I seem to be another addition to the transfer case issue. Macan 2016 Turbo, about 15K miles. Started noticing shuddering when accelerating from full stop. Took it to the dealer, and they diagnosed it as a rear transfer case problem, rather quickly. I have an appointment in a week or so for replacement.

 

I bought my 16 S in April of 2016. I had 10,000 miles on it when I had the transfer case replaced. Interesting question regarding if these are all 2015 and 2016 builds. FYI the Cheyenne has the same problem. I'm surprised Porsche hasn't published anything on this.

 

Glad i found this link and so many others with the same issues. Had a second hand 2016 Macan from may of this year with 5000 miles. The drive issue i put down to the air suspension, as never had one before. But after putting 3000 miles more, it steadily got worse. Never had the reversing issue, but always stuttered when hot on the motorway when the engine is between 1000 and 1500rpm, even in neutral (weird). The roads are so bad in the UK, just put it down to that and air suspension.

Eventually when I spoke to Porsche Bolton (who were very professional), they said it felt like wheel balancing. I did this at a local garage, and they said only 10 grams out, will not make that difference. When i gave it to Porsche Bolton for the day, I said Transfer box, and 5 hours later, it was confirmed. 8000 miles old 12 month old car, now having new transfer box fitted. Glad they found the issue and confirmed and replacing, But this is a £65k car, surely this isn't right. Will it go again, and if so are we all stuck with a £3k+ bill in the future, very worrying.

Hopefully will get the car back tomorrow, so i can finally drive the car as it should have been from day 1. Wondering though, did the previous owner get rid because of the terrible drive.

 

Took my '15 Macan S with 17400 miles in yesterday for the fuel pump flange recall. Came home with a new transfer case. Apparently this problem has become so common that dealers are now stocking replacements. Took about 2.5 hours to do the recall and transfer case swap. Although I had noticed some of the vibration and stuttering issues during backing and slow acceleration, it apparently developed slowly enough that I didn't realize how bad it was. I had mentioned it during a couple previous service visits and was told all was normal. Driving home yesterday was a night and day difference. Drives like a new Macan now.

 

I was going to ask how long it takes to get a transfer case replaced because my Porsche dealer has had my car a full work week and 2 weekends and I still don't have it back!

I brought the car in for a leak about 3 weeks ago. They resealed quite a number of elements and worked through a couple recalls over 3 days. When I got my car back I heard a noticeable a ticking a low speed so I had to return the next day. They explained the fuel pump had to be refitted properly and took 2 days to do it. When I got the car back the ticking was still quite noticeable so the car went in for a 3rd time. That's when I was told of the transfer case replacement. It's now been 10 days and the car is still in the shop...

Is this another Porsche thing that gentlemen of a certain standing casually put up with?

 

Transfer Case and Mid Pipe

Just joined the bad transfer case and cracked bracket mid exhaust pipe group. Took my car in for a slight shudder low RPM shift between 2nd and 3rd gear and what sounded like a loose heat shield rattle on my car. By the way its a 2015 S. SA called re[placing the transfer case ordering a new mid pipe section and preforming all recommended recall services.

Obviously no problems all covered under warranty and glad I mentioned the above and not just get the recalls done along with the 30k service. Alost getting PSE installed so looking forward to a little more bark with the car but controllable with the flip of a switch.

 

I wonder how severe is the transfer case symptom. For some it may not seem to be an issue. I sometimes feel abrupt gear shifts during driving, particularly in Sport mode.

Are there any definitive ways to tell? Also, I think not much tech in the transfer case so there is no reason not to use Audi/Q5 transfer case for the Macan. It is proven in the Q5 so why develop another Porsche one for the Macan?

 

What I experienced

I wonder how severe is the transfer case symptom. For some it may not seem to be an issue. I sometimes feel abrupt gear shifts during driving, particularly in Sport mode.

Are there any definitive ways to tell?

My symptom was the very slight shudder or shaking of the drive train with very low RPM and about 1/4 throttle. This seemed to occurr between 2nd & 3rd gear. Any weird shifts with my car in sport occured on quickly backing off the throttle while accelerating hard. The transmission would grab a higher gear no throttle which caused a jerky shift. This could happen say if someone pulls out in front of you and you have to back off fast. I'm not sure this would be tied to the transfer case?

 

Hey guys I'm a tech a dealership and have done several of these. Porsche has not given us any information as to what the cause of this failure is yet. Best way to see if yours is going out it is to give it full throttle from a slow speed. You'll feel a thumping or jerkiness throughout the vehicle. Another way we confirm its a faulty transfer case is to disconnect the transfer case control unit and drive the vehicle again. If the concern can no longer be produced its a bad case.

 

Another way we confirm its a faulty transfer case is to disconnect the transfer case control unit and drive the vehicle again. If the concern can no longer be produced its a bad case.

How do you disconnect the transfer case control unit?

 

Hey Ryan.
I read that the transfer case replacements are "improved " now. Do they look different on swapout ?

 

From what I see externally they look the same. We aren't supposed to open them up because they can reject the warranty claim if they see its been opened. As far as what they may have done with the new ones, my guess would be stronger clutches/gearset or new programming parameters (applies more or less torque). I'll let you guys know if more information becomes available.

 

I am having a new transfer case (and both front axles per a bulletin) replaced next week in my '17 GTS. Apparently my butt dyno knew something was wrong because it didn't feel like my '15 S did at slow startup in automatic mode. I read a description elsewhere in here that described the sensation well, like hunting for gears, or clutch slipping, or switching between 2 and 4 wheel drive.

I bought the '15 at Leith (Cary), the '17 is from Southpoint (Durham), both great dealers

 

Ive got a 15 turbo and the transfer case is being replaced now. 40,000 miles. Ive been complaining about slack in the drivetrain for 20,000 miles and they said there is nothing wrong. Alas, the **** thing blew.

 

You should be happy! It's covered by warranty!

 

Got mine replaced this week. 2017 GTS with 11600 miles. (bought May 2016)
Took less than 2 days.
Funny enough, while I was waiting for SA, I met another guy who had brought his Macan S in for the same reason.

Symptoms were what felt like something was slipping when starting from a dead stop followed by a sensation of shuddering. Was also pronounced when reversing out of a spot or going forward on a hill where the car was under load.

Hopefully these are one offs.

 

Have had the transfer case replaced by Porsche Parramatta at around 14,500kms and the problem detailed earlier has been fixed. I never did have the reversing problem but the stuttering/slipping was frustrating.

Anyway all good now, until the next time!!!

 

I am bring mine in on Tuesday . They told me it's a pretty straight forward procedure and not to worry .

 

Interesting read. I asked my service advisor couple weeks ago about how many Macan transfer case failure he had dealt with. Surprisingly he said none! He did said he has seen many cayenne with failed transfer cases though. Knock on wood and hope I won’t be the first one!

John

 

Add me to the list . My car is in the shop today getting the replacement (26K miles) .

 

Sorry to hear this, Larry, but hopefully it'll be a quick and permanent fix. My replacement has been good for about 12,000 miles now -- so far, no sign of trouble. Though did I just have my rear Cardan shaft replaced (from the "hoot owl" thread) ... and now the car drives likes it's brand new again!

 

Last night I finally received a call from the Service Mgr, after I left a scathing review on the post-service survey. His explanation for the delay returning my car is that he test drove it after the transfer case was replaced and wasn't satisfied, noting a vibration or shake upon starting the engine... He thinks it's an issue with a valve on the PSE, although I don't have the PSE button and wasn't aware that the car has a PSE (purchased 2nd hand not really knowing what options it has other than the 18 way seat).

Since my car has 49,800 miles (although I purchased a 3 year extension), I would rather leave the car at the shop until he clears it! But what a pain this is... I dropped it off on the 10th and with Thanksgiving around the corner, I don't expect it back until the 27th at the earliest. What an intro to the Porsche world!

 

Just curious, who makes the Macan / Cayenne transfer cases?

 

Another question, normally Porsche parts installed by the dealer are warrantied by Porsche for 2 yrs. (IIRC), if the dealer replaces the transfer case (under warranty) just before the factory warranty runs out is the replacement transfer case still covered by the 2 yr part warranty or does it expire at the time the vehicle warranty expires?

My bet is there's no warranty on the case beyond the base vehicle warranty (you didn't "buy" the replacement part so no warranty).

 

Another question, normally Porsche parts installed by the dealer are warrantied by Porsche for 2 yrs. (IIRC), if the dealer replaces the transfer case (under warranty) just before the factory warranty runs out is the replacement transfer case still covered by the 2 yr part warranty or does it expire at the time the vehicle warranty expires?

My bet is there's no warranty on the case beyond the base vehicle warranty (you didn't "buy" the replacement part so no warranty).

No warranty past vehicle warranty. Doesn't matte if it is one day before. No parts warranty.

 

OK so I got my car back today . It has the new transfer case parts installed . I have no more hoot , shudder , or slight grind . It's all good !! Better than new !! I hope. Haha .

 

What “hoot” did you have?

 

11/15/17 on my 2016 S driver side window regulator was sluggish on way up /no charge

 

I occasionally have the hoot owl noise while idling but dealer found nothing wrong. I never noticed any shudder or driveabilty problems.

Will see what happens with more miles.

 

2017 GTS next in line for a new transfer case

All the normal symptoms at about 6800 miles. Intermittent at first but now very consistent at 7100 miles. New in June 2016. Appointment on 12/12, and the service writer seemed very familiar with my symptoms!

 

Hopefully none of these issues plague my MY18

 

I've got the same issue. Since mine used to point-up on reverse, setting it to point down seemed like it had reached the limit of the articulation. I can't quite see enough of the curb when in reverse.

I'll see if I can fiddle with it a bit more and visit the dealer if I can't get it to point down far enough.

 

Some Suggestions on Mirror



A month or so ago (the car's about two months old), I got this feature to work. Here are some notes, as I remember them (but, alas, I don't recall exactly what I did):

1) With the engine running, the car in reverse, and the brake on (all as I recall), adjust the mirror ... but do NOT press Set on the door panel (and I haven't used the fob for any memory functions, either).

Somehow, the system knows this reverse-mirror position is for the reverse function only, without officially memorizing it. When you're done reversing, i.e., you put the car in drive, the mirror goes back to its normal memorized, forward-driving, position (over the course of the next few seconds while driving forward).

So, the big trick for me was to NOT memorize the mirror position while in reverse. This has worked fine for me ever since -- i.e., when reversing, the mirror changes to its reverse position. (I had earlier, before talking about this with a service tech at the dealership, used memory after positioning the mirror in reverse, and managed to get the mirror to point toward the sky, after shifting to reverse.)

2) In normal (forward) driving, I keep the mirrors positioned pretty far "outward." When setting the right mirror while in reverse, it would not go down as far as I wanted it, because it was positioned so far outward.

What I had to do -- during this positioning for reverse -- was also move the mirror inward ... and then downward. That is, moving it inward allowed the mirror to also be positioned downward more (than it could be positioned while it was very far outward).

So, now, when I put the car in reverse, the mirror automatically moves both inward and downward, enabling me to see the right-side curb. (And then, when going forward again, in drive, the mirror repositions itself in the normal memorized mode, i.e., both farther up and farther outward.)

That's what I remember, anyway, and I hope this helps out those still having difficulty with this.

And then I went through this entire procedure again, using my wife's fob, and making sure that before I started all this I pressed her number (1 -- I'm #2 ) on the door panel.

 

Awesome wspollack . I will give this a try !! Thanks.