I am buying my friends 2001 996TT with Tiptronic transmission that has about 32k miles. It is currently leaking transmission fluid. It has gone to the Porsche dealership and to an aftermarket Porsche specialist. The dealership believes its a leak at the bottom (gasket/seal) and says they think they can fix it for ~1,000. They offer now warranty though because they are using other parts to fix it. They claim another customer had the same issue, they used their method and charged the customer ~1,000 and hasn't had any money for a few thousand miles.

The Porsche specialist (got a lot of positive referrals) told me he thinks the leak is from the top of the transmission (since there was fluid everywhere, not just at the bottom, but this was after a 300 miles road trip. He said I should rebuild the transmission and it would be fixed with a year warranty and much stronger than stock ($2,500 rebuild kit, plus about $2000 in labor = $4,500.

Since the dealership was so sure it would work, My current plan is to have the Porsche specialist clean up the transmission and then drive it for a couple miles and see where the fluid is...if its at the bottom, he said he could change the gasket for a few hundred cheaper than the dealership, but if its leaking from the top, i definitely need the rebuild kit.

Anyone had this issue before? Thanks in advance (my first post).

 

Anyone here ever have any trouble with a tiptronic?

 

its a transmission it can go bad, gasket can fail.

im not sure who you have the car at but there are a couple good mechanics in H town that i would trust and ill PM you the info.

 

Are you having other transmission problems other than leaking? If not... a rebuild??

 

some gaskets can be found, some need to be made.

 

I am very familiar with the tip as I have rebuilt it as well. We can help you out and we are in Houston. Drop me a line. todd@vividracing.com

 

+1. No one knows the Tip better than Todd in your area.

Todd, have you had the TCU upgrade issue resolved yet? I'm thinking there may be some discrepancy between the ECU and TCU programmings.

 

No, not yet actually. I've been slammed with other things. I should have an answer by weekend.

 

Thanks for all the replies! I plan to have the transmission cleaned up to determine where the leak is from, but the car is currently in Austin (with my friend). Does anyone know of any of any shops in Austin that are tiptronic experts? If not, I will have him take it to Roger Beasley to get it cleaned up to determine where the leak is (only porsche dealership in Austin, same dealership that said they would fix it with other parts for under a grand).

Just talked to dealership again, they said in their other case of transmission leaking, they replaced the paper gasket (since they could not find a replacement, with a different sealant (they said its a liquid sealant they use on older cars). Does that make sense to anyone?

 

Dude, you said you were buying it... so are you? If so, tell your buddy that whatever price he wants for it he is going to deduct $1k to $3k (whatever you feel comfortable with) and get it over to the shop nearest you which conveniently is Vivid Racing. If your deduct was too low, eat the difference and get it fixed. If your deduct was high, fix what is wrong and spend the rest with Vivid making it go faster.

 

He is already giving me a great price on the car, he just wants to get rid of it (he has to leave the country next week since his student visa is up). I am trying to determine if I will have to spend $1,000 on the transmission or $6,000 to have it rebuilt.

 

Well you need to get the car to Steve Ott in Houston. He has done all the work on the Vivid Racing car people have referenced above.

 

Have a REAL good look at the electrical connector on the transmission. It connects on the drivers side closest to the engine. Just above the pan.

This was a HUGE problem on Mercedes cars and we kept like 50+ in stock at all times. (used to be a MB Parts guy).

I've seen two cars come through here with the same leak. It's a cheap connector, and a fairly simple fix.

Spray it clean and check that connector for leaks!

 

If he is giving you a great price, and a difference of $5g is going to make or break you, you should probably be looking for a less expensive car.

 

do you have to pull the tranny to look at the electrical connector?