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Steering and Steering Rack Issues

77K views 130 replies 69 participants last post by  Seap 
#1 ·
Started the car today, got an error "Loss of Steering Support, Increased Effort", followed by "Start/Stop Operation Disabled". Waiting for Porsche Roadside to arrange for a tow to the dealer. Anyone else have this problem?
 
#2 ·
Did you try driving it in your driveway or street? Did you contact your local service dept to see if they said you MUST tow it? I'm assuming yes since towing should always be the last resort. Good luck!


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#3 ·
Yes, the failure happened down the street from my house. Tried restarting a few times, error persisted. Called the local dealer, he told me to call Porsche Roadside Assistance to get it towed. I'm in pretty decent shape, it's fairly difficult to drive with no power steering, ok to get back home but would be difficult to drive it across town, so looks like towing is the only option.
 
#5 ·
Porsche Roadside Assistant is arranging for a tow, already an hour past when they said the tow truck would arrive. They keep calling back quite often to see if the car has been picked up, so kudos there, but really, local dealer should be able to come get the car, Porsche Roadside works with local towing companies. I know BMW, Mercedes owners that have had issues and the dealer picked up the car. Years ago my wife's Toyota had a problem and the dealer picked it up. I guess that's the problem with living in Austin with only 1 Porsche dealer, not much incentive to go that extra mile.
 
#11 ·
I know Porsche contracts this work out to local tow companies, but this is just inexcusable. You live in Austin - one local dealer or ten, there should be somebody calling other companies on your behalf to get the car on its way in for service. Wow.
 
#12 ·
It finally got picked up. Local dealer put it all on Porsche Roadside assistance, those guys stayed on it until the tow showed up, but it appears they just keep calling local companies until they find one that can pick up your car. Will see how repairs go, but so far, not impressed with the local dealer.
 
#16 ·
Dealer said there are 30+ tickets ahead of my car, so will be a day or so until they can look at it. The error did not show up when they tried it this morning, they will see if the computer logged anything. Said there were 3 recall repairs they would make as well (one of them is the alarm issue). Also said no loaner cars are available until after the new year (not surprised at this point). I never used a Porsche as my daily driver car until this Macan, starting to second guess that decision at this point.
 
#18 ·
Does your car insurance have rental coverage? I always have a backup car or two. ;)
 
#19 ·
The steering failure happened to me when taking initial delivery in June. While sitting on the Dealer's lot going thru all the orientation stuff, PCM setup, etc. with the engine idling, got the same "steering effort" message in yellow. While playing around with it with the salesman (who is a long time Porsche fanatic and PCA club racer), the warning turned RED and read something to the effect of "total loss of steering support". FYI, it had ~40 miles on it at the time from delivery, PDI, etc.

Pulled it into the shop & diagnosis was "steering rack control module failure" or something of the sort. Dealer tried for several days to locate a replacement, but of course there were none in the US and nothing was available from Germany for a "parts order".... I guess they were all destined for new car builds, with none released to parts inventory.

After many discussions between the dealer and PCNA, they finally took a complete steering rack assembly off of another newly arrived Macan and installed it in mine to get me going. All the time (about 2 weeks total) I drove one of their Macan demos, so got to learn all the playthings on their car. Only bad thing is demo was an S & mine is a Turbo. I now have ~8,000 miles on mine and the steering has been completely trouble free. The car however has all the common alarm, washer drip, wiper sweep, wonky PCM, etc. early build stuff which I will get addressed at the 10K service visit.

Not to worry, it will get sorted out, it's just an annoyance, especially if you waited 6 months to get it like I did.
 
#20 ·
Threads like these always make me throw up a little in my mouth. Having a car over 100k on order and never having strayed from my reliable Japanese cars makes me a bit uncomfortable that I am making a silly mistake. If porsche did not make such compelling cars I would be long gone.

The three hour wait time is horrible for a tow, AAA is normally less then a hour here.
 
#23 ·
Sounds like the errors my former VW Touareg used to throw up. Made me want to throw up. I'd get running gear errors. Usually shutting down and waiting a bit and restarting would clear it.

Hope it's just an electrical gremlin that never arises again.
 
#25 ·
Did get a loaner eventually, brand new Cayenne Hybrid. After the car sitting at the dealer for a day or so, the warning light did not come back on. The computer did log the fault, so they contacted Porsche for advice. They are going to replace the control unit, which is the power steering unit as it is just one big electronic thing now, replacement here next Monday, a day or so to replace it. They will fix the alarm, so hopefully the random alarm issue will be fixed. They also mentioned a few software updates as well. One thing I noticed with the Cayenne, it has the Bose upgrade as well. It sounds totally different than the Bose in the Macan. Could be the size of the car, speaker placement, or components, not sure, but the Bose in my Macan sounds a lot better, at least to me. So if anyone is using the Cayenne a reference, might not be the best thing to do.
 
#26 · (Edited)
The first actual problem with my Macan, after 5000+ kilometers. Not a nice one. Hopefully it will be fixed soon and nobody else will experience that.

Last week, I lost my power steering and had to give my Macan a ride on a truck. There was no way to drive the car, and re-ignition did not help. Attachment shows the alarm message.

Software of the main computer was updated, and here we went. The same thing happened again on Thursday. That time re-ignition helped, after a couple of attempts. This morning, after a couple of malfunctions, I was able to drive the car to the service. This time they will check the wiring and the power steering unit. In the meanwhile, I am - again - driving a Cayenne.

Not a nice thing as I cannot increase the steering effort with the 20's as much as the car would need to turn.
 
#29 ·
No fun, sorry to hear this @Old Tiger . At least it occurred when stationary, from what you wrote it's almost like its failing a self check on start up and then only the dealer can clear it. With a second visit I'm sure they remove and replace anything suspect to avoid a 3rd visit at all costs. Please keep us posted.
 
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#31 ·
Malfunction diagnozed. Steering column control unit will be replaced. Spare unit travels a week from Germany, which means in total of two Macanless weeks. Basic Cayenne is not a bad replacement car, but cannot be compared with Macan. Driving experience is so much nicer with Macan.

By the way, my good friend just bought a Boxter GTS, and I drove it yesterday. Pure pleasure with fantastic sound. I wonder why anybody would buy a 911 cabrio, because new Boxter even looks outstanding. But that sound, guys ...
 
#32 ·
Glad it's being taken care of, but that's a long time to wait.

I've noticed a tiny squeal/squeak when I turn the steering wheel at low speeds recently. Did you have similar symptoms?
 
#35 ·
:(

-32c today on the way to the office about 2min after leaving my place I get the error message come up.

Macan is on the tow over to the dealer.

Anyone else have this problem yet?

Ive got 22,000km and have been ISSUE free up to this point.
 

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#50 ·
ArrJay. I had the same after 5000 km, with nice temperatures of around 24C. First they reprogrammed the main computer. Worked one day. Now they are replacing the steering column control unit. I should have my Macan back tomorrow. We will see if it was fixed.

In the meanwhile, I am driving a brand new Cayenne S, which is a nice car, but not really a drivers car. It feels as heavy as it looks even though it drives quite nicely. Still, the feeling is not even close to Macan.
 
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