DCT Failure

The 7DCL750 Getrag transmission is independent, says Stephan Rinderknecht, Getrag's head of research and development, to that of the 7DCI600. The 7DCI600 is used in the BMW M3. However they were built side by side so if someone can get a side by side comparison manual of parts maybe an engineer on here could identify the changed parts and someone could design a replacement for the malfunctioning piece. Only could find a low res copy of the Ferrari DCT http://www.eurospares.co.uk/userImages/160/Large/160_024.gif
3D render of the BMW M3 transmission http://image.automobilemag.com/f/10273178+w750+st0/0808_04_z+2008_bMW_m3_m_dCT+double-clutch_transmission_with_drivelogic.jpg

If anyone can source the parts book image of the BMW M3 DCT unit that'd be a fantastic help.

I own a Subaru WRX and my car as well as all the WRX 5 speeds ran into a problem where the input shaft would flex causing the teeth of 1st 2nd and 3rd gear to separate and chip teeth off destroying the gearbox because of bad design. I did a large amount of research on it leading to the answer of improved pieces with better metallurgy. It can't be that hard to solve this dilemma with such a large amount of cases where it is occurring there is a great test bed with a lot of ability to look into the problem. A damaged box would be a terrific thing to look into and see exactly the problem. If anyone can happen to capture pictures of the old transmission it'd be a wonderful piece to a solution.
Ill keep looking into it i've got some hunches so far based on the design of the DCT box.

Also it may not be MalibuGuy's transmission which is the problem. The engine may be just more powerful and cause it to occur that much quicker. I know in my car that my engine is from stock 30WHP more powerful than normal being Bare-bone stock. Who knows his engine could be a performance fluke and be causing the transmission to deal with higher stresses. Anything is possible.
-Josh

 

Thank you for posting and providing some great information to better understand the potential problems.

It would be great to get some feedback from Getrag on the nature of the failures: is it an
electrical malfunction or metal flexing gear destruction problem?

Since Ferrari is using the DCT paired with more powerful engines, weak metal flexing problems
must be solved.

My engine is stock--I don't think it is more powerful compared to other Cali's . But boy, does she growl and howl!

 

How many Cali's were built in 2009 -2010. 2500? 3000? How many failures are documented on these cars? 20? 50? At what points does it become a campaign or a recall? We are witness to Malibuguy's unfortunate DCT history and a few others on here but not hearing much else. My dealer won't hardly even acknowledge it. Is it very widespread on the early cars like the intake manifold was? I personally have not had the problem.

At some point Getrag modified the DCT and the problem has been eliminated. Seems an easy fix to recall the cars before a certain chassie number and fix the problem. Or is Ferrari just waiting out the cars/owners to let the warranties expire the telling the customer their sh** out of luck?

 

Very well put, agree 100%

 

I agree with you. I think Ferrari should step up to the plate and replace the flawed DCTs.
Aside from being the honorable way to treat customers, many of whom are new to the brand, it is also the right thing to do from a safety perspective. An abrupt transmission failure could cause an accident with injury or worse, loss of life.

I hope Ferrari reads this and gives some reflection and handles this problem head on rather than taking the lazy approach--to just let owners suffer through failures.

 

+1. I mentioned this to my services manager who happens to be a certified ferrari master technician and he's never encountered it. He did admit to hearing about it from mainland dealerships. Must be only a half dozen Cali's on my island though lol.

 

It doesn't seem to be simply Californias which are affected. It seems that the DCT failure using the sister transmission is prone to a lot of failures as well -Josh http://www.google.com/#hl=en&safe=off&q=+site:m3post.com+dct+failure+bmw+m3&sa=X&ei=ZrOKUIaxEMy60QH2u4GwAg&ved=0CCUQrQIwAA&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=721d8d413178fdae&bpcl=35466521&biw=1308&bih=1234

 

Chris Harris explains why these failures may be happening.

Very Intresting Article;

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=25818

 

Very interesting indeed! Sounds like the innards need an engineering upgrade to withstand the abuse of the Ferrari specifications.
CH

 

I had a total gearbox failure exactly 3 years ago. Was wondering if there are any known chassis numbers where the upgraded boxes started to appear? Here's the link to my thread in 2009.

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=262148

 

Interesting piece by Harris, esp. his speculation that Ferrari knew that tuning the DCT the way their customers would want would also make for failures. Maybe, maybe not.

The problem in Californias and 458s does not seem widespread enough to justify a recall. There is no repair for it; only a transmaission replacement. So a recall would require replacement of all transmissions. One might expect that an extended (e.g., 6 year) warranty on the transmission would be both reasonable and gratifying to customers. As it is I am thinking about buying the expensive extended warranty when my 458 comes out of warranty. Maybe there is a point there....