Papamurphdog

PDK HX UPGRADE UPDATE: Sadly, after many hours of Imagineering, the XXXL HX from LN simply will not fit anywhere mountable on my 997.2. Additionally, we tried a different HX -- that is double the size of the stock one -- and we found a spot for it, where it could be plumbed, on the drivers' side, but after a lot of additional Imagineering, we haven't been able to figure out how to template a bracket that will work yet. So, rather than burn hours on the labor clock, now that we have a basic plan, we're going to table this until the winter, so we can go off the clock and figure how the bracketry. We think we can do it, just don't want to spend the labor hours on the clock. SPECIAL THANKS to Cam and the folks at LN Engineering, and Brian and the crew at Atlanta Speedwerks, for giving this their best shot so far. We do think the 2X HX unit will work now, just gotta figure out how to mount the danged thing! That's the update. Wish it was different news, but we tried. I'll make a new post this winter, when we nail the mounting bracket issue. Thanks all!!

Jhboyd98

Did you come up with a solution for PDK overheating? I’m having the same issue at Sebring. Thank you.

gman3280

My suggestion would be to get bgb to sell you the pwr radiator set and vent though the bumper like that csf article how to cool a cayman.

dgrobs

Without reading through this entire version of War and Peace....

981S Track Cayman

3rd radiator
PDK Cooler New increased size from OEM
Deep Sump for the Oil Cooler

Been working fine and keeping the temps down.......

PTSFX

My story had a sad ending, if only temporarily. I don’t track in the summer just because it’s too damn hot to be enjoyable, so I take my Cayman to work once per week. When doing so a couple of weeks ago, just sitting in traffic, the PDK died. Long story short I now have a remanufactured PDK in the car and my next event is Nov 6-7 so I’ll update this thread with how the BGB cooler works. Should be noted that when RS1 put the new PDK in, they said the BGB cooler should be more than capable of taking care of cooling, as the solution they use on their race cars was one less liter of fluid and they didn’t run lines to the front of the car.

kisik

Can you share details/part number for this "NEW increased size OEM cooler"? Just trying gauge between different options like LN, BGB... Thanks!

BGB Motorsports

Remember that the cooler that I designed was to cool the fluid for the transmission side of the PDK (gears and diff) and work as an air to oil setup since the PDK already had a water to oil cooler. The LN offering is a bigger version of the factory setup and one which I have used before with success. It takes longer to change the motor but it's worth it.

Papamurphdog

Quick update: I added a NACA duct to the belly pan to increase airflow aimed directly at the stock PDK HX unit (and up over the motor oil HX too), and I am happy to report that overall temps came down by 10 to 15 degrees while at Road America a couple of weeks ago. Yes, ambient was lower, but the car has never cared: temps have been consistently high. I'll post some photos shortly. Was and easy and cheap fix and most certainly helped.

Krokodil

Cooling setup on the race car:

PDK Clutches: LN Cooler (stock coolant loop)
PDK Gear Stack (including LSD/R&P): primary - oil/water HX in the main engine coolant line in the tunnel; secondary - oil/air HX in the right engine inlet
Engine: three radiators (replaced regularly); large oil/air HX (low pressure loop pumped from the deep sump) using air ducted through the rear deck

Coolant temp runs near 190F and engine oil at 225-235F depending on ambient and track.

Sir Ducer

Was checking out the TEAM BGB site but the PDK Cooler is no longer available.

Ubermensch

In for the pictures of the NACA duct cooling setup and the larger OEM PDK cooler. I'm already running BGB's PDK cooler and while I don't have an issues with limp mode I do have oil temperatures regularly getting to 270. Manual cars running in the same or faster times at the same track/day are running 30 degrees cooler. Seems crazy that the PDK is generating this much additional heat and dumping it into the oil. Porsche and Mobil don't seem to be worried about oil temperatures in this range but it definitely feels a little worrying. I end up doing cool down laps to stay under 270 but it's annoying and slightly distracting.

Papamurphdog

For clarity: the LN 3XL HX unit does NOT currently fit a 997.2 911 out of the box.. The LN kit is for Cayman (Boxster) only. I tried to make it fit, and the only way we can see that happening is with cat-less race headers and no side muffler cans, as part of the install. (Might be able to shoe-horn it over the winter. We'll see.) For now I am running the LN deep sump motor-oil pan, the aluminum LN deep sump PDK pan, Driven XP-9 10-40 and seeing max temps at 230-235 at Road America with the new NACA duct. Was spiking to 255-260 at Barber on August 1 (so hot that day, I think I melted my own belly fat...), was usually 240 - 250 otherwise earlier in the season. (yes, I know the HX is oil/water, but I figure getting a lot more air over it would help. It did.). Might try to use the Driven DI40 this weekend at Road Atlanta, to see if the zero viscosity at the bottom helps the oil circulate more freely (lowering temps a tad?).

Ubermensch

Thanks for sharing the pictures. Interesting to see that the 997 has an underbody panel in the middle that the 987.2 is missing (going by memory here) with several air scoops. The 987 has a couple of flaps on one panel to direct air up into the engine transmission area but not much else.