Budget M3

Update: Got the Pepper back from the dealer in Colo Spgs last Monday. PIWIS showed two codes P0700 trans control unit and 0349 shift solenoid valve B1 in tip. Of course after the vehicle sat over the long weekend they "could not duplicate the concern" and the "vehicle performed to Porsche specs". I suspected something heat related, but the service manager "doubts it".

Enter Saturday afternoon/evening: I'd been driving the vehicle all week in a mix of highway and city driving (~300 miles total) with no use of tip and no problem. While crawling through a residential neighborhood with a few hills...all of a sudden the damn thing is now missing shifts between second and third! ...and sometimes when accelerating from a complete stop in 2nd, it stays in 2nd up to about 3500rpm then shifts HARD with a clunk you can hear and feel through the floorboards. Only when I drive VERY GENTLY can I avoid this sensation.

I drive the vehicle home (~800miles) in auto mode with cruise control but no tip. Vehicle performs flawlessly in a mix of 4-5-6th gear of its own choosing all the way through the mountains on I-25 and I-10 at 75-80mph. Upon slowing down at the exit to my home...you guessed it... rev/shift/CLUNK. WTF? There is definitely something wrong with this transmission...Let's see if the Tucson dealer can fix it right...

Budget M3

7 days since my last post and the Pepper is STILL in the shop...in Tucson. The latest is that they have ordered "a part", which after further inquiry is "something like a transmission control unit"....Yikes! Not very confidence inspiring if the first part to be replaced is the entire TCU (aka transmission brain-box). They gave me another Pepper to drive as a loaner, so I've gotten used to having a trans that shifts properly--this really is a very nice vehicle...when it's running. Now I know why I never liked the trans in my Pepper--something was obviously wrong from the get-go.

I've been thinking about what I would replace the Cayenne with should they not be able to fix it properly, but there is really no substitute that has the same combination of utility and performance for the price. S4/A6 Avant=way more performance, but no offroad capability and less space...same story for other car-based wagons (325iT, 530iT, Volvo (yuck!)). The other similarly priced SUV's already lost the battle for my checkbook when I bought the Cayenne in the first place (X5, RX330). Wifey says she is confident they will get it fixed right...wish I could be as optimistic...

Since they could not get the part here today, I will be driving the loaner to the airport for a business trip tomorrow (cha-ching for PCNA's overhead). Hopefully, they get the "part" delivered and installed while I am gone and I can actually drive my own car home on Friday. I'll let you know what they really replaced when I see the warranty invoice...

skl

Boy, what would that cost if you were out of warranty???? Ouch!

Budget M3

OK...so I (finally) got the Cayenne back yesterday. They did, in fact, replace the entire transmission control unit. They would not tell me "how much"...only that "there is no charge to you, sir". If I really wanted to know, I could always just call the parts department, but some questions are better left unanswered...I'm sure it would be frightening.

Headed out on another roadtrip next week...this time across the desert to San Diego where there are fewer mountain passes, so I can just leave it in D with the cruise control on. I sure hope it's fixed right!

seankrider

Wondered if anyone has any newer info on the tumping/clunking transmission issue. My '04 Turbo has really started to engage in this activity all the time now... and I can't tell the pattern other than very hard accelerations, when I usually look in my rear mirror to see if the transmission did, in fact, drop into the lane behind me. Oh, and the typical smooth slow down from about 32mph to 30mph, exactly as described in the tech bulletin LTC published (thanks).

So my question is, can I fix this as a DIY? And does PCNA have any duty or obligation to do fix this on vehicle out of warranty, considering they published the bulletin? And while I'm here, anyone know how much to have the dealer do it?

I need to sell the vehicle, and assume it is worth more with this issue fixed, than without. But I don't want to lose money fixing it...

Thanks.

Reborn996

Went through this trans issue with my 04 CTT... ended up being a bad valve body and we replaced it along with a matching TCU. No issues since then (year +). I think the cost was about $2500 total although my warranty covered it.

georgef

I use manual shift all the time in cruise with my VW Passat tiptronic. Top gear passing mostly, to keep it from down shifting. I've never had issues with this. Why would the Porsche be different. I would think it would be an even better transmission.