981 PDK is toast, any suggestions ?
Discussion
Last year I swapped my manual 987S Boxster for a 981 PDK for a combination of reasons - I had a degenerating spinal condition making driving the manual S tricky and my wife didn't like driving it either as she's an auto convert.
6 months in and the PDK is toast. Its a 2012 car with only 50k on it. Nothing will select and having had it HIAB'd to my usual indie they've just confirmed its an internal gearbox problem and replacement the only option. They have talked to Porsche technical to come to that conclusion, they suspect something has given way internally.
Given I paid £21k for it its now effectively an economic write off. The limited warranty I got with the car from a different indie is expired and only covered the first £2k anyway.
I know these sodding things are sealed and very little in the way of repair can be done, even now, 15 years after they were introduced. Given its a full engine out job with £4k+VAT labour my indie doesn't think taking a chance on a box out of a write-off would make sense. Unlike a Hartech engine rebuild I'm not elevating the value of the car by getting it back to where it was.
Given my spinal condition (ironically now operated on) has meant me already raiding the pension to fund day to day costs, £18k is a lot of money to find & replace. Not sure what it would be worth as a part-out ?
Any other bright ideas ?
TIA
6 months in and the PDK is toast. Its a 2012 car with only 50k on it. Nothing will select and having had it HIAB'd to my usual indie they've just confirmed its an internal gearbox problem and replacement the only option. They have talked to Porsche technical to come to that conclusion, they suspect something has given way internally.
Given I paid £21k for it its now effectively an economic write off. The limited warranty I got with the car from a different indie is expired and only covered the first £2k anyway.
I know these sodding things are sealed and very little in the way of repair can be done, even now, 15 years after they were introduced. Given its a full engine out job with £4k+VAT labour my indie doesn't think taking a chance on a box out of a write-off would make sense. Unlike a Hartech engine rebuild I'm not elevating the value of the car by getting it back to where it was.
Given my spinal condition (ironically now operated on) has meant me already raiding the pension to fund day to day costs, £18k is a lot of money to find & replace. Not sure what it would be worth as a part-out ?
Any other bright ideas ?
TIA
Speed 3 said:
Last year I swapped my manual 987S Boxster for a 981 PDK for a combination of reasons - I had a degenerating spinal condition making driving the manual S tricky and my wife didn't like driving it either as she's an auto convert.
6 months in and the PDK is toast. Its a 2012 car with only 50k on it. Nothing will select and having had it HIAB'd to my usual indie they've just confirmed its an internal gearbox problem and replacement the only option. They have talked to Porsche technical to come to that conclusion, they suspect something has given way internally.
Given I paid £21k for it its now effectively an economic write off. The limited warranty I got with the car from a different indie is expired and only covered the first £2k anyway.
I know these sodding things are sealed and very little in the way of repair can be done, even now, 15 years after they were introduced. Given its a full engine out job with £4k+VAT labour my indie doesn't think taking a chance on a box out of a write-off would make sense. Unlike a Hartech engine rebuild I'm not elevating the value of the car by getting it back to where it was.
Given my spinal condition (ironically now operated on) has meant me already raiding the pension to fund day to day costs, £18k is a lot of money to find & replace. Not sure what it would be worth as a part-out ?
Any other bright ideas ?
TIA
Would you consider £5k for it as is if I got it collected?6 months in and the PDK is toast. Its a 2012 car with only 50k on it. Nothing will select and having had it HIAB'd to my usual indie they've just confirmed its an internal gearbox problem and replacement the only option. They have talked to Porsche technical to come to that conclusion, they suspect something has given way internally.
Given I paid £21k for it its now effectively an economic write off. The limited warranty I got with the car from a different indie is expired and only covered the first £2k anyway.
I know these sodding things are sealed and very little in the way of repair can be done, even now, 15 years after they were introduced. Given its a full engine out job with £4k+VAT labour my indie doesn't think taking a chance on a box out of a write-off would make sense. Unlike a Hartech engine rebuild I'm not elevating the value of the car by getting it back to where it was.
Given my spinal condition (ironically now operated on) has meant me already raiding the pension to fund day to day costs, £18k is a lot of money to find & replace. Not sure what it would be worth as a part-out ?
Any other bright ideas ?
TIA
I'd have a google for PDK repairs.... there are alternative options to replacement - https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
old thread about PDK repairs
old thread about PDK repairs
I'm no porsche expert but theres no way it would be worth 18k breaking it.
Equally its not worth zero as it stands, i'm sure someone would pay reasonable money for it and then repair it pretty cheaply making it a very reasonable motor.
I'd be finding a PDK expert and getting the box sorted then sell it on rather than breaking it or selling it spares or repair.
Equally its not worth zero as it stands, i'm sure someone would pay reasonable money for it and then repair it pretty cheaply making it a very reasonable motor.
I'd be finding a PDK expert and getting the box sorted then sell it on rather than breaking it or selling it spares or repair.
Obtain the codes and dedicate a significant amount of time to researching, particularly on the US forums. Don't give up until several people, either in person, over the phone or on the forums, have told you to give up on it. Or give up on it and put it on eBay, with full disclosure and hope for the best.
There will doubtless be a UK based specialist who can crack the case and fix whatever is wrong here. You need to investigate that. Don’t sell the car for pennies. Someone else will simply do what I’ve just suggested or seek to replace with a PDK from a similar written off car. Investigating the cost of buying a pdk and paying a specialist to fit remains another viable option.
I have one final left field suggestion.
Contact the production company that makes Wheeler Dealers. See if you can have a conversation with a producer about getting ‘them’ to fix the car with you subsequently buying in back. A pdk fix might make for content for them.
Worth some emails. All is far from lost. Hopefully,
As you are retired, you have some time to advance this. I hope you can find a way around it to a happy ending.
I have one final left field suggestion.
Contact the production company that makes Wheeler Dealers. See if you can have a conversation with a producer about getting ‘them’ to fix the car with you subsequently buying in back. A pdk fix might make for content for them.
Worth some emails. All is far from lost. Hopefully,
As you are retired, you have some time to advance this. I hope you can find a way around it to a happy ending.
maz8062 said:
Obtain the codes and dedicate a significant amount of time to researching, particularly on the US forums. Don't give up until several people, either in person, over the phone or on the forums, have told you to give up on it. Or give up on it and put it on eBay, with full disclosure and hope for the best.
I did do some research when it first gave up last week. There are a limited number of people having a go at them and there is an extensive Rennlist post about people having a go. Their work is largely around solenoids and sensors which in theory you can get Chinese copies of but that sounds a bit risky even if feasible. My Indie suspect something mechanical has gone but I don't know whether that's them guessing. The odd thing is my wife came home from work in it on Tuesday with no issues and then Wednesday morning when she went to go, it wouldn't select any forward or reverse and was spewing error messages on the dash. I was hoping it was something electronic & external to the gearbox but the diagnostics suggested not. I will get the diagnostics reports and speak to a couple of companies up north that claim to be able to do some limited fixes.
Unfortunately I'm not retired but I was raiding the pension being over 55 and not having much income for a while with my spine (I'm effectively self employted through my own companies).
Edited by Speed 3 on Monday 23 June 19:07
Although it is a bit of a long shot, if the failure is within six months of the purchases, consumer law presumes that the fault existed at the time of the sale (irrespective of what specific warranty came with the vehicle), and therefore the company who sold it may be liable. Might be worth investigating?
Revolution Porsche claim to have experience addressing a number of common PDK faults.
Not used them, but worth a call.
https://revolution-porsche.co.uk/services/porsche-...
Not used them, but worth a call.
https://revolution-porsche.co.uk/services/porsche-...
Austrin (as I recommended to ATM on here) or Mike at Sports and Classic.
If they can't help (and they'll be up front about whether it's fixable or not once they've diagnosed the issue) buy a used unit and fit it.
The 'boxes themselves aren't rocket science, it's the getting parts for them that's difficult.
If they can't help (and they'll be up front about whether it's fixable or not once they've diagnosed the issue) buy a used unit and fit it.
The 'boxes themselves aren't rocket science, it's the getting parts for them that's difficult.
Just read an extensive article in Rennlist about PDK repairs. It would seem most issues are to do with the hydraulic valves which makes sense since you cannot access any gear, if it had been the gearbox itself ( gears ) it would have presented another way.
It would seem that these valve actuators are accessible with gearbox installed but whether that applies with a 981 I can’t say. Moreover it appears that it is a specific part of the valve that fails which can be obtained for buttons relatively speaking.
I’m sure there are those out there who know this and have repaired scrapped boxes.
I know it’s easy to catastrophise such things but I would do some digging and I’m sure you’ll find a solution.
The fact your wife wasn’t able to access any gear after it was fine suggests nothing terminal.
It would seem that these valve actuators are accessible with gearbox installed but whether that applies with a 981 I can’t say. Moreover it appears that it is a specific part of the valve that fails which can be obtained for buttons relatively speaking.
I’m sure there are those out there who know this and have repaired scrapped boxes.
I know it’s easy to catastrophise such things but I would do some digging and I’m sure you’ll find a solution.
The fact your wife wasn’t able to access any gear after it was fine suggests nothing terminal.
So spoke to a couple of specialists up north today who have had good success remedying these fault codes. They're both pretty confident its a position sensor given my description of the incident and the fault codes which my indie has given me. One of them claims to have remedied 50 units successfully, the other much less than that (but similar success rate). One gets the sensors from South Africa, the other Australia. Cost is more with the experienced guys but they give a 12 month warranty on the work too. If anyone on here has any direct experience with the guys in West Yorkshire or the ones in Warrington, please DM me.
Including transferring the car I'm looking at £4-5k, worth a gamble on a 95% success confidence ?
Including transferring the car I'm looking at £4-5k, worth a gamble on a 95% success confidence ?
Speed 3 said:
So spoke to a couple of specialists up north today who have had good success remedying these fault codes. They're both pretty confident its a position sensor given my description of the incident and the fault codes which my indie has given me. One of them claims to have remedied 50 units successfully, the other much less than that (but similar success rate). One gets the sensors from South Africa, the other Australia. Cost is more with the experienced guys but they give a 12 month warranty on the work too. If anyone on here has any direct experience with the guys in West Yorkshire or the ones in Warrington, please DM me.
Including transferring the car I'm looking at £4-5k, worth a gamble on a 95% success confidence ?
If they will warranty the repair then that'd be your best approach - whats the estimated cost of the repair roughly?Including transferring the car I'm looking at £4-5k, worth a gamble on a 95% success confidence ?
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