Hey all,
I read several posts regarding the PDK and there is still one thing not clear to me. I simply want to know if the two clutches in the PDK need to be replaced every so often like a regular manual transmission clutch? If yes, how frequently? I am not talking about the whole transmission, I mean just the clutch. Please do not include hearsay, I need facts, Porsche certified and approved facts.
Thank you,
I am unaware of any standard clutch replacement service interval. I have not seen any official document that says there is one. When I asked about it a Porsche rep in Atlanta who was in charge of launching the PDK to the public told me that they were intended to be "lifetime". Of course if one has a problem I assume they have a means to replace it.
The last I heard from Suncoast was that there were no internal parts available for the PDK. You had to do a swap for a rebuilt unit with a core charge as the least expensive route.
That was about 5 months ago when I was trying to get an LSD. It may have changed.
I believe that the philosophy of the PDK internals is much like a traditional automatic transmission or Tiptronic in Porsche's case. That is that the lubricated multi-plate clutches in the PDK were meant to last as long as the band clutches in the torque converters of a Tiptronic. Because the shifting mechanisms are computer controlled, there is much less stress and wear in the PDK clutch mechanisms thus extending their life well beyond the dry plate manually activated clutches of manual transmissions. The oil in the PDK clutch system is recommended to be changed every 40K miles. This is much more often than the recommended Tiptronic oil change but that is probably due to the hard coupling nature of PDK vs. the softer fluid coupling in a Tiptronic. Just my thoughts on this as I do have some skin in this game.
I can tell you and this fact I blew a PDK tray in my 2010 base Cayman with 1860 miles "approx". The dealership who did the warranty work was not allowed to take apart the PDK and had to ship it directly to Germany for inspection. It is my understanding that PDK trannys are not allowed to be taken apart and repaired but only replaced. To this day I never found out what caused the failure. So to answer your question I do not believe there is any maintenance on the PDK tranny, if it breaks it gets replaced.
dave-t
My dealer told me that upgrading to a PDK with an LSD requires an entire transmission swap. Porsche has no shop procedures as yet for any kind of PDK repairs or upgrades except for firmware patches.
Porsche has followed this policy in the past. When the Boxster and 996 first came out, they followed this policy with the new engine (I'm drawing a blank, that was the M96 engine, right?). There were no internal parts available, and dealers were not allowed to take them apart. Failed engines were shipped back to Germany for analysis. It seems they are following this policy with the PDK. I would guess that within a few years of them coming off warranty, repair procedures and parts will become available, either through the dealer or aftermarket.
Thank you guys, so I guess PDK only needs oil like any trans...
But if you had to buy a PDK... how much would you guess?
I read somewhere that it costs around 10000$... but I doubt the PDK will get broken anytime soon...
