Thanks wspollack!!! The inward, then down trick worked for me. It's interesting though how the electronics "memorizes" the position. It's as if it "playsback" my inputs--instead of taking the shortest path towards the set-point. I'll play with this a bit more when the weather warms a bit!

 

Any issues with PDK?

 

2015 macan s diesel. I had the gearbox Pdk changed a year ago due to a loud rattle. I’m not sure if the transfer box was changed now. However, mine started shuddering and jumping when reversing and some clunking on corners. I took the car in yesterday and the dealer diagnosed the transfer case. He had one ordered for another customer so fortunately completed in the day. Will pick the car up this morning,fingers crossed. The technician said there is a mod on the new cases and it is something to do with water ingress.
So be aware you earlier macan owners.
My car has 2 months warranty left and will definitely extend it for 2 years.


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My 2015 Macan Turbo with 40k miles was just diagnosed with a bad transfer case. Same symptoms as previously reported in this tread. Dealer picked it up yesterday and called to confirm it was the transfer case. They left me with a very nice Cayenne S to drive till my car is repaired. Which they say is about a week from now. All very professional and civilized. I can state the Macan has been a joy to drive since I took delivery in June 2014. this is the first problem I have had with it. I drive it in a sporty fashion. I reserve the flogging sessions to my 911 GTS. I have been looking around at other brands to see what I might replace the
Macan with in a year or so. The AMG and M suvs I have tested have brutish horsepower but lack the balance and athleticism of the Macan. I'll probably get another Macan Turbo with PP. After all we can all use a bit more horsepower;-}

 

25K miles, started to get this grinding/shudderring/vibrating, drivetrain noise. Took two searches, and you guys nailed it.
To all the members that have shead light on this issue, THANK YOU!!
All I had to do, after Service Manager said, "they have never had a problem with a Macan TC," was to send him this thread

macanforum.com/forum/complaints/87514-tranfer-case

Now we are all on the same page, I'll keep you posted as to how "fix" is consumated.

This is a great place!

 

When I took my car with symptoms and mentioned the forum, my dealer warned me not to read too much into internet forums. But it turned out the forum was correct..

 

Welcome to the club, OP. :crying: Fortunately, it's fixable.

 

^^Thanks, my 2nd post has to be this! I just got it 3 weeks ago, and I knew this wasn't right.

 

Well went to dealer yesterday, of course I could NOT get it to do the shuttering/grinding/vibrating, transfer case symptoms!
It was a cold dry day, versus warmer wet day, you guys have mentioned, exacerbate the problem. SM checked it over "refreshed" trans module,
and said I was good to go!? I've been driving it all around and it seems to be OK now? Now what? Isn't there a test, they can do?
Oh yeah, he said "Don't read forums"

 

he said "Don't read forums"

Bad advice. Forums provide crowdsourcing.

Knowledge is power, something which someone selling you something "might" now want you to have.

 

^^for sure. He said my problem, was documented, there is plenty of warranty left, if it does it again bring it back.
Not much I could say to that. I just can't believe, they don't have a diagnostic test for it by now?!

 

Pretty sure my Macan has the transfer case problem, shuttering, vibrating, with low speed maneuvering, or when slowing down for a light(and coast feature does not kick in). But it doesn't do it all the time. The problem is when I take it to the dealer it doesn't do it! Is there something I can do to elicit the symptom? Is there some kind of diagnostic test they can do? He cleared the transmission memory module last time, and said that should do it. And also reminded me there's plenty of warranty left so if it does it again, just bring it back. Like I have more mornings, or afternoons to waste sitting in the customer lounge. He also said that they've never had a Macan with this problem, and don't read the forums. Right.

 

I'd bet that every car dealer despises the modern day automobile forum. They know **** well that savvy people are here looking for solutions to problems and how to present that back to the dealer, and it limits the amount of BS a dealer can feed you in return.

Good luck with the transfer case, a well documented issue here. Don't read the forums ha, it's only the best tool in the toolbox!

 

Does anyone see these threads, once they get moved off the discussion board?!

 

My Transfer case was replaced July 2017. Macan S Diesel with 15,000km on the clock.

 

Just got my Macan S back from the dealer. New transfer case. I was washing the car and noticed the front right tire was completely worn out on the outside most tread line. All others tires were fine. 2017 15,000 miles. Leased on June 2016.

For the last two months I had been feeling weird bumping (like rough road) and hesitation in first gear when accelerating from a stop normally (slowly). It is so mild it is hard to tell what is going on. Then last Sunday I felt some definite grabbing and clunking when reversing with the steering wheel fully turned to the right. Took it in the next day.

Immediately diagnosed as a bad transfer case. But then they told me there was no relation to the tire. I ended up paying $950 for two front tires, $250 of that for alignment of all four corners. I still think that specific tire wear was transfer case related. They said no so I had to pay for that...... Front toe in was badly off. I saw what the dealer charged Porsche for the transfer case - $4,000.

The Porsche mechanic taught me how to quickly diagnose the problem:

Turn the car on, turn OFF-ROAD on, reverse slowly with steering wheel fully turned one way. Then go forward with the steering wheel fully turned the other way. Repeat a couple of times. OFF-ROAD switch on magnifies the clunking, grabbing etc. like 10X. Very easy to tell if it's bad with the switch on.

He also told me that I should never have the problem again because Porsche fixed (redesigned?) the offending parts.

Hope this helps.

 

... I was washing the car and noticed the front right tire was completely worn out on the outside most tread line. All others tires were fine. 2017 15,000 miles......I ended up paying $950 for two front tires, $250 of that for alignment of all four corners. I still think that specific tire wear was transfer case related. They said no so I had to pay for that...... Front toe in was badly off.....

Sorry to hear all that. I would agree that the tire wear is unrelated to the transfer case issue. However, the wear pattern you observed would not be caused by a bad toe adjustment. It would have to be an issue with the camber. There is no individual camber adjustment for the front wheels. The best that can be done is to shift the entire subframe to split, or center the camber spec between the two front wheels. If the shop had to adjust the subframe to get into spec, then I'd argue it was a problem from the factory and should have been covered by warranty.

Another possibility is that there is a bad bushing or some other component issue contributing to poor tread life on the one tire. There have been two reported cases here of bushing defects from the factory (see thread links below). Hopefully, the dealership would catch something like that, but don't count on it...as that apparently didn't happen in the previous cases. Perhaps consider contacting Porsche NA if you find something amiss, or decide to challenge the dealership on the issue.
Best of luck with your path forward.

http://www.macanforum.com/forum/complaints/146418-suspension-issue-pics.html#post2184818

http://www.macanforum.com/forum/wheels-tires-suspension/153786-lower-control-arm-issues.html

 

I will test my Macan with the Off-road on.

 

Does this mean the transfer case is fixed for the 2018 models?

 

Man, I sure hope that my 2018 Macan S coming in April doesn't have this problem after all the previous years of documentation.

 

Transfer case replaced at 27000miles. Thought I posted this but could not find it. SA stated the problem was moisture getting into the case. Problem started as a running gear shudder at medium to light throttle application.

 

Well, at 11,500 miles this issue might be whats going on with my 2017 GTS Macan. Never felt this before until 2 weeks ago. I have to mention that my car will be 2 years old in April with ZERO complaints or issues (until now). Once the car is warmed up (doesn't happen when its cold) I get a shuttering/binding sound in the rear of the car when I put it in reverse. This happens in parking lots, areas that require you to turn your front wheels all the way to the right or left. If it shutters in reverse it will shutter a little in forward gear right afterward, but briefly, then it goes away. Taking it in to dealership soon. Hopefully I can duplicate the issue. As long as Porsche fixes this I am still very happy with my purchase!! Forgot to mention that I have PTV if that makes a difference?

 

Once the car is warmed up (doesn't happen when its cold) I get a shuttering/binding sound in the rear of the car when I put it in reverse.

Gradyex, the momentary but very noticeable "sticking" while reversing out of a parking spot is exactly what sent me to the dealership for diagnosis and replacement. Good luck; it should be a quick service now.

By way of follow-up, 15K miles after my replacement, I'm feeling the occasional soft flutters of what might be the early stages of another TC development, but I'll wait until/unless I get the reversing issue before I do anything with it. @Restor8 , what did they say about your new transfer case given that it was being replaced near the end of the 50K miles warranty period?

 

^^^FYI, mine was doing the same thing. Because of this thread, I told him it was the transfer case.
They agreed and I got a new transfer case, but the symptoms did not go away. Reinspecting the vehicle after the new transfer case was installed it was determined that the flex pipes in the exhaust system were causing the noise and vibration. They switched out to the older design flex pipes, the vibration and noise was gone. So before they change your transfer case, have them check those flex pipes in the exhaust system they are the first pipe coming off the exhaust headers.
I can't believe they don't have a diagnostic test to assess the condition of the transfer case.
And he said the flex pipe problem is so common that they stock those pipes. You think he would've found that before they changed my transfer case. Oh well now I have a new transfer case and new pipes.
Anyone else have this experience?

 

The backdated to the old design pipes?
Our '15 Macan Turbo just went in for horrible exhaust rattles (started hearing a light "sheetmetal tin" noise up front under the shifter on decel to a stop....then one day on cold start, the LR muffler started making a horrific metal clanking sound. Tapping on the muffler caused it to change in tone). The dealership found that we needed updated front pipes, and brackets in the back. Resolved easily under warranty and quiet again.
Perhaps these (downpipes w/ integrated flex bellows) are what you're speaking of?

 

Good that it’s now resolved

 

Red67, how would you describe the noise/ vibration? I'm thinking my car may have the same thing. It's not loud, but I hear it when the transmission is in park and the engine is idling. Seems to be most noticeable if the engine (and therefore the exhaust system) is not fully warmed, and I'm thinking perhaps the exhaust system components don't fit together quite as designed as they would at full operating temperature.

But then I will occasionally hear it after the engine is warmed up too. Does sound like a rattling exhaust system to my rather untrained ear.

When I was changing my oil I took a good look underneath and did not see any signs of damage such as the cracked brackets that others have mentioned.

 

@Shark,it was more of a shuttering/vibration, when tight parking situations, and also at 1050rpm, as transmission hits it's downshift points it would also shutter/vibrate. Would not feel it in coast mode.
Hope this helps. Now my exhaust tips are crooked, could change in the flex pipes affect the tips? I doubt it, but I can't say remember this before. Sorry for the dirty tips but it is February in Michigan .

 

@Shark ,it was more of a shuttering/vibration, when tight parking situations, and also at 1050rpm, as transmission hits it's downshift points it would also shutter/vibrate. Would not feel it in coast mode.
Hope this helps. Now my exhaust tips are crooked, could change in the flex pipes affect the tips? I doubt it, but I can't say remember this before. Sorry for the dirty tips but it is February in Michigan .

Thanks, perhaps I have the same issue, but my symptoms are definitely different.

 

@red67, you just need to ask the dealer to re-align the pipe ... it happened to mine too when I had mine replaced (many times). It an easy job and should take no more than 1 hr.

 

Thanks @wspollack, I will give your suggestions and tips a try when I go out and run errands today. My passenger side mirror would tilt up, and the drivers mirror would do nothing. Here's hoping that I can make it work. When all else fails, I will throw on the surround view and that gets me out of trouble.