance of scoring or catastrophic engine failure vastly exceeds the chance of pdk failure, especially with the 997.1s. Then we have al sorts of wonderful stuff other than scoring that will start adding up like crazy as these things approach 15 + years old. The air cooleds were always easy to work on, but that is not so much the case with 997s.

The fact is, 911s can start getting super expensive once they get North of 80,000 miles and/or get a little age on them. If you are truly risk adverse and would get pissed at having to sink $10k or $15k, or potentially more, in a year on a used car, purchase a newer 911 or a 911 with a warranty or CPO.

911s tend be super solid when newer, but things, sometimes big things, break in these cars as they age and all kinds of little nickel and dime stuff can and will start going wrong as they age and accumulate miles. These so called little things will add up quickly as well.

This thread is kind of humorous though. Steph1 has absolutely zero interest in purchasing a pdk, has always made that clear and has always has been very outspoken against pdk reliability. I am sure he had zero interest in purchasing the above car hence the motivation behind this post. Its all good, people need to be in the know of what they are getting themselves into when purchasing old sports cars. Old sports cars are expensive even when then cost of entry (sales price) appears to be cheap.

 

What??? Absolutely true that I didn't want to have anything to do with PDKs 3 years ago when looking for mine as I had two buddies that had had 3 PDK failures between the two of them. When mentioning it here before PDKs started puking all over the place, I was called a freak, a liar by some big mouths that claim to know everything and know the only Indies in the world that are reliable. Some also claimed to have owned 40 some PDKs. Either they were 450 years old, or really had zero experience since a few months of ownership gives zilch experience on anything.

With this said, while looking for rims, I came upon 2 cars with failed PDKs. The price is of course way low and some people here, instead of being scared ****less like most nay sayers here, are actually spending time searching and trying to fix PDKs.

​​​​​​My question was directed at them to find out if they had come up with something at all that would make diagnosing this PDK possible or fixable. Since the first car was sold for parts and that second one might be fixable using the good parts of the first one.

 

My wife's 997.1 at 107k miles has been our most reliable car and least expensive to run for the 67k miles we've owned it and that comparison includes some Japanese and American. If they're well taken care of, there's no reason they can't run for a long time. Sure, some will suffer IMS or core scoring failures, but for the most part, it's plugs coils, oil & filter changes, brakes, tires, and water pumps. Looking at my service record spreadsheet we've spent $14,000 on servicd parts and maintenance over 7.5 years and 67,000.miles, but also rarely use stock parts when replacing them - upgraded 2 piece rotors, an AGM battery, etc as examples and these parts cost more. That's $0.21/mile or a $2,000/year avarage.

Would I buy one that already had 100k miles on it where I have no idea about the history, no, but if you buy one that's been wellntekenncare of with 50k miles or less and can build the history, I think that's a different story.

 

I'll agree here. 2010 C4S PDK with 136K miles. The last 101K miles has been under my stewardship. Including mods like TPC DSC and stiffer motor mounts I'm at 14 cents a mile excluding gas. This is the cheapest car I've ever owned. I've owned many spanning a lot of years and a very broad variety.

 

Not surprising. It's not like every single car will have big failures, YET, and the BIGGEST issue with these cars is: (1) how they are maintained; and (2) how they are driven. You and Petza's wife may drive like grannies or you guys may be bouncing of rev limiter everyday like me.

As good a Petza maintains his car, he has scoring developing that will eventually have to be addressed. Have you scoped your engine for bore scoring? Don't you also do you own work? If so, your 14 cents a mile may not be indicative of the normal experience.

You may never have a single issue with your car, ever, but that does not mean many others, perhaps even most, will not have issues or perhaps big issues. I have owned perhaps 10 pdks since 2011 and driven on average 20k miles a year on pdks and never had a pdk issue. That obviously does not mean Sandwedge, Bronz ort etc., will not have a pdk issue.

 

There is a long list, and getting longer, of items that will need to be done to all of these cars as they age (water pumps, AOS, HPFP, thermostats, Motor Mounts, clutches, suspension, CVs and etc.) in addition to the huge ticket items and general maintenance issues that may arise. Trim/interior pieces, electronics and etc. are also subject to failure.

Guys like you and Wayne that have time and are handy with a wrench certainly have an advantage here. I think that is awesome. I used to try and work on my own stuff as well and it was enjoyable. Rather pay someone else now so it comes down to which resource is more valuable to me, my time or cost of repairs.

Overall, my 911s have been amazingly bullet proof and cheap except for the ones I have had that started getting age and/or miles on them. I once spent about $8k just replacing a long HOSE a couple of times in a 3 year old 996 turbo that had just gone out of warranty due to miles,