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Update on my transmission failure. Was replaced under warranty by Porsche Prestige in Montreal. Took 2 weeks total. They were great. No hassles. It was their 4th or 5th GT4 trans replacement. This indicates to me there are a lot more failures than what is showing in the Rennlist forum.
They had to send mine to Germany, as there were no transmissions available in North America (this was at the beginning of July 2018). Replacement part 981300020DX
This is an update to my earlier post mentioning my 3rd gear failure. I was waiting for the transmission to be replaced before sharing details. At the time of the transmission failure, the car had 4800 miles on it. Build date was June 2016. I was running Dundon headers and Dundon pro tune. Tires were Bridgestones RE-71Rs on 20 inch wheels in OE sizes. Suspension tweaks included track alignment, toe links, adjustable caster pucks and tie rods, plus DSC. The failure occurred at the exit of Turn 10 at Summit Point Main under full throttle. Fortunately it happened only a few hundred meters before the checkered flag was waived so I was able to take my time coming back around the track before pulling into the paddock with the other cars that were on track. It took about a month for the transmission to be replaced. At my request, the dealer agreed to install an Aasco LWFW and Sachs clutch while the transmission was out, so perhaps it was all for the best. Will see how I like the LWFW at VIR this weekend. So far I have no opinions, as I have driven the car only about 100 miles very gently on the street to break in the clutch.
.....the dealer agreed to install an Aasco LWFW and Sachs clutch while the transmission was out, so perhaps it was all for the best. Will see how I like the LWFW at VIR this weekend. So far I have no opinions, as I have driven the car only about 100 miles very gently on the street to break in the clutch.
Really curious and seriously appreciate a detailed review of the new LWFW and Sachs clutch, about which I (and, I'll speculate, many others) know nothing.
Really curious and seriously appreciate a detailed review of the new LWFW and Sachs clutch, about which I (and, I'll speculate, many others) know nothing.
Thanks so much and enjoy the ride.
I can post an update next week. I can say that I do hear gear rattle at low rpm in the lower gears and the idle may be slightly less smooth than before the flywheel was installed. I was expecting these changes so they don’t bother me much, but they may make the car less street friendly if that sort of thing bothers you.
With respect to the clutch, the pedal feel is significantly lighter and engagement occurs when the pedal is closer to the top of its travel. These features make the clutch feel a bit strange at first and require some additional mental concentration when driving on the street, but I have not stalled the car yet. I still have no sense of how much acceleration will improve since I have not driven the car hard.
Update: I had the car at VIR over Labor Day weekend and the new transmission, Sachs clutch and Aasco flywheel all behaved well. As expected, I felt some difference in acceleration mainly in the lower gears. I noticed the difference particularly coming out of Oak Tree, which is a slow second gear coach straight. The car accelerated there better than I remember compared to the last time I was at VIR in March, but that is of course just a seat of the pants subjective observation. I also noticed that I can shift a bit faster, as the revs fall more quickly when the clutch pedal is depressed. Overall it is not a night and day difference but a nice improvement if you have the transmission out already anyway. I can also say that modulating the clutch is not a problem now that I have driven the car for several days.
Hi there all of you G81 tranny experts. Not GT4 owner yet, but seriously considering buying CPO'd one here in Toronto from a P Dealer.
Provided with all service records and shows tranny whine noise was diagnosed in April 2017 and was replaced in August of 2017 at 9,870 km (6,170 mls).
Not a problem with 3rd gear break, but due to whining noise when driving at HWY speeds in 4th, 5th and 6th gear.
Porsche NA approved and P dealer replaced it with a new reman tranny. All cool there I hope so, but...
What was installed is: 981-300-020-BX.
Can't find out is the BX iteration, that this GT4 has right now, of the G81 reman unit prone to "repeated" 3rd gear breakage or not?
I see on this forum topic you guys elaborate that the CX itteration appears to be "the strong" fix one. Does that implies BX, being one before, is the one that breaks again?
I know I would get the CPO until Nov. 2021 but I would like to know what comes with this fix.
Any advise / help is much appreciated.
Car details (again):
In-service date: Nov-11-2015
Tranny replaced due to whine noise: August of 2017 at 9,870 km (6,170 mls).
New tranny PN: 981-300-020-BX.
4 Wheel alignment after tranny job: Done
Current mileage: 12,000 kms / 7,500 mls
Hi there all of you G81 tranny experts. Not GT4 owner yet, but seriously considering buying CPO'd one here in Toronto from a P Dealer.
Provided with all service records and shows tranny whine noise was diagnosed in April 2017 and was replaced in August of 2017 at 9,870 km (6,170 mls).
Not a problem with 3rd gear break, but due to whining noise when driving at HWY speeds in 4th, 5th and 6th gear.
Porsche NA approved and P dealer replaced it with a new reman tranny. All cool there I hope so, but...
What was installed is: 981-300-020-BX.
Can't find out is the BX iteration, that this GT4 has right now, of the G81 reman unit prone to "repeated" 3rd gear breakage or not?
I see on this forum topic you guys elaborate that the CX itteration appears to be "the strong" fix one. Does that implies BX, being one before, is the one that breaks again?
I know I would get the CPO until Nov. 2021 but I would like to know what comes with this fix.
Any advise / help is much appreciated.
Car details (again):
In-service date: Nov-11-2015
Tranny replaced due to whine noise: August of 2017 at 9,870 km (6,170 mls).
New tranny PN: 981-300-020-BX.
4 Wheel alignment after tranny job: Done
Current mileage: 12,000 kms / 7,500 mls
My gut feeling is that the customer heard about the 3rd gear failing issue, complained to the dealer about some random transmission noise and the dealer was cool enough to find a way to get the whole gear box replaced.
All GT4 gearboxes whine. I actually like it. Perhaps this one had an abnormal whine,so they've decided to replace it...we don't know...
Regarding the gearbox part number,I know some of the early failures got the same faulty 3rd gear transmission : and in some cases it failed again. Sounds like this car might have gotten one of the early transmissions as well,but I'm not certain. Someone more knowledgeable will chime in I'm sure.
Hey everyone, gt4 owner here. No problems with the transmission until today. 3rd gear went out in normal driving, Got the car with 5500 miles (Porsche fleet car) at 49,988 two years later.. Phew!!! Gonna take her in tomorrow with a few miles to spare. Any advice, tips, in dealing with the SA would be greatly appreciated.
I doubt they'll give you any hassle, even if you had exceeded 50k, but better not, of course.
If they give you ANY grief, just remind them that you know that it's a VERY well-known issue and that Porsche has replaced every single transmission that's failed...and that you expect nothing different.
I gave the SA the service bulletin (attached) when I turned my car in. I just got my car back on Mon, just shy of a month at the dealer. All is right with the world now.
That's the closest that I've seen to one being out of warranty for this issue. I suspect that in normal driving, as opposed to track, it will start showing up on higher mileage cars. We will be curious how Porsche will handle this known defect in cars that are beyond 50,000. The right thing to do would be to replace no matter how many miles it takes before the defective weld breaks.
Hey everyone, gt4 owner here. No problems with the transmission until today. 3rd gear went out in normal driving, Got the car with 5500 miles (Porsche fleet car) at 49,988 two years later.. Phew!!! Gonna take her in tomorrow with a few miles to spare. Any advice, tips, in dealing with the SA would be greatly appreciated.
Sorry to hear that but congrats on putting some miles on the car and just getting in within the warranty! Out of curiosity, what is the build date on your car? Failure at ~$50k miles must be a new record...
Well I will add my sad story...5hrs hauling my GT4 to VIR. Spent the night and got to the track early. I had a couple of beautiful September days ahead of me. Mid to upper 70s and sunny. I was pumped. Finished the yellow lap. Hit the oak tree turn on lap two. Dropped to second and then accelerated as the car straightened. Pushed in the clutch to up-shift. Heard a noise. Shifted to third, let the clutch out and :-(....tears. Back to paddock....loaded up and 5hrs home to dealer. And yes a tear ran down my cheek as I drove over the bridge at the esses. Dealer took 2-3 weeks to replace transmission. Car was manufactured 6/16 and had 6k on it...2k of which was track time.
This past weekend at COTA. My car and one other GT4 dropped 3rd gear.
Please add me to the list of casualties:
--May 2016 Build Date
--3850 miles
--10 track days
--RE71R tires
Circumstances are as follows. Last instructor run session of Sunday at COTA. Exiting turn 11 which leads onto the back straight. Exit in 2nd gear, upshift to 3rd (no warning, no noises, grinding or any indication of an issue all weekend) and it was if I missed 3rd gear and engine went straight to rev-limiter. I thought I must've missed the shift and was pissed that I might've smoked my motor. I upshifted to fourth and cruised down the rest of the straight pondering what had just happened and then tried to downshift to 3rd at braking zone for turn 12. Nothing there. Just like a neutral. 3rd gear no longer existed. I haven't heard others complain about an over rev as it seems many folks are downshifting when it lets go. Mine was on a full throttle upshift and the motor definitely flew up to the fuel cut. Will need Porsche to run a DME check to verify over rev and see what they say. Based upon the feedback on this board and the posted service bulletin on the 3rd gear issue, I'm not worried about Porsche fixing but am worried about any possible over rev. Anyone else have to deal with that? As most have indicated, car ran fine and drove it home 25 miles. No indication of an issue other than the missing 3rd gear. No noises.
Ironically, earlier in the day, another instructor got out of his student's car and told me that his 3rd gear had just let go and I made the ominous comment that I hoped if mine let go it would be well within warranty. Since I've owned this car for over 2 years and only have 3850 miles on it, I wasn't sure if it would happen within 4 years. Careful what you "ask" for.
08-01-2018, 10:11 AM
