[Gilles]

Hi,
There are other posts about this if you search. It is a safety recall, so just check with your local dealer providing your VIN and they will inform you if your car is included. Porsche covers 100% of the cost.

Thank you Gedwin, I found the recall article on this forum and it states that apply to the 2014 and 2015 Cayman (also Boxters) thank you!

 

[ELCID86]

Thank you Gedwin, I found the recall article on this forum and it states that apply to the 2014 and 2015 Cayman (also Boxters) thank you!

It is VIN specific as well. My 2014C is not currently on the list.


Shawn in VA (USA)

 

[gedwin]

Thank you Gedwin, I found the recall article on this forum and it states that apply to the 2014 and 2015 Cayman (also Boxters) thank you!

2013's too.

 

[Crispy]

2015 2.7 Cayman PDK with 30k…

Just did the PDK fluid change per this video. This was very helpful and right on. I bought the transfer pump in the vid through HomeDepot. It worked great.

All I can add is about the post check. I felt I should do a level check so after going out and hammering my new-to-me PDK Cayman, I came back in the garage. All I did was jack up the port side and pull the wheel, engine off. I let my jack down a hair to level the car and pulled the fill plug. A slight amount started to flow so I put the plug in. I will probably do it again before Winter.

 

[dlbehrns]

Just curious: how did your tranny perform after the change? And why would you do it again so soon? TIA dlb

 

[Crispy]

Because you change only 2.8-3 liters, you’re getting about half of what the system holds. My plan is to do it twice and I’ll be good for 40-50k. The fluid was a little dark and I felt that shifting was a little more silky after the change. I thought reading the txt of what jjrichar had to say was interesting. There’s a lot going on in there and keeping it all working smoothly makes me feel good and makes me feel less guilty about lots of shifting. I’m having a blast and really enjoying the PDK. C.

 

[njsho]

I just leveled my car out (checking level on pinch weld under door, the plastic under tray, and the trans pan and then looked in the fill hole, didn't see fluid ready to drip out. I then drained the pan and it looks like only a little more than a quart came out. I lowered the rear of the car to see if a little more would come out, and it did but not much. I have a 987.2 w/ 117k on it. Any reason I should be seeing less fluid drain than others in this 981 thread?

 

[jjrichar]

I just leveled my car out (checking level on pinch weld under door, the plastic under tray, and the trans pan and then looked in the fill hole, didn't see fluid ready to drip out. I then drained the pan and it looks like only a little more than a quart came out. I lowered the rear of the car to see if a little more would come out, and it did but not much. I have a 987.2 w/ 117k on it. Any reason I should be seeing less fluid drain than others in this 981 thread?

This is not a good thing. With the engine off the fluid should flow freely from the fill hole. Maybe about 0.5L. There's no difference for your transmission. If you only got a litre out when draining from the drain plug there is a lot missing. You should get about 2.5L with when draining.

First thing I would do is open the gear oil fill plug and see if a lot drains from there to see if there is a leak internally from one side to the other. If a lot drains from the gear fill plug (not the drain plug) then the gear section is overfilled, and the only place this could have come from is from the clutch section.

Are there any other signs of leaks?

 

[njsho]

There aren't any signs of leaks. When I opened the gear oil filler plug the fluid was gushing out (rear of car slightly below level.) After I drained all the gear oil I was at around 4.5-4.75 quarts collected. Following the procedure to fill, I got about 2.25 quarts in.

Porsche serviced the car at 66k from the records I have from the previous owner. The serviced the clutch side and charged for 6 qt clutch fluid. Before I read your post I was wondering if the put the clutch fluid in the diff side.

Any ideas on potential areas where the fluid from the clutch side could be leaking to the gear side?

 

[jjrichar]

There aren't any signs of leaks. When I opened the gear oil filler plug the fluid was gushing out (rear of car slightly below level.) After I drained all the gear oil I was at around 4.5-4.75 quarts collected. Following the procedure to fill, I got about 2.25 quarts in.
Porsche serviced the car at 66k from the records I have from the previous owner. The serviced the clutch side and charged for 6 qt clutch fluid. Before i read your post I was wondering if the put the clutch fluid in the diff side.

Any ideas on potential areas where the fluid from the clutch side could be leaking to the gear side?

That's not a good sign. There is clearly a leak internally. The volume of gear oil is a little under 3L, so this is clearly where the clutch fluid has gone. It's not possible to overfill the gear side unless they have serviced in a completely strange way. It would just gush out of the fill hole. To have an extra couple of litres in there you would need to have it well above the fill hole level, and there's no way to get it in there. The fact they have charged for 6 quarts of fluid is also strange, unless they spilled a few litres on the workshop floor.

There are a number of places where the two oils get close to each other and there might be movement of one side to the other. There are weep holes for most of these, that will show as an external leak rather than have it move to the other chamber. It's designed like this so the leaking fluid doesn't go into the other chamber.

There is one place where clutch fluid can move to the other side. There is a small pipe that allows clutch fluid to be fed through the gear section an into the bearing between the two input shafts right in the middle of the transmission. This isn't under pressure as it just gets sucked through from the pan and not the valve body. There is an internal o ring for each end of the pipe. Unless the O rings have just not been fitted, I can't see how you would get that much movement of fluid. I've put a link below to the removal of the gearset video I made. At about the 1:30 mark I show this pipe.

Here's what I would do so you are starting with good information and the possibility of the previous workshop doing something strange. Drain and fill correctly both the gear and clutch fluid. See my servicing video for how to do this. Link below. It's towards the end of the video. Then I'd be monitoring the gear level fluid at the fill hole periodically to see what is happening and if there is movement from one side to the other.

 

[njsho]

That's not a good sign. There is clearly a leak internally. The volume of gear oil is a little under 3L, so this is clearly where the clutch fluid has gone. It's not possible to overfill the gear side unless they have serviced in a completely strange way. It would just gush out of the fill hole. To have an extra couple of litres in there you would need to have it well above the fill hole level, and there's no way to get it in there. The fact they have charged for 6 quarts of fluid is also strange, unless they spilled a few litres on the workshop floor.

There are a number of places where the two oils get close to each other and there might be movement of one side to the other. There are weep holes for most of these, that will show as an external leak rather than have it move to the other chamber. It's designed like this so the leaking fluid doesn't go into the other chamber.

There is one place where clutch fluid can move to the other side. There is a small pipe that allows clutch fluid to be fed through the gear section an into the bearing between the two input shafts right in the middle of the transmission. This isn't under pressure as it just gets sucked through from the pan and not the valve body. There is an internal o ring for each end of the pipe. Unless the O rings have just not been fitted, I can't see how you would get that much movement of fluid. I've put a link below to the removal of the gearset video I made. At about the 1:30 mark I show this pipe.

Here's what I would do so you are starting with good information and the possibility of the previous workshop doing something strange. Drain and fill correctly both the gear and clutch fluid. See my servicing video for how to do this. Link below. It's towards the end of the video. Then I'd be monitoring the gear level fluid at the fill hole periodically to see what is happening and if there is movement from one side to the other.

Thank you for the reply. I'm going to monitor the fill hole as you suggested.

I've reviewed most of the PDK videos on your YouTube account. As you said there seems to be a few places that leaks could happen:
1. Actuator Baffles (The black basket looking things in the thumbnail) as there are O-ring there
2. The tube you mentioned
3. The O-ring and larger seal on the intermediate plate Porsche ZF PDK pump and intermediate plate @ 7:47)

If any of those parts are the issue, are replacement parts readily available or would that be a whole scavenger hunt of its own?

 

[jjrichar]

Thank you for the reply. I'm going to monitor the fill hole as you suggested.

I've reviewed most of the PDK videos on your youtube account. As you said there seems to be a few places that leaks could happen:
1. Actuator Baffles (The black basket looking things in the thubmnail) as there are o-ring there
2. The tube you mentioned
3. The O-ring and larger seal on the intermediate plate Porsche ZF PDK pump and intermediate plate @ 7:47)

If any of those parts are the issue, are replacement parts readily available or would that be a whole scavenger hunt of its own?

If it was the actuators then those seals might come off the shelf from a general hyd seal supplier. The O-rings would be easily be found from a supplier with the correct spec which would be easily obtained.

The tube itself isn't going to leak, just the o rings. They would be easily found. If you need the specs just ask and I'll go through the parts in the shed.

 

[Barrie Stevens]

Hi guys, a couple of things: Jeff your bent tube drain idea works!
I also cut down an old irrigation sprinkler the same size as the pan hole and was able to put the socket and torx bit inside it to remove the drain. There was almost no spillage!

 

[jjrichar]

I'm loving your irrigation pipe idea. That's definitely a keeper.

 

[ELCID86]

Great idea(s)! Someone needs to sell this “DIY kit”!


Shawn in VA (USA)

 

[jjrichar]

After seeing the great idea from Barrie above, I wanted to find something that would do the same. Finding a pipe of the correct size was going to be difficult (it needs to be 35mm OD), so I dug around some storage areas in the house to find something that might work.

I used an old kids table mat. These are sometimes used as cheap chopping boards. I just cut it up and put into place.

For the clutch fluid drain I cut a piece, rolled it up and shoved it in there. Once in place I put on a few cable ties and then a staple at the top. The great thing about doing it like Barrie has is that you can put this in place and then remove the drain plug. The pipe is big enough for the plug to come out.

The gear drain is made hard by the torsion bar. You can't get a normal shaped pipe to go past the bar and then beyond the drain plug and hole to capture everything. So I cut a piece as shown and then pushed it up and around the torsion bar and hard against the transmission casing. It doesn't impede using a tool to remove the plug from below.

Finally I used a large piece to stop dribbling from the engine oil filter when removing. It slides up easily beyond the lip of the oil filter cover and also allows access with a standard tool for removal.

I wished I'd known this years ago. The mess when draining fluids has been a source of frustration.

 

[Barrie Stevens]

Glad to be able to pay a little back for all your efforts. I just finished up doing my first PDK clutch oil change. I followed the instructions to the letter and no issues. 2.9 litres out (inc. pan syphon). 3.2 lites back with a good dribble out, engine running at 40c. Not driven her yet but I’m not expecting any issues. I will do it again mid summer. Next job is the gear oil.

 

[ELCID86]

Hi guys, a couple of things: Jeff your bent tube drain idea works!
I also cut down an old irrigation sprinkler the same size as the pan hole and was able to put the socket and torx bit inside it to remove the drain. There was almost no spillage!

How did you and @jjrichar get the siphoning to start with the bent tube into the pan hole? 🤯

 

[jjrichar]

How did you and @jjrichar get the siphoning to start with the bent tube into the pan hole? 🤯

I just sucked gently with my mouth until it got in the tube below the pan level and then just let it flow. A longer tube is clearly going to be a help here so you don't ingest any fluid.

 

[ELCID86]

I just sucked gently with my mouth until it got in the tube below the pan level and then just let it flow. A longer tube is clearly going to be a help here so you don't ingest any fluid.

I was afraid that was the answer!


Shawn in VA (USA)