View Poll Results: Has your PDK gearbox needed replacement? Please don't answer if your car is a manual.
Yes
21
11.17%
No
167
88.83%
Voters: 188. You may not vote on this poll
Is PDK the new IMS?
06-26-2018, 02:42 AM
#61
Burning Brakes
My 09 C2S has 52K miles and the PDK. In my search for a good Porsche mechanic, I've come to the conclusion if you have to take your car to a dealer you are most likely going to get things replaced rather than repaired. The computer tells them this work takes this long and costs this much, period. I asked the boss at the independent garage where I take my cars, about the PDK failures and costs and he shook his head and chuckled.
BTW, I have driven manual transmissions my entire life and my daily driver is a manual Mini. After driving the PDK for a few months, manual transmissions seem obsolete. The PDK shifts faster, no driveline shock, no rpm drop or boost loss, can't over-rev on a down shift, can't upshift and bog the engine, you are always in the right gear for fast passing and gets better gas mileage.
BTW, I have driven manual transmissions my entire life and my daily driver is a manual Mini. After driving the PDK for a few months, manual transmissions seem obsolete. The PDK shifts faster, no driveline shock, no rpm drop or boost loss, can't over-rev on a down shift, can't upshift and bog the engine, you are always in the right gear for fast passing and gets better gas mileage.
06-26-2018, 04:02 AM
#62
Nordschleife Master
My 09 C2S has 52K miles and the PDK. In my search for a good Porsche mechanic, I've come to the conclusion if you have to take your car to a dealer you are most likely going to get things replaced rather than repaired. The computer tells them this work takes this long and costs this much, period. I asked the boss at the independent garage where I take my cars, about the PDK failures and costs and he shook his head and chuckled.
BTW, I have driven manual transmissions my entire life and my daily driver is a manual Mini. After driving the PDK for a few months, manual transmissions seem obsolete. The PDK shifts faster, no driveline shock, no rpm drop or boost loss, can't over-rev on a down shift, can't upshift and bog the engine, you are always in the right gear for fast passing and gets better gas mileage.
BTW, I have driven manual transmissions my entire life and my daily driver is a manual Mini. After driving the PDK for a few months, manual transmissions seem obsolete. The PDK shifts faster, no driveline shock, no rpm drop or boost loss, can't over-rev on a down shift, can't upshift and bog the engine, you are always in the right gear for fast passing and gets better gas mileage.
06-26-2018, 08:26 AM
#63
My understanding is that the Porsche PDK has a lot in common with other VW/Audi group dual clutch transmissions and they are repairable. This is my understanding so I'm prepared to be proven wrong :-)
You can poke around on the web and find shops offering repair services Austrin Engineering in the UK and Trust Transmission in Ontario are two examples. Now again they are claiming repair/rebuild capability - so the big question is has anyone got any real world experience in having a PDK repaired by an Indy? (outside of fluid change).
06-26-2018, 09:48 AM
#65
RL Community Team
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
06-26-2018, 07:53 PM
#66
Burning Brakes
True enough, dealers are not allowed to take them apart. That's why you go to an independent. Most PDK failures are due to sensors or computer software, which are not made by Porsche. But his primary point was the number of incidents of PDK failure was extremely low, considering the number of Porsches that have them (better than 70% since 2009). Naturally, you are going to read about the failures on the internet forums. Like Para82 noted, waaaay too much fear mongering.
06-26-2018, 08:16 PM
#67
Sir Thomas Lord of All Mets Fans
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Worse case scenario, my 911 PDK tranny gives up the ghost and needs to be replaced. Are there 997.2 generation PDKs available to replace it? If so, how much $$$ are we talking about?
Anyone know or any guesses?
T
Anyone know or any guesses?
T
06-27-2018, 02:02 AM
#68
Nordschleife Master
True enough, dealers are not allowed to take them apart. That's why you go to an independent. Most PDK failures are due to sensors or computer software, which are not made by Porsche. But his primary point was the number of incidents of PDK failure was extremely low, considering the number of Porsches that have them (better than 70% since 2009). Naturally, you are going to read about the failures on the internet forums. Like Para82 noted, waaaay too much fear mongering.
As for the number of failures, obviously very low as you say but given the cost of the failures they tend to get a lot of attention no matter how few and far between.
06-27-2018, 02:41 AM
#69
Burning Brakes
I don't know how busy independents are in other parts of the country, but the one I go to has a long waiting list and they are not looking for more work!
06-28-2018, 12:56 AM
#70
Just to clarify, I doubt there are any software related failures. There would be no need to replace the transmission for a software issue nor would replacement solve anything. A software issue would be a programming glitch or a good example would be the low battery issue. There seem to be electrical hardware issues such as sensors that may fail. This will result in the software recognizing the failed sensor and preventing the transmission from operating.
06-28-2018, 01:06 AM
#71
Nordschleife Master
06-28-2018, 01:19 AM
#72
Nordschleife Master
Just to clarify, I doubt there are any software related failures. There would be no need to replace the transmission for a software issue nor would replacement solve anything. A software issue would be a programming glitch or a good example would be the low battery issue. There seem to be electrical hardware issues such as sensors that may fail. This will result in the software recognizing the failed sensor and preventing the transmission from operating.
06-28-2018, 08:05 AM
#73
Nordschleife Master
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I think he means they are busy and perhaps too busy to try and spend a bunch of time figuring out something very complicated they have never taken on before. That is a big undertaking for some Indie with plenty of business to take on, especially if they never or rarely see such problems.
If I recall correctly, 2 of the above failures in this poll/thread were Caymans and perhaps one was a 991. My dealership has replaced a pdk in a 991 and in a Panamera (which he said has a different and known issue not affecting other models). He said the 991 pdk was "questionable" whether it needed to be replaced, but Fidelity stepped up and paid for a new transmission. The problem sounded mechanical and not software related, perhaps a clutch issue. I cannot recall, but he said something about going into gear smoothly.
My other buddies whose family owns and runs/manages a different dealership has replaced a Panamera pdk, but none in 911 models. Both my local dealership and buddies' dealership have seen several IMS failures each year. I would say given the number of cars on the road with pdk versus the number with the IMS bearing, the pdk failures have not reached the level of concern yet. It may in the future and perhaps if it does,we will start seeing more repair options if and when devoting the time and resources to learn to work on these transmission becomes financially prudent decision.
If I recall correctly, 2 of the above failures in this poll/thread were Caymans and perhaps one was a 991. My dealership has replaced a pdk in a 991 and in a Panamera (which he said has a different and known issue not affecting other models). He said the 991 pdk was "questionable" whether it needed to be replaced, but Fidelity stepped up and paid for a new transmission. The problem sounded mechanical and not software related, perhaps a clutch issue. I cannot recall, but he said something about going into gear smoothly.
My other buddies whose family owns and runs/manages a different dealership has replaced a Panamera pdk, but none in 911 models. Both my local dealership and buddies' dealership have seen several IMS failures each year. I would say given the number of cars on the road with pdk versus the number with the IMS bearing, the pdk failures have not reached the level of concern yet. It may in the future and perhaps if it does,we will start seeing more repair options if and when devoting the time and resources to learn to work on these transmission becomes financially prudent decision.
Last edited by Doug H; 06-28-2018 at 08:22 AM.
06-28-2018, 10:45 PM
#74
Burning Brakes
06-29-2018, 01:27 AM
#75
Nordschleife Master
I think he means they are busy and perhaps too busy to try and spend a bunch of time figuring out something very complicated they have never taken on before. That is a big undertaking for some Indie with plenty of business to take on, especially if they never or rarely see such problems.
If I recall correctly, 2 of the above failures in this poll/thread were Caymans and perhaps one was a 991. My dealership has replaced a pdk in a 991 and in a Panamera (which he said has a different and known issue not affecting other models). He said the 991 pdk was "questionable" whether it needed to be replaced, but Fidelity stepped up and paid for a new transmission. The problem sounded mechanical and not software related, perhaps a clutch issue. I cannot recall, but he said something about going into gear smoothly.
My other buddies whose family owns and runs/manages a different dealership has replaced a Panamera pdk, but none in 911 models. Both my local dealership and buddies' dealership have seen several IMS failures each year. I would say given the number of cars on the road with pdk versus the number with the IMS bearing, the pdk failures have not reached the level of concern yet. It may in the future and perhaps if it does,we will start seeing more repair options if and when devoting the time and resources to learn to work on these transmission becomes financially prudent decision.
If I recall correctly, 2 of the above failures in this poll/thread were Caymans and perhaps one was a 991. My dealership has replaced a pdk in a 991 and in a Panamera (which he said has a different and known issue not affecting other models). He said the 991 pdk was "questionable" whether it needed to be replaced, but Fidelity stepped up and paid for a new transmission. The problem sounded mechanical and not software related, perhaps a clutch issue. I cannot recall, but he said something about going into gear smoothly.
My other buddies whose family owns and runs/manages a different dealership has replaced a Panamera pdk, but none in 911 models. Both my local dealership and buddies' dealership have seen several IMS failures each year. I would say given the number of cars on the road with pdk versus the number with the IMS bearing, the pdk failures have not reached the level of concern yet. It may in the future and perhaps if it does,we will start seeing more repair options if and when devoting the time and resources to learn to work on these transmission becomes financially prudent decision.