Douglas61

thanks cordsig79! that's amazing... I googled VB and found it was not an easy part. How did you guys managed to safely take it out without breaking anything? Is it possible for one person and car on ramps to get the job done?

Wisconsin Joe

Yes on one man job, but a spare pair of hands makes it easier.

Maybe on ramps, but up on 4 stands will give you much more room and make it a lot easier.

Search around on here (not google) and you will find a few threads with good pics. That advice goes for other stuff too. Oil & coil packs for example.

jeff spahn

I did it by myself and it was a piece of cake. Less than three hours and that includes a lot of dinking around. You could do it in two if you just stay on task. I did mine on a 4 post lift. VB isn't that heavy, you can hold it up with one hand pretty easily, that's how I took it down and put it back up. Use a battery impact gun to remove bolts. Leave two in and after you have all the connections undone and out of the way put your hand up and hold the VB up. Remove the last two bolts and let them fall. Drop the impact gun and lower the VB. Put it back up same way. Use battery impact gun, hold in place with one hand, have a bolt already pre loaded in your impact gun and one in your mouth. Put in the first one, load the gun with #2 and install. Just remember, you just barely put them in with the gun, its just to make it fast and easy to put them in, barely pull the trigger. Don't want to cross thread. Of course, your mileage may vary and if you aren't comfortable doing it this way, get a helper.

nodoors

It is easy and you can do it... but if you do drop the valve body on your face laying underneath it, please post the pictures of the carnage so we can admire your battle damage!

mtnrat

I did it myself from under the car. Raised the suspension to the highest level and drove up on 2x8 blocks to get an extra bit of clearance. If you are a big guy that may not give enough clearance.

Douglas61

perhaps another question I want to ask is why a bad VB could cause this clunk sound?

jeff spahn

The shifting doesn't complete properly due to the valve body not directing fluids as they should.

mtnrat

To add to this the solenoids in the VB were made with tolerances too tight so they are sticky. The new valve bodies have solenoids with slight more clearance.

Brainz

When I removed my valve body, I just put the suspension into full height and slid underneath. While I managed not to drop the VB, I remember thinking that it was much heavier/awkward to handle than I expected based on the forums. I found that the relatively low clearance height meant that my arm was somewhat awkwardly positioned while removing/installing the VB - - That limited clearance made the 20lbs valve body much more difficult/tiring to handle. I have no doubt that having the car on a lift, or something that safely raised the car a higher would greatly improve the ease of handling because you could better position your arm. Barring that, an extra set of hands or maybe a small jack support might help. Before you fully remove all the bolts (keep two threaded slightly in place), you can get a feel for what it weighs and how you'll support it. Stay safe.

TomF

My days of dropping things on my head are over...middle age supposedly means that you have learned enough to stay alive thus far. My most epic part drop was an M22 rockcrusher from my 69 Z/28 which hit me squarely in the forehead and pinned me under my car. Pretty hard to explain to my dad why I needed help getting out from under my car.

Cheers,
TomF

Turbodan

I read this thread as I have an 08 Touareg with the valve body problem. I will use revmax. I have read that if you shift manually you can avoid the clunk. Also mine only clunks when trani fluid is warmed up.

95_993

Mine clunked in drive or manual. Was definitely worse when the fluid warmed up.

Did the Revmax valvebody a couple months back and couldn't be happier....it shifts beautifully.

Brainz

5-4 clunk won't care whether automatically or manually induced. It's a mistimed shift due to sticking solenoids.

Playur

I have a 04 Cayenne S with 101,000 miles. It jolts the car forward when flooring the accelerator (in any gear) but typically when upshifting between 4th or 5th gear (not exactly sure which). I've seen posts saying "Transmission fluid change would do the trick and is good all around", and I've been told by mechanics that especially around 80k miles, there is no point in changing transmission fluid, and will instead hurt the car even more.

Then I found out about this Valve Body thing and it seems to be the proper fix to my issue, however I cannot necessarily afford to spend ~$1000 on that whole ordeal. So I'm wondering, will this Valve Body Issue Thing I Have damage the car over time or is it just a minor issue that I could just deal with and drive with and it not damage the car?

Or do I need to change the fluid? Or do I need the change the valve body? Or do I not have to do anything and not worry about any future damages that these things may or may not cause?

Wisconsin Joe

Change the fluid and the filter. The idea that it's better to leave old fluid in is a common misconception. It has to be done right, but it's not that big of a deal. Porsche themselves say to change it at 16 years or 160k miles (really).
I did mine last winter at about 122k. Slight improvement, but it wasn't really bad to begin with (occasional 2/3 jerk & clunk that went away).

If that doesn't help, then start thinking about the valve body. I don't think it will cause major damage, at least not quickly if you can't get to it right away. Others have more experience and may have different opinions.