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Clacking sound from underside and "thud" sensation when coasting

12K views 38 replies 9 participants last post by  allex1082003 
#1 ·
Hoping for some insight on two odd symptoms I'm having with my new Macan Turbo. First just want to say that I love the car - man this thing is fun to drive! Haven't felt this way about a vehicle in a long time...I enjoy driving again! Car has just over 400mi on it and today was the first day I was able to take it on a longer drive at highway speeds. I noticed that when easing off the gas at speed (think around 80mph) the car leans forward as it begins to decelerate (slows faster than I'd expected - doesn't seem to coast well) and then theres a second, subtle "bump" almost like you've been lightly kicked in the rear. It's almost like a "thud" except you don't hear it, you feel it in the seat of your pants. Doesn't matter which gear. I've also begun to notice the "light kick in the rear" sensation around town, for example beginning to slow down for an intersection without braking. Doesn't happen every time, seems to be intermittent. Feels like a slower turning component is abruptly re-syncing with a faster turning component. Any thoughts here? The car isn't even a week old and I'd feel like a lunatic bringing it in for something already, especially one that I can't super reliably replicate.

I've also noticed that every so often when slowing (for something like a traffic light) and the transmission shifts from 3rd to 2nd, it doesn't do so smoothly and a pretty loud "clack CLACK" sound is emitted from what I'd presume to be the transmission. Is this just the standard occasional roughness from the PDK, or is this more worrisome? I've ridden in my friend's Macan GTS before and have never heard it do that, ever. It's happened to me three times just now on my hour ride home. Thoughts here?
 
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#2 ·
As a GTS owner, I’ve not noticed either of those symptoms. I would call your SA and let them know.
 
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#5 ·
Really? After only 400 miles? I'm not being sarcastic - genuinely asking, because that would be a surprise. I don't experience any of the reverse gear or binding symptoms. I should add that I really need to drive the car for about an hour before the more serious symptoms appear. There also seems to be a strange sound at speed coming from under the center console when I reapply power (gently). Sounds like a quiet, metallic "ttttttrrrrrrrrr" that eventually fades out within 5 seconds of reapplying power. Not sure if any of that helps.
 
#12 ·
Just wanted to update this thread. Car is currently in for service. Symptoms got worse over the last few weeks while waiting for my appointment. Was given a 2018 Macan base for a loaner - it exhibits none of the strange behavior I've been having with my Turbo. Gotta say, already miss the Turbo. Hopefully the tech is able to replicate, someone who isn't paying attention or driving the vehicle in the proper conditions / circumstances may not notice my complaints. It's pouring here in Massachusetts so not a great day to ride with the tech and demonstrate sounds - there wasn't one available for a ride anyway. If they call back and say everything's all clear, I'm going to ask for a ride-along before taking it back. Something is definitely not right.
 
#13 ·
@bcon08, I confirm having the same thing with the PDK on our 2016 Turbo for almost 3 years now and the dealer denying anything wrong. We are on 18 Base now and none of this behavior. Turbo is in service now and I hope they admit that something is wrong. I was able to find something on the threads related to transfer case, shudder, and rear axel out of sync as you state in your description but nothing specific that would be a smoking gun stating "PDK on the Turbo does this hard shifting up or down through 2nd-3rd and it is X". I was driving the loaner Base today and pushing it hard up and down and the PDK is silky smooth not any kick in your pants shifting sensation. Please report back specifics if you get them from the dealer. I would do the same.
 
#14 ·
@sergeyb -

Oh man, that worries me. That's been my concern this whole time - having an otherwise phenomenal vehicle with less than 1000 miles on it and being told this is all expected behavior or is "within tolerances." That said, the 2018 Macans made in 2017 all came equipped with the seemingly troublesome transfer case. I believe I read somewhere that Porsche has since redesigned the component - at this point I'm hoping they'll give the redesigned TC a shot on my vehicle and see what happens. Is your Turbo in for this issue, or something else? Do you experience any other symptoms or just the hard shift from 3rd to 2nd? Sometimes it's so jarring it's almost as if the car is bucking, and I can hear a metallic "clack clack clack" coming from under the vehicle. Do you have the same issue at higher speeds when letting off light throttle? If I release the pedal, a second will go by followed by a slight "kick" that I can feel in the seat of my pants as the car softly lurches forward. Sometimes the "kick" is imperceptible, other times it's very noticeable. Hopefully the tech takes notice.

Can anyone else with Macan Turbos comment here on whether or not they've experienced similar symptoms?
 
#16 ·
@bcon08 @ozziegt

Update on our 16 Macan Turbo:

Picked it up tonight after the tech was already gone who worked on the car and SA is new and just taking notes. Completed 30K service (minus spark plugs since I only have 27K and a few months from 3 year mark) plus 2 year required break fluid flush, then put back 21 Summer set on, with new rear tires.

Tech notes stated "checked PDK software is current, road test, no codes, no problem found", which is the same story we get every time we ask for it. Asked for a ride along tomorrow. Ride home when coasting in 1st out of the dealership, PDK feels grabby like you are going over bumps (which is the same experience every time we ride out of the drive way and may be normal), then no opportunity to sprint to test the hard shift from 2nd to 3rd but not anything obvious when coasting down to stop or releasing foot of the gas at 60mph (max speed I could go). My wife will be driving tomorrow morning and pushing it in the city and highway and give me her verdict. Kind of missed letting Base go for the PDK smoothness, but there is nothing like getting back into the Turbo which felt like getting into something as solid as a tank that rides on rails and listening to the startup sound (we do not have PSE). Will have to wait until the ride along is over before reloading Cobb. Will be trying for the first time Cobb 93 Map that's been enhanced by Flat6Motorsports.

Next update will be after the ride along.
 
#18 ·
***Update***

Vehicle has been at dealer since Monday morning, and they've called today to see if it's okay to keep it over the weekend and continue on Monday. They acknowledge the issue and have been driving it consistently, trying to get the vehicle to throw a code to point them in the right direction. At the moment, they're torn between whether it's only the transfer case or if the transmission is involved too, or if there are additional driveline components that could be exacerbating the problem.

Stay tuned...
 
#19 ·
***Day 9 Update***

Hadn't heard from the dealer since last Friday, decided to give them a call and see where they were at. Talked to my SA, who said that he's trying to put in his due diligence since it's a brand new car rather than just handing it back to me and saying all is "normal." This is a bit of a departure from the conversation last week, when he said the techs were trying to diagnose but couldn't quite pinpoint the component.

The conversation has now changed to "we've driven it against other Macan Turbos, and can't sense anything significantly out of the ordinary" which to me, seems like a funny way of wording things. It's almost as if they can sense that something is slightly off but can't determine where the issue may be and as such may just return it to me as "being within spec." Additionally, no codes have been thrown by the computer. I do appreciate them keeping it for a long period of time to be doubly sure, but that doesn't necessarily help if the car is returned to me with the problem intact.

It seems as if we now live in a time where the computer rules all - and if it doesn't diagnose itself as having a problem, there can't possibly be a problem. Interestingly enough, when I asked if it could be the transfer case he said their dealer has only ever replaced one Macan transfer case, while in contrast they've replaced it for three Cayenne's just this week. I'm a little frustrated and hoping they're able to figure it out. I'd be interested to know how many people on these forums that have had their transfer case replaced had any codes reported by the DME - my assumption would be none. Mechanical faults are very difficult to pick up with sensors, especially when the condition may be perceptible to the driver but not so grossly "out of spec" to record an error via the sensor system.
@sergeyb see above. Looks like I might end up in the same boat with you.
 
#38 ·
Day 9 Update

Hadn't heard from the dealer since last Friday, decided to give them a call and see where they were at. Talked to my SA, who said that he's trying to put in his due diligence since it's a brand new car rather than just handing it back to me and saying all is "normal." This is a bit of a departure from the conversation last week, when he said the techs were trying to diagnose but couldn't quite pinpoint the component.

The conversation has now changed to "we've driven it against other Macan Turbos, and can't sense anything significantly out of the ordinary" which to me, seems like a funny way of wording things. It's almost as if they can sense that something is slightly off but can't determine where the issue may be and as such may just return it to me as "being within spec." Additionally, no codes have been thrown by the computer. I do appreciate them keeping it for a long period of time to be doubly sure, but that doesn't necessarily help if the car is returned to me with the problem intact.

It seems as if we now live in a time where the computer rules all - and if it doesn't diagnose itself as having a problem, there can't possibly be a problem. Interestingly enough, when I asked if it could be the transfer case he said their dealer has only ever replaced one Macan transfer case, while in contrast they've replaced it for three Cayenne's just this week. I'm a little frustrated and hoping they're able to figure it out. I'd be interested to know how many people on these forums that have had their transfer case replaced had any codes reported by the DME - my assumption would be none. Mechanical faults are very difficult to pick up with sensors, especially when the condition may be perceptible to the driver but not so grossly "out of spec" to record an error via the sensor system.
@sergeyb see above. Looks like I might end up in the same boat with you.
I have a 2015 Macan turbo and I am having the same problems. They took my car for 30 days and did nothing. Gave me the car back and told me they could not replicate the noise( I drove with their tech and they heard the noise before). They are giving the same excuses and I feel like they are just dropping us because they cant figure out what is problem. They just took my car again 30 min. ago. They said they will test drive under the same conditions I told them I hear the noise.
I hear the clunking noise under the driver seat when I slow down using the break, when I make a right and it usually happens when I passed the 14 miles non stop.
 
#21 ·
@bcon08 @Finerthings

I appreciate you keeping this going as I wish we have more forum members chiming in on the issue if they have it. I just had our 2014 Cayenne Base transfer case replaced today and it fixed its transmission issues, but just like I reported before, they did not even have to drive it to agree to replace is as it is 100% failure but it is not a PDK transmission. However, as a loaner I drove 2016 3.6 Panamera 4 with PDK and none of this behavior from the transmission although again it is a different car. So I drove it today and 2018 Base Macan last week and none of the PDK experience that we have with our Macan Turbo. PDK on the other cars is smooth and silky up or down the gears as advertised and our Turbo feels like the engine is running faster than tranny can handle when shifting from 1st to 2nd to 3rd when going off the line (jolting/hard shifting with RPM needle bouncing up/down rapidly) and only then it catches its breath to start pulling smoothly. The dealer have not had time to do a drive along with me so it looks like the earliest is next week and I will be driving with the most experienced tech. I will also ask if they have another Turbo to drive to compare. Also, good suggestion to ask if they replaced any transfer cases on any Macans.

Update for @Teddis on the Flat 6 93 Cobb tune. I bought it from Jon a month ago or so and waited until now to get the 21 inch summer set on, so I went ahead and loaded last week but PDK was gasping even more so I reloaded Cobb 93 map that came with AP3. Therefore, I am not the right person to ask about Flat 6 map since I believe there is something wrong with my PDK.
 
#22 ·
***Update***

After having the vehicle for 14 days, the service department has reported back that their experiences with my vehicle are completely normal and within spec. They were unable to duplicate any of my concerns. That said, they did say I'm welcome to schedule time with their service manager to take him for a ride and attempt to duplicate for them with me behind the wheel. Naturally, after having the car back in my possession for no more than 30 minutes both symptoms exhibited themselves - clear as day. So unfortunately it seems the saga continues.
@sergeyb @Finerthings
 
#23 ·
***Update***

This is so depressing to hear @bcon08. I pressured the dealer to make time for me today since they have been punting me for 2 weeks now. I came over and did a ride along with the top tech. He immediately recognized that something is wrong. I even made a video over this weekend where you can see that I cannot even hold the phone still when PDK jolts me from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd. The tech said that he is aware of transfer case issues with Macans but would not share if they replaced any at the dealership. The plan now is for him to work with the tech team in Atlanta to break down the problem to identify what's going on but this is a warranty so they do not mind doing it as they get paid for everything related to it including my loaner (which is the same 2016 Panamera4 3.6 with smooth PDK). I am hoping there is a fix as we do not care now what it is and how they do it as long as we get it back they way it was meant to be. We have had this issue since day 1 and suspect may be it was dropped during transport or when they loaded/unloaded they put undue tension on the PDK but we have never experienced this tiger jump off the line except choke and run out of breath until it is in 3rd gear and 40mph. Also, adding COBB 91 and 93 maps made things worse as they run the engine faster so to speak and PDK was choking even more in lower gears. Our first and only Porsche experiences so far have been transfer case on our base Cayenne and now choked up PDK on the Macan Turbo for almost 3 years. This is not the way to earn our repeat business. We are very disappointed would be a huge understatement after last 4 years of frustration.

@bcon08
@Finerthings
 
#24 ·
@sergeyb glad to hear you finally seem to be making progress. Please keep us in the loop with your findings! I've been experiencing my issue since day one as well. The odd part about my problems is that they do not appear when the vehicle is cold. The odd behavior only begins after driving the car for what seems to be a minimum of 30-40 minutes. Driving the car slightly hard (upshifting under load between 4000-4500 RPM) frequently seems to help bring out the problems experienced at lower speeds.

It's a bummer, because I thought I was buying one of the best brands on the market yet I have this problem right out of the gate. I understand that any manufacturer can experience a problem - it's just really frustrating to deal with the inconvenience of having to prove a problem exists. Especially when you know the service department probably just considers you a pain to deal with.

I just would have thought that after two weeks of having the car, they would have come up with something.
 
#25 ·
@bcon08, I would like to confirm that the issues are muted when cold and not obvious to someone new driving. So, I was driving over to the dealer in a cold car so to speak and I was gunning more than usual by flooring the gas where the RPM needle would hit as far as 6K and I could hear a couple of audible pops out of the exhaust (tech said that is totally normal) to get the symptoms obvious and they would not, up or down the 2nd/3rd gears, so I started to worry that I would not be able to reproduce. So I get the tech and I am driving, and I am doing the same thing and no symptoms. Then I said, you drive, and he drove and was driving it more like to 4K-4.5K which is exactly how I had it in the video this weekend and sure enough the jolts came back clear as day. There is no question that the car has to heat up with some stop/go traffic or simulating that before PDK starts loosing it and basically forgets how to shift smoothly. I like your analogy of a fast moving part becomes not in sync with a slow moving part. The tech just said that definitely something wrong with the "transfer of power" while looking at the torque distribution graphic. I also have PTV+ but I assume this is only engaged on turns and I am just going straight off the line here. I will be posting updates as I get them from the dealership and hoping they can detect something specific that would be helpful to everyone here experiencing the same issues.
 
#26 ·
@bcon08,

One, the warm up is key to properly reproduce, two, please wait on info from me before you try anything since the tech said they would be unplugging components to determine what part or system is causing it so it can be a variety of things. Tech said that there is definitely something wrong. I am hoping it is as simple as a transfer case but they may not detect anything specific and will try to do trial and error so after not having to drive the car the way was meant to be for almost 3 years, now frustration begins on waiting on a fix and wondering what it could have been. Please keep hope, we are in it together. The wife now is getting serious about getting a Base since she liked it so much after having enough with the Turbo. She felt it was a lot lighter (have to check that, is it? by a lot?), quick on its feet, had plenty of power and finally (she said) she was able to keep up with the Q5s from the traffic lights since no gasping of her Turbo as the Base was using all its might moving forward with engine not able to outrun PDK shifts. I have had an earful of this for some time after going all out on this Turbo 3 years ago.
 
#28 ·
Thank you @sergeyb - please keep me updated as the good folks over at Porsche troubleshoot your vehicle. In the meantime - I may investigate having my car looked at by another local dealer. The service manager there is an ex-airline pilot...those guys have an incredibly keen ability to notice imperfections and pick up on things that just "aren't quite right" - I would know, my father is an international airline pilot :). I swear that guy notices things out of place with a quick glance that most people would miss upon thorough inspection. Maybe that's where my neuroticism comes from :).
 
#29 ·
I think the first thing you need to do is to take Cobb off your Macan.
 
#32 ·
@jzwu no worries man - happens to the best of us :)

On another note...our Macans have a dual mass flywheel, right? The PDK is essentially a manual transmission (no torque converter) and all manual transmissions have either a dual or single mass flywheel. Wondering if I could have a defective flywheel? The symptoms would seem to support the theory. Again - I'm not a mechanic :).
 
#33 ·
You are right about the PDK. That's why it can be a bit rough at low speeds if one has driven a manual car before.
 
#34 ·
*** Update : Day 5 with the Dealer ***

I had to press the dealership for the update before the weekend. New to the Porsche SA who is working on it said that the top tech logged 8 hours worth of work diagnosing PDK issues collecting data and sending it to Atlanta for review. So this is not going down easy compare with others where dealer would just order a transfer case to get it over with. So holding my breath that some fix will be coming next week.

In the meantime, driving 2016 Panamera4 3.6 with PDK and again no bumpy road feel rolling out of the driveway first thing in the morning, no jolting when accelerating from stand still through 2nd/3rd gears or slowing down to a stop, just smooth and enjoyable experience with very light steering at low speeds for effortless parking. It certainly does not have the heavy truck like feel of our 2014 Cayenne Base making me wonder if they forgot to install Power Steering Plus on it (although it is a factory option that I checked when ordering) since I do not get this variable steering feel on it at low speeds for parking.
 
#35 · (Edited)
*** Update : Day 13 with the Dealer ***


After 8 hours of data collection by the tech last week, Atlanta team suspects wheel speed sensors are not working properly in sending data to the computer confusing PDK shifting. Sensors overnighted and installed today with no difference. Still hard shifting through 2nd/3rd and hesitation from the start. They dispatched Regional Tech that was walking into the dealership as I was talking to my SA (late morning). SA said so far they suspect PDK needs to be replaced. Regional Tech (late afternoon) determined that there is nothing mechanically wrong. The data shows that fuel injectors are misfiring (first hard evidence that something is wrong) so SA is overnighting them and will install and retest tomorrow if the problem is gone. I am not sure why Atlanta team sorting through all the data did not determine that before they replaced wheel speed sensors. More waiting...

In the meantime, driving 2016 PDK Panamera4 that is silky smooth, agile, and light on its feet same (pleasant experience) as the 2018 Base Macan we drove as a loaner a few weeks ago. Something is really wrong with our Macan Turbo as it always felt too heavy, hesitant, and jolting/gasping through lower gears despite having a lot more power than the one's mentioned and not a lot more weight (we do not even have glass roof or any towing in case that adds any weight). Now it makes sense, if transmission was actually broken from the start, suspecting loading/unloading during transport. Makes us madder than anything that we basically never really drove a Macan for almost 3 years the way it was meant to be.

While waiting, cannot help but notice a few things about 2016 Panamera4 vs. our 2016 Macan Turbo:

Panamera4: Nice LEDs in door and trunk edges; Macan: I had to actually buy my own VW LEDs for door edges to complete LED look (despite Turbo coming in with LED package as standard). Only reflectors in trunk edge so cannot even put an LED in them. However, Panamera overhead front and rear interiors were cheap yellow assuming the build did not get LED comfort package. Bottom line: seems like doors/trunks are built by a different place from the car itself as this oversight on both seems odd with mix/match interior lighting and comes off as cheap.

Panamera4: LED light in center console; Macan: No light of any kind whatsoever so it is just dark. Am I unreasonable to expect an LED in the center console? I am sure it would be too much to ask that the top lid of the console have another skinny department besides just a single cubby.

Panamera4: Auto/Start stop is ON as Default (so annoying, so have to press Sport or turn it off manually every time you start the car). Macan: I am glad it is OFF as Default at least on our model year and unsure what it is on the latest models.


Panamera4: Since it did not have XM subscription active, have been listening to HD radio on Bose and the quality is day/night from XM that we listen on Bose in the Macan. I have to try HD radio if we have it on the Macan to compare. I wonder if someone quickly knows a spec of XM vs. HD radio quality of broadcast that gets sent to the Bose.

Panamera4: Door storage bins extend with a pull in/out with nice soft padding on the inside. I thought that is an awesome feature and wondered why Macan does not have it being somewhat compact and they certainly skipped on the padding. So we just have plastic fixed bins. Also, the odd single cupholder and cubby open on the side is odd so please no and glad it is not on the Macan.

Panamera4: Lots of stares everywhere although it is not our style of black on black with tinted rear lights and black dual pipes (those are super nice) and no tint anywhere (we cannot stand that part) so felt like sitting in a hot black glass lava box on top of the mountain with nowhere to hide with everyone and everywhere looking in. Macan: My wife drives it so I cannot say except one time when we first got it a crowd gathered looking at it (at VW dealership) like something appeared from outer space.
 
#36 ·
*** Update Day 14 ***

SA called today and said that fuel injectors are coming in from Germany and it will take 2 weeks. So I am getting Macan back today with no resolution (PDK hesitation/jolting) and will be waiting for 2 weeks for fuel injectors to arrive to give it another go.
 
#37 ·
Can't believe I'm about to say this, but I'm pretty excited this evening as I believe I've found a reliable way to replicate a symptom related to whatever PDK/transfer case weirdness I'm dealing with. I landed in Boston around 4PM this afternoon which put me right in the height of rush hour. Lots of stop-and-go traffic, warmer spring day, hot pavement, etc. Transfer case and PDK were definitely getting a workout. An hour in stop-and-go traffic and an hour on the highway averaging 80mph.

Once off the highway, the grinding noise and clicking/clanking noises were evident which is consistent with my previous experiences after driving the car for more than an hour. When I pulled into my driveway, I noticed my girlfriend had parked in such a way that I could not pull into my spot. I parked the Macan in a part of the driveway I normally never park (it's on a very slight incline), went inside to get the key to my girlfriend's car, repositioned it, and got back into my Macan. As I shifted from "Park" into "reverse" I noticed that the shifter resistance was quite a bit greater than usual. When the shifter popped into the reverse position, I could hear a pretty loud "KRRR...KRRR...KRRR" noise (happened in rapid succession) and the Macan twitched sharply with each "KRRR." I put the car back into park, let off the brake, and the car settled slightly. Upon settling, I could hear a reasonably loud metallic "click" come from the underside. I again put the car into reverse, and again there was greater resistance when shifting from "Park" to "Reverse" than usual. Again, heard the "KRRR" sound and the Macan yet again twitched with each noise before settling into gear. Repositioned the car into my usual spot. This time on completely level ground. Placed the car into reverse. No weird sounds, no twitching.

Seems like the Macan being on slightly uneven ground (nose higher than tail) *when hot* and shifting into reverse exacerbates whatever my problem may be. Went back out several hours later and tried to replicate the behavior with the vehicle stone cold...no issues. Smooth shifting into reverse on an incline. All weird behavior has only occurred after the vehicle has been driven for over an hour. Symptoms are more pronounced if I've been spending time in stop-and-go traffic or driving at highway speeds. I'm telling you guys, this is a weird one.

Any thoughts? I feel like my dealer is going to think I belong in an asylum.
 
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