2004 Carrera 4S replace Tiptronic (plug & play ??)

Rennlist gang, As a relatively new 2004 C4S Cab Tip owner I've been having a horrible experience. Too long a story to repeat to start this thread. Saga began in this thread a few weeks back -> https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...ase-ideas.html Beautiful, well optioned 2004 C4S bought from my daughter knowing it had a rear end whine. Yes it has been determined the whine is in the output shaft AKA transfer case area. Loud and noticeable with top up and windows up. I decided to address the fairly loud transmission whine by replacing the Tip. I want this beautiful 996 back to normal. Didn't want to spring for a $17,000 Tip from Porsche. I did purchase what was reported to be another 2004 C4S Tip (A96.35) which arrived from LA Dismantlers mid June. Said to have been from a 40,000 mile 2004 C4S. Local indy performed the R&R. No issues reported in the surgery. Properly re-filled with fluid, warmed, topped off, adaptation, etc. Tip seemed alright at beginning of test drive. But then kicked into Emergency Mode / Fail Safe / Limp Home mode. Re-set, re-adaptation and same scenario. Limp home mode, 3rd gear only. Code 51. Problem I'm faced with now is Indy says problem is in transmission. I'm wondering if they know exactly how to sync tranny with my car? They did need to use my torque converter and my tip wiring harness. No TC with tranny and harness on replacement tranny broken at car side. Trusting the Indy is knowledgable concerning how to "marry" this tranny to my car, I'm assuming there is a special procedure to mate the new tranny to my car right? Or is it a plug and play and supposed to install, adaptation & work. Indy saying I need to be CERTAIN the tranny is from the exact year make model C4S. It's an A96.35 722.6 meant for that car & said to be from a 2004. How can I know if it's a bad tranny sent by LA Dismantlers, or the Indy doesn't know some secret to get this tranny out of Limp home mode. It is throwing a Code 51 - slippage or implausible. LA Dismantlers may send me a another tranny, but last word from Caleb is "The owner will be calling me about arrangements" Hmmmmm. Another story. I did suggest that they switch out the Conductor Plate from my old tranny into the new and drop pan on new to see how the LA Dismantlers tranny looks inside. They thought that a good idea. Yep - shoulda been done w/o me suggesting. If new tranny still looks good replace filter, clean sump & sump magnet, etc. Refill, re adaptation and cross fingers? These are shipped dry and I have no idea if the tranny is really a bad one, or if there is some magic pixie dust my mechanic is unaware. The Conductor Plate swap is supposed to be completed next week after the July 4th Holiday. However they are pessimistic at the shop saying that if the gear ratio's of new tranny are not EXACTLY what are expected by front & rear diff that this tranny simply will NOT work. (wish they'd quit with the negative vibes man) Do they know what they are talking about? 2004 C4S is an A96.35 tranny. The old one is A96.35. The new one is A96.35. Should be same right? In the meantime I'm hoping our experts here on Rennlist can tell me about any special procedures necessary when you R&R a Tiptronic transmission in a C4S. The radio's and everything else need codes. What is the procedure to marry tranny to car? I can see a scenario where I end up with 2 or 3 R&R engine/tranny drops and still end up with my whining Tiptronic. Sorry for long post but woe is me. What a bummer. Any help or advice is most welcome. - hutch PS - time is of the essence since transmission return to LA Dismantlers is time sensitive. If I limp mode it to the Porsche dealer in Cleveland would it seem worth the $$ to determine if its a bad tranny from LA Dismantlers or a more simple electronic issue?

I found this: http://www.europeantransmissions.com...c_diagnose.pdf http://www.renntech.org/forums/topic...nition-switch/ Maybe not much help for your particular situation but the pdf link does supply some diagnostics.

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Joe - thanks for taking the time to respond. Information you linked is very interesting. Particular;ly one diagnostic that says "There is a "code" in the vehicles wiring harness that must agree with the code in the Tiptronic Control Module." So the fact they used my old wiring harness on the new/used tiptronic, they should match. I saw that other post you mentioned and was why I suggested they swap out the new/used Conductor Plate with my old Tip Conductor Plate. If the indy communicated a little better I'd be more confident they know how to "code" and diagnose Tiptronic issues. I doubt it's a simple plug & play deal with a Tiptronic transmission swap. But I'm still hoping someone here knows for sure. - hutch

This 2nd gen 996 tip transmission is all the same Mercedes unit, starting in 02 for non-turbos. I'm not sure what your indy meant by his comment about being sure what it is.

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Not 100% sure myself. I think he fears the new one has been modified in some way (different gear ratio's etc.) I told him to "stop with the negative vibes man" and just do the swap of the conductor plates. My old conductor plate, my wiring harness and my old TCM should all communicate just fine. I wish someone could tell me if there is other "coding" necessary in a Tiptronic switch out. We need to find some way to know if its an electronic communication problem between car and tranny, or is it really a bad tranny from LA Dismantlers. I asked LA Dismantlers for the VIN # of the donor vehicle 3 times now. I haven't been provided that information yet. Latest thing is an email I received today saying "The owner wants to talk to the technician working on the car". I'm perfectly OK with that, as if they can get this tranny to work without throwing the fault code 51 (Tran slip or gear implausible), I'm way better off than starting over with yet another drivetrain R&R. - hutch

I've personally only heard of communication issues for people doing a manual to automatic swap or vice versa. As far as trans updates, that will be super rare as well. Most of the tip software users are turbos where there is a real benefit.

LA Dismantlers UPDATE & reply with a finished C4S (YAY): Well I have my 2004 C4S back with a working & very strong Tiptronic Transmission. The replacement Tipronic S sent by LA Dismantlers was received, installed, re-coded & adapted uneventfully. While this was a very time and $$$ consuming experience, and JFP the sole responder, I still owe JFP & Renntech an update. Mainly in case anyone else picks up this thread looking for Tiptronic S replacement info or data regarding LA Dismantlers / LA Porsche. Turns out my wrenches at Autobahn in Copley, OHIO knew exactly what they were doing. Louie Pejnovik, owner and brother John were exceedingly patient and professional throughout this process. (both with me and LAD) I mentioned in a previous post that mucho time was spent trying things with the 1st Tipronic S sent by LA Dismantlers (LAD). Todd Dakarman of LAD even sent another TCU to try. I think he thought Autobahn was not competent. I'm sure he runs across that from time to time. Well they are competent Porsche certified wrenches with all the right stuff. Autobahn also tried switched out the conductor plate, valve body and harness. All to no avail. That extra work trying to get the bad LAD tranny to work cost a great deal of $$ given multiple re-adaptaions and driving tests. Nearly $1500. So how did it end up? After about 750 miles of fairly hard driving to make sure all is well, all is well. I have my C4S cab back with a strong Tiptronic S tranny and all is well with the world for now. Not any spec of oil leak anywhere. I let LAD know and they arranged to have both my original core and the bad tranny picked up. Upon arrival at LAD I knew I would get my $1000 core charge back, but anything else? I know the "warranty" on used parts is part only but anything else? It seemed LAD may be aware of my posts here and on Rennlist, but I'm not sure. While initial response about the 1st bad tranny sent was slow, EVERY contact was very professional and EVERYthing they said they would do was done. I dealt with Caleb mostly, but also with Peter & owner Todd Dakarman. I carefully and politely spelled out all my costs. Autobahn agreed to split my costs into 3 invoices 1) Original R&I with some other work I had done since the drive train was out of the chassis. 2) Labor & parts attempting to get the bad 1st Tiptronic S to work. (We went thru a lot of Porsche ATF & filters LOL) 3) The final R&I for replacement Tiptronic S #2. I received an immediate response that Todd was reviewing. Within 24 hours Caleb advised me they would refund my $1000 core charge + $1500 for all the extra work AUTOBAHN did trying to get the first transmission going. $2500 - nice. Furthermore I was offered $1200 store credit or $600 cash for the 2nd R&I. I felt that to be very reasonable given the fact they did not have to anything, if they wanted to be the "bad guys" some portray them to be. So did it still cost me way more $$ and time than it should have? Yes, but stuff happens. I drew the short straw in that respect, but LA Dismantlers made it hurt less. It could have been much worse, if it wasn't for their thoughtful professional response to the problem. As a professional myself I've always been a believer that no matter how capable you may be, stuff does go wrong. What separates the pro's from wannabe's is how they respond to a problem when it does happen. Ultimately LA Dismantlers stepped up and handled the problem very professionally. By this measure LA Dismantlers is top notch IMHO. I have my beautiful 996 C4S back and feeling good again. Do I wish it had round headlights? Sometimes LOL. But this C4S is still a super car with an original window sticker of $109,000, and more car & more fun than most people will ever experience. It also helps that I got a smoking deal on it when I purchacesd it this spring. Now I have close to a retail price into the unit, but that's OK. I love the car. If you may be wondering why someone would go thru this for a lowly '04 996 - this pic and the driving experience says it all. over & out. - Hutch https://rennlist.com/forums/attachme...1&d=1440604687

Absolutely gorgeous car! Congratulations!!

That's what you get for getting an autotragic transmission. lol. j/k. Glad you got it resolved. On that note, National Geographic did a documentary on them awhile ago surprisingly. Part 1 Los Angeles Dismantler National Geographic Part 1 - YouTube Part 2 Los Angeles Dismantler National Geographic Part 2 - YouTube Part 3 Los Angeles Dismantler National Geographic Part 3 - YouTube Part 4 Los Angeles Dismantler National Geographic Part 4 - YouTube Enjoy...

Thanks girls. ;-) I actually found and watched those NG episodes before i bought the Tiptronic S from LAD, but thanks for posting links to all 4 episodes. LAD is onto something with all Todd D has done to build that business. If he continues to respond as professionally and honestly as he did with me, he has built something that should last. - hutch