Tip Assistance/Thoughts Needed ASAP

Hi All: ('04 C2) Just pulled away from stop under aceleration and at the point of expected upshift went to empty revs. D, M & R unresponsive & when attempting to put in P slow grinding sound that subsides in 3 secs w/o Park engaging. Pushed backwards while in R, slow vague rotating metalic noise. Normal upshift lights from shifting controls on steering wheel also don't respond (did before). Ideas, info, suggestions, pointers etc. appreciated.

you go to search tsb 3701. you will need to replace the updated TCU.

Thanks for the reply. My problem seems more serious than that. The car won't move under its own power in any gear. Feels like something mechanical let go.

http://www.vertexauto.com/ShowItem/2...nsmission.aspx Sounds like its finished.....how many miles?

Thanks for the reply. Car has 64K miles...I've had it under 10K. During that time the trans has performed perfectly in D & M modes. I've seen the vertex option, which may ultimately be the way out. I was hoping that if anyone had experienced the same problem, they might know which component has likely failed to consider if having a local repair/rebuild might be an option. All info is appreciated.

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I spoke with a senior Porsche tech a while back about another Tip issue and he told me the Tip is a ZF transmssion and advised me to advise the person for which I was seeking Tip info to take the car to a shop that specializes in ZF transmission repair. ZF transmissions used in Audios and VWs too, IIRC. The shop'll know what's going on, probably just from the description of the symptoms. There's always the exception, but my admittedly limited experience with automatic transmission is that if the transmssion starts making mechanical noises during abnormal operation the problem is serious and a R&R of a single component not likely to resurrect the transmission. Avoid starting the car, attempting to drive the car. No further good can come from this and it might render a Tip that might otherwise be repairable with a single component R&R unrepairable. Sincerely, Macster.

Thx Macster...I ran the car again just long enough to verify that axles weren't the issue. Nothing visibly trying to rotate externally. Car won't be started again. Great tip about the other ZF possibilities. The Porsche dealer would probably be inflexible (i.e. replacement only) whereas others maybe willing to install a rebuild, etc.

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1999,2000,2001 are ZF, 2002 to current are Mercedes Benz (as are all turbos 01+) his car is 2004, Mercedes Benz, and shares nothing major with the preceding ZF Don't take any advice from the tech who provided that advice grinding in any auto is usually an issue with the planetary gears or rollers, but step 1 is to check fluid level. Typically, grinding occurs when the trans runs with no fluid or with no load (transfer case/differential issues). The 722.6 series trans in the mk2 996 /997 cars is generally very solid, however there are known problems with "flare" in that series of transmission which will prevent the car from getting into gear in conditions where line pressure was insufficient to make a particular shift. My suspicion is you have several issues occurring simultaneously, due a slow leak or a major component failure precipitating low pressure or no load, which further caused some physical damage, however with transmissions diagnosis must really be done locally by someone who really knows their business. Here's a little bit of info on the flare issue: http://www.sonnax.com/tech-articles/TASC-TIP-06-09.pdf if you can drop in a rebuild for 3K, do it, the new unit from PCNA was ~$9K last I ran across the figure, it will be much cheaper than running around, but remember to ask the supplier about TCU (can you use existing or will you need a new one).

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Very good. Thanks for the catch. In defense of the tech it may have been my memory that remembered what he said wrong. I've relied upon this tech quite a bit and he's never steered me wrong yet. Sincerely, Macster.

Thanks guys...great stuff. I've had the car towed home and think the next move is to find someone locally with some experience that's willing to do a careful evaluation, counting on the cost of removal & internal inspection. It does seem like an attractive alternative to simply order a rebuilt unit & replace, but on the other hand if the replacement unit fails, the warranty won't include second R&R, shipping, etc. whereas a local repair or rebuild may afford a bit more protection. It may work out that the math dictates simply doing a swap out with the $3.3K rebuilt replacement. I'm still clinging to the faint hope that the damage is limited to a component or cluster that can be replaced along with standard seals, etc. I'll keep everyone posted, fellow tip owners will probably want to know how this plays out. If the transmission has to come out, which I'm nearly sure it will, regardless - I will also have to confront the decision whether to do the IMS upgrade. Is it possible to determine in advance which bearing (double or single row) is in this car? Should I also replace the RMS even if it is dry? Both seem to make sense at this point. Thanks again for the interest and the responses.

I would do a bit of research and search around there are a few other companies out there who sell rebuilt transmissions for our cars and some even have up to a 5yr warranty. When the trans. is removed from car do the ims bearing. It will be some peace of mind, especially reading the horror stories here.

After having the car towed to my house I found that ALL of the bolts on the CV joint connecting to the transmission on the passenger side are backed completely out. Haven't had it up in the air yet, but just by feel seems like one might be sheered off at the end. Can't tell for sure. Looks like others on the site have experienced this problem, which prompted me to check. Looks like maybe large caliber bullet dodged.

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big macster - i realize that came off more harshly than i intended, no offense meant and we should all be lucky enough to have reliable p-techs who give us good info. i just find that very, very few porsche master techs are familiar with tip trans internals, or in fact post-g50 manual trans internals, because nobody rebuilds anything anymore. it's all r&r by the book to the OP, as i mentioned check the fluid level and fill if low, do not flush. pull the battery off or use pst to reset tcu. durametric cannot reset mk2 tcu as of the last time i checked. I should note that you need a special tool to check the fluid level, shoot Loren over at renntech a message I'm sure he can confirm yea or nay if it works after the fill and reset, great. If not, try to limit your indie guy to evaluating obvious external causes. I just saw your post re: CVs, as mentioned this is the external load issue, hopefully this explains it! the cost of diagnosing an internal failure will be 10-20 hours of labor to break down the case, analyze, and reassemble for core if necessary, and you will be at the mercy of the rebuilder's hourly rate and stated parts bill from that point forward. Plus no one knows what they're looking at in that trans unless thy are a specialist on that trans in particular, it's not standard old school autobox. At typical 125 dollar an hour shop rates, it just doesn't make sense to take the transmission apart unless you can do it yourself, assuming you can put in a rebuilt replacement for 3k + say 5 or 6 hours if you want more ideas, go visit the 996 and 997 turbo forums on 6speedonline, those guys are at the forefront of tiptronic development because of the preference for tips in drag applications, they routinely mod them for faster shifts, different gearing and to handle more power, they blow them up more frequently, and generally have more experience with the 722.6 / W5 internals than anybody here. FWIW I know a lot of the MB SL55 trans parts are interchangeable w/996 version of trans, but those MB trans components are just as expensive as buying from Porsche