sandwedge

Good info. The first PDK service is always referred to as "the 60,000 mile service". At least that's what I've read. Can't recall ever seeing the 6 year regardless of miles thing but I take your word for it. Worth mentioning is that the failure on my -09 C4S happened at just over 40K miles on a 5 year old car.

Doug H

Check out owner's manual. Been discussed on here a lot.

https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...r-6-years.html

https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...k-service.html

https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...ndy-shops.html

https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...ange-cost.html

https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...service-2.html

Additional Maintenance Every 60,000 Miles / 90,000 KM Or 6 Years

• Change manual transmission oil
• Change PDK transmission oil
• PDK Change clutch oil

https://www.rusnakwestlakeporsche.com/997-intermediate/

cwheeler

I don't own a pdk car yet, but will... I think the smart thing to do is to over service the oil. Change it out like the manual oil at 30k miles. Plus with the work PV997 is doing on finding the modules, I wouldn't fear the pdk.. but I work on my own cars. If you're needing a shop to do it, the extended warranty is the best option.

Cw

Wayne Smith

I had a shop change the PDK oil at 60 and 120 thousand miles. The pan (filter) was changed both times. Both times the oil and filter were pristine.

I fully understand proactive maintenance but with the 991 oil change interval being increased to 120K miles I'm not seeing a reason to go earlier than 60K with the 997 PDK.

Electrical connections seem to be the Achilles heel of the PDK. And those seem to be refreshingly rare considering the total PDK miles driven.

David350

you know what, I was holding out for a manual but I settled for PDK because it had sport+. All I can say is I am thoroughly impressed by it. All things equal car would smoke a geezer in a manual

David350

no codes stored!

PV997

Thanks for posting. I reread your post and realized the dashboard message was just a standard service message (coincidence I guess?) and not a fault message. Sorry for the mix-up.

Not sure what to make of it other than maybe there was a communication glitch. The gearshift control, transmission control unit (TCU), and ECU all talk to each other over the CAN bus and maybe there was some sort of comm error. The sensors and solenoids within the PDK are not on the CAN bus but use simple analog or PWM signaling to the TCU. If those sensors went out of range (e.g. open of short circuit) then there would definitely be a fault stored as the TCU implements a deliberate procedure to lock out gears and disable functions in response to it (and throws very specific codes).

If I had to guess it would be that the gearshift selector had a comm issue with the TCU. So the TCU didn't think anything was wrong, just that it was getting the neutral signal from the gearshift so it left it in neutral. No codes were stored as the TCU didn't realize it was being commanded to change gears. Just a hypothesis but it seems to fit the symptoms. What I don't understand is why the dashboard indicator would change as that would come across the CAN bus also.

BTW, there is no fluid level sensor in the PDK, just temp and fluid pressure. If the fluid was low enough from the incline I suppose pressure could have been tripped but it should have stored a fault. Don't think it's likely though. Please post if it happens again. How's your battery condition?

David350

I buy your gear shifter comm issue hypothesis. I’ve had cars not want to start for something like a bad ground on a gear shift module. Just never had one freak out while IN GEAR! I guess the PDK is a unique beast.

Funny you bring up the battery. It’s good, holds a charge, good crank, but it’s old - 2014 birthday. Mean anything?

PV997

Probably not unless you were having electrical issues. Just fishing for ideas.

groovzilla

It's difficult smoking a Geezer in a MT car when your car is up on a lift having it's PDK repaired

PV997

I just took a look at the wiring diagrams to refresh my memory and realized something I forgot. Both the gearshift level and the TCU are on the CAN bus, but there's a dedicated serial data line going directly from the gearshift control only to the TCU. This would explain why the dashboard indicator showed the right gear but the TCU had the wrong gear. The dashboard gets it's info via the CAN bus whereas the TCU get's it's gear shift info directly from the gearshift control via that serial data line. (The TCU is on the CAN bus for other functions).

So if there is a fault with that serial data connection it would cause what you were seeing. This could just be an electrical glitch or possibly something flaky on either end in the TCU or the gearshift control (like the UART). Both units are much cheaper than a PDK if needed, don't know about the gearshift control but a TCU is ~$800. Hopefully it was just a glitch though.

PV997

Visa versa when your clutch is being replaced.

1990nein

--

groovzilla

Interesting that OP mentions he wanted a Manual Transmission car but "settled" for PDK
I Posted a thread several months ago regarding Manual vs PDK preference and also market value and I wonder how many PDK owners have "settled" for PDK because Manual Transmission cars are harder to locate?

In any case I hope OP's PDK issue is relatively simple and an quick easy fix. Hate hearing these stories.

David350

I’ll keep you all posted if the issue re-appears post PDK service.

re MT vs. PDK, I think it is an education thing. People (myself included) think of it as a boring automatic which it really isn’t. Combined with sport+ it is quite thrilling.