New transmission at 92,000 miles

Well, my string of good luck with my 1999 C2 kind of ran out. Took it in for the 90,000 service knowing that my CPO warranty runs out the beginning of February. The car has been running great with no problems other than a check englne light for the air sensor. Last spring I had taken the car in due a whining sound coming out of the back. Back then they diagnosed it as bearings on the tensioners for the serpentine belt. The sound never really went away though, so I brought it up again for this service knowing this was the last chance to get things fixed under the warranty. The sound was only evident under certain conditions - 5th or 6th gear at 50-70 miles an hour when you give it gas. I imagine many people would never even notice it. I was never sure if it was tires. The fact that it only occured if I gave it a bit of gas was the only thing convincing me it was not tires. But to the credit of the service manager they didn't hassle me about it and agreed it was there and started looking for the source. They finally figured out that the sound was the differential and opened up the transmission and sure enough all was not right in there. The differential was shot, although it seemed to have no effect on the car other than making a bit of noise. I can't say enough good things though about the service manager. He immediately got on the phone with Porsche and worked with them to get me a whole new transmission. Originally they only wanted him to get the parts and rebuild it. He told me that in August Porsche changed policy on this sort of thing. Previously they would normally just authorize the new transmission, but now they force the dealership to do a cost comparison between rebuilding and complete replacement. No real problem with that except it takes them a lot of time to get back with a decision. And as the service manager told me, the difference in price was only a few hundred dollars. Meanwhile he has me driving around in a loaner that Porsche does not reimburse them for, so the dealership wants to get me back on the road as soon as possible. In the end after 3 days they finally authorized the new transmission but only after my service manager really pushed it for me. Another change though has occurred. So I was thinking great - new transmission that will be guaranteed for another 2 years. But no - the current Porsche policy is that since the transmission is being replaced under the existing warranty at no cost to me, it is only covered through the existing warranty. Which means comes February, I have no warranty on it. It sounds like they are really starting to pinch pennies at Porsche of North America. So I am now sitting here awaiting a transmission from Germany to come in. The dealership was nice though and I am driving around in a new Audi A6 loaner. What has given me pause though is realizing how close I came to having a bad transmission I would have had to pay for. It is only because the service manager really tried to find out what was causing what to many would have been a minor whining sound. I know a lot of dealerships would have said it was the tires or something inconsequential and hope I don't come back. Another benefit out of all of this is that I am still on the original clutch at 92,000 miles. As long as I pay for the parts, they will pick up the labor to install a new clutch. All in all this is turning out to be not such a bad experience. I could have probably driven the car for another 50,000 miles or more with no problem other than the whining sound under certain conditions. Still you would think the transmission could last a bit longer than 92,000 miles.

Well you did better than me.... my transmission went at 43,000........ Consider yourself lucky in two ways..... One, you found a great service manager and dealership that took the time to find the problem before your CPO ran out and two, you have a brand new transmission..... Cheers

good on you mate. That dealer is a keeper, so is your 996!

When you say differential do you man LSD? Was your transmission regularly serviced per the recommendations for a car with a limited slip differential?

I think in 1999 they called it Traction Control and yes I have it. Luckily the dealership has the complete history of my car. The original owner bought it there and traded it in there. I bought from them and all of the normal services were done there by both the original owner and me. So there is no question about whether the proper service was done or not. The service manager told me that that counts for a lot when you have any kind of a warranty question. He also told me that it makes it much easier to get Porsche to help cover things that go wrong right after the warranty period expires.

Quotes source post: 4832502

Traction control is not the same as a limited slip differential. Traction control is an electronic feature that monitors wheel slip and applies the brakes and cuts engine power to control slip. It is not part of the transmission (except maybe a sensor). This Traction Control was later incorporated into PSM. A limited slip differential is a mechanical device (clutch pack) that resides inside the transmission that distributes engine power to the wheel with the most traction when slippage occurs. In the 996 (no including GT2, GT3 or Turbo cars) a Limited Slip Differential (LSD) was offered as an option in only 1999, and was standard on the 2004 40th anniversary edition. I have heard of many second owners that do not know that their car has a LSD and therefore to do not service the transmission as such. The clutch pack of the LSD requires that the differential fluid be replaced more often and that special fluid with friction modifiers be used. They also often require the clutch pack to be rebuilt occasionally as the friction materials wear out. A bad LSD will not cause the car to stop running. It simply will no longer function as it should. However it can cause a whining noise from the transmission. I think there have also been occasions when dealers will not take notice that a car has a LSD and not use the specialized differential fluid. Check your cars options list (sticker under front hood of car) and see if it has a LSD listed. The option code is: 220 It would be a shame for the dealer to replace your transmission with a NON LSD transmission as it would lower the value of your car. Many buyers in the market for a track car seek out 1999's that have the LSD as an option as it is quite expensive to add it afterwards, essentially you need to rebuild or replace the transmission. Have your dealer look into it. Oh and congrats on getting Porsche to cover it.

Quotes source post: 4832670

this is where your $15 membership fee is justified

Wow, you are damned lucky to get a cpo on a 99!!! in my part of the world they have year restrictions and mileage restrictions as what they will cpo. Congrats. A win for the consumers.. lol

Quotes source post: 4832670

I just spoke with the service manager and I do have the limited slip differential. They believe that was the cause of the problem. It will be replaced with the same transmission. I am not going to ask them if they followed all of the proper service recommendations for that kind of transmission. Lets just assume they knew what they were doing and did all of the services properly. In 1999 the only cars with limited slip were the ones with the traction control button on the dash, or at least that is what I think. Someone can correct me if I am wrong. And yes, I know I am lucky in many ways on this. I think if I had gone to another dealership, the outcome might have been considerably different. My car only had 42,000 miles on it when I bought it so it was elgible at that point for CPO warranty. Now I am debating on whether to trade it out in February and find another CPO car, probably a 2002 or 2003 this time.

so it's possible the dealer ignored/forgot to service the LSD........ anyway, new tranny can't hurt...

Quotes source post: 4833344

Oh, and I forgot to add that while diagnosing the problem they thought it was the altenator at first and replaced it with a new one. So I also made out on that deal, because they are covering that under the warranty also.

lol u really got your CPO worth! anyway, i always admire when service tech be honest/trying to help. not just want to swipe your credit card and keep u back to the street.

Quotes source post: 4833264

Well whether or not they serviced the previous one as a LSD or not, after spending $7K on a new transmission I bet Porsche would service this one correctly! I'm glad they are taking care of you. Even with a new transmission I would still be leary of owning a 996 out of warranty. At least you have some good selling points now for your car. New tranny and new alt!

been driving a 99 since 2 years no warranty because the company was liquidated by the state of florida....if something happens...tough ****! fix it and keep on driving..the worst that can happen is an engine replacement...and if you can't afford it ...don't buy it...driving a car is easy maintaining it is the hard part!! and NO I don't want to spend that kind of money and NO I am not rich...just realistic

Who is your dealer??

Quotes source post: 4835209

I agree with you. When I come off of warranty, my biggest risk is now complete engine failure. But while I have high mileage, it is all "good" mileage - mostly high speed on a long daily commute. I managed to get about 25,000 miles on my tires. So not a lot of stop and go which is what hurts a car the most. I figure my 92,000 miles is more like 60,000 on the average Porsche. The value of my car is not so good right now. I know on a trade I am not looking at much, selling privately would not be much better. Who wants a care with 92,000 miles when there are so many garage queens out there at much lower mileage. But still my car looks new and has lots of good stuff that would be hard to find in the average car. I have owned lots of Porsches and this one just feels right, despite this transmission problem. If I want a newer car with a CPO warranty, I am going to be at least $25,000 out of pocket plus my car. And I might not find one that feels right like this one does. So the question is, whether it is worth plunking down another $25,000 or so to have a warrranty or live with the risk of having to shell out maybe $15,000 at some point. And lets be realistic, the risk of the engine going is probably a couple of percentage points at most. I would prefer to have a warranty but on face value based on where I am it is going to be an expensive proposition. The equation would be different if 996's were holding their value better, but they aren't. This is too good a car to give away.

That's the kind of dice roll I took when I bought my high-mileage 996 cab last year. I paid little enough that I was ahead of the falling market. If something big goes in the powertrain, I can sell for beans or come up with the cash to fix it. If I have to put 12-15 grand in, I'll be upside-down by today's value, but I'll be about even with what I would have paid for the same car with the new drivetrain. (Yes, this kind of math is how I manage to sleep at night.)

First of all you hit the jackpot with a great service mgr. who works for a decent dealer. Several times you said you felt your car feels right to you, so I'd conclude you are happy with the car even with the high mileage and should stick with a car that suits your present needs. Thanks for sharing a positive Porsche dealer experience.

Quotes source post: 4835209

right on. Having a P is beyond economics. Que sera sera

Since they have it all apart and you're getting a new tranny with LSD, you should consider also getting a lightweight flywheel as you're only out the cost of the parts for that too. Do a search for the pros & cons on this mod. It would sure go well with that LSD and you'd have a lot of track junkies interested (regardless of mileage) should you ever decide or need to sell.

Quotes source post: 4832335

My car has LSD and I don�t see any mention in the owner manual about any additional maintenance service for transmission with LSD. I didn�t even realize I had LSD until I read a post here and checked my option sticker. What is the service recommendation for car with LSD? My car is stuck in 3rd gear and there are no problems with the shifter, cables or linkage? I had both the 30K and 60k service work done at the dealer. Is it possible that they neglected to service my transmission per Porsche�s recommendation for cars with LSD?

Quotes source post: 4844037

The service for a LSD requires use of a friction modifier in the differential fluid. There is also probably a rebuild service interval as well, however I am not familiar with the details. If a clutch based mechanical LSD is not maintained when it fails it will just stop working, it will not cause the transmission to fail.

Quotes source post: 4844037

I don't think there are any special maintenance requirements for the LSD. Had one in my '99 and got it in the GT3 now. I have the tranny oil changed anually with Mobil 1 fluid. There are some indepth threads about this topic on the GT3 board if you do a search. Also, note that it is a wear item and it won't cause the tranny to fail.

Quotes source post: 4844954

In my case the failure of the clutches for the LSD caused problems with the differential. Porsche originally wanted to only replace the clutches and the differential but my service manager convinced them it was more cost effective to just replace the whole tranmission. Found out the transmission arrived from Germany today and the car should be back together by next Tuesday. I asked about the lightweight flywheel and they are willing to do it, but recommend against it unless I plan to track which I don't. Since money is tight and I don't see any big advantage, I will stick with my orginal stock flywheel which is in good condition.