For what it's worth, I was at Barber Motorsports Park this past weekend for a PSDS course. I asked one of the instructors during lunch if they had any third gear failures on their GT4 fleet last year. He said he couldn't recall any failures. I'm not sure of the month that they received their cars, but I believe they were 2016 builds.

 

Correction: Did some digging and based on this post it looks like the GT4s were there at the end of 2015.

 

if in fact there was a design change in third gear in late 2015 i would like to see a picture of the old design, i never had. not trying to start an argument just saying Ive never seen what they actually changed if anything.Does anybody have a picture of the old version if there was one? carl

 

You continue to refuse to take me at my word. You think l just made up the old design and won't believe it until you get a picture. Seriously?

 

nothing personal,just curious to actually see the difference. . no need to get upset. carl

 

Who knows? Nobody really knows...

 

I may be mistaken but i thought you posted that you have removed and upgraded aprox 20 third gears on the GT4 boxes and i thought you stated they were welded? I am not questioning your skills or knowledge just trying to see what really is happening.
carl

 

I agree with GT - good chance- " I continue to assert that Porsche was unaware that Getrag made the change to how they were assembling 3rd gear." There is a new part number now on transmission - Waiting to see if Friend's new transmission stays together. GT showed the fusion weld issue. Perhaps an entire run ?
Early cars seemed immune. However- you would think they know exactly which cars and would reach out to those owners? None of the early cars at Barber were effected I was told by what I consider a reliable source.

 

I think I now understand where the communication breakdown occurred. This gearbox has existed, in a Porsche version, since 2005. It has existed in it's current version, with revised bellhousing and integral oil pump/cooler since the 981 came out. It was not a NEW gearbox for the GT4. You appear to be treating it as if the GT4 was some brand new gearbox and that this problem is 100% GT4 specific. It's not.

When I say they made a design change to 3rd gear I am not talking exclusively about GT4s. I am talking about the complete production line of the gearboxes. Prior to the GT4 I had never in my life seen a welded dog on a 3rd gear. That includes the 981s we had been inside. 5th and 6th have always been welded. 3rd and 4th were splined.

When did they change it? I dunno. But when I say that they changed the design of 3rd gear that's not a question mark. That's not open to debate or doubt. So when you say "who knows?" and "nobody really knows"? my response is "I do" and "You're wrong". Understand where I'm coming from now???

 

^ bingo
AND I HAVE THE THIRD GEAR IN MY HAND. IT IS WELDED....
YES i am crazy. i bought a gear box and opened it.. i have a very very heavy paper wt sitting around.

matt is ALWAYS right on LSD and gearbox issues.

 

yep But somehow I doubt they made it splined again. A new box would need to be opened. Time will tell... Glen...

 

I think Carl is ordering one.

 

Ok I give ,you win,really wasn't looking to start a conflict..sorry

 

For what it's worth, I was able to pick up my car 2 days ago, 3 weeks to the day from when it broke. Most of that time was waiting for delivery of a new transmission from Germany. Frankfurt to USA was less than 48 hours. Once the dealer got it, it was installed in one day.

The part number on my service invoice is 981-300-020-CX. And then 2 gaskets and 4 hex nuts completes the parts list. Invoice price for the main part was somewhere north of $10,000.

Mike

 

It works!

Appealing with concerns to Porsche directly worked for the GT3 crowd. They now got a great warranty on their engines that were plagued first with the connecting rod bolt issue and now fears of misfires.
http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/a11658728/porsche-991-gt3-engine-warranty/

We, the GT4 crowd, should appeal in a similar way, to get the transmission issue warranted like this!

I am in Southern Germany for another two weeks and speak German fluently, so if anyone has a contact that I may use to get to the inner circle, please let me know (PM, if needed). It's vacation period right now, but might as well try.