TT Gasman

Driving my 2014 CS through the parking lot last Monday heard and felt a loud bang from the front suspension, car abruptly stopped, only able to move in low gear. The dealer sent a tow over and noticed the vehicle started pouring out transmission fluid up on the flat bed. Been at the dealer for a week, so far this is the tally: failed transfer case, broken front differential and axles. WTF??? I was not four wheeling or anything crazy other than driving in Houston traffic. Scary thing, I was supposed to go on a trip a couple of days prior that I had to cancel, if this would have failed on the highway....

deilenberger

The broken axles might indicate the front differential was in lockup mode - and the PSM system decided some slippage was going on and applied torque to one wheel.

Very odd. Please let us know what the dealer thinks was the cause of this. It's more than a transfer case failure (which typically causes noise and roughness - but not exploding parts.)

TT Gasman

It was very weird and very scary. When I pick it up from the dealer I'll find out exactly what happened. Interestingly, never tripped any warning lights.

TomF

Sorry for your misfortune! Keep us posted as to the cause.

Do you have uneven wear between the front and rear tires? Cayennes don't like more than a few % difference. It really wreaks havoc with the transfer case and AWD system.

Cheers,
Tom

TT Gasman

Tires are fine, replaced all 4 about a year ago. Funny my '08 GTS never had a problem, this '14 CS has had at least 4 major breakdowns in 2 years. Complete AC failure x2 (happens every July), high pressure fuel pump failure, now this. Guess what I'm not keeping off lease?

FEKGT3

Just had transfer case replaced on my wife's 2016 Cayenne with 22,000 miles. I drive it infrequently but last time I did I noticed it stuttering when reversing out of driveway and hesitating under acceleration. When I mentioned it to her she said she thought she noticed some hesitation but also she heard unusual noise at highway speeds.
I called service and scheduled to bring it in. Parts took a few days and now all seems fine.

TT Gasman

Picked up the Cayenne today, dealer found "the front differential assembly to have come apart internally and cracked the case due to defective rear transfer case". They ended up replacing front differential- front axle final drive, complete transfer case. Thanks God it was covered under warranty, the bill would have been well over $10K ! Service advisor told me this is the second Cayenne with this particular failure, they have also seen a lot of transfer case failures recently.

raolc

Is that true?

I'm running different brands between the front and the rear, so if different levels of wear cause havoc it must be worse with completely different tires all together, right?

hahnmgh63

Big mistake, different brands can have a large different in rolling diameters. Very hard on the transfer case.

deilenberger

+1.. a friend had one of those yuggggeeee GM truck/SUV thingies (DENALI I think...) He was going through transfer cases like chicklets. It luckily was under warranty - but the dealer had no clue as to why.

I asked him if his tires were uniform all the way around.. and he said.. "Uhh.. no, had to replace the rears when one was punctured.." So - I suggested the rolling diameter was likely the problem. He replaced all 4 tires - end of problems. No more transfer case failures.

The other concern I'd have is people putting the P!G in off-road mode on dry pavement. It has to cause a lot of binding stress on the transfer case.

raolc

That is so interesting, thank you so much. How is this not common knowledge?!

I have been feeling something abnormal going on, especially in slow and tight turns, almost as if the differentials were locked. Do you think that might be a side effect of the different brand tires?

termite01

It might be, but then again, the different brands may have the same rolling diameter...if the diameters really are different, and it has been going on for awhile, the likely culprit is either a shot transfer case or diff. Both of mine were toast at 30k miles with dealer service since day one. CPO covered bot but the bill would have been large had it not.

ScootCherHienie

In a parking lot with none of the off-road modes engaged, it seems improbable that different tire diameters would cause any stress on any differential or transfer case. Should be plenty of slip in the system in any "on-road" mode since the differentials and transfer case are built to handle this sort of operation during all or most of their useful life. BUT... any chance the loud noise when parts broke came after being in reverse? I ask because of the hill hold feature. If you stop the vehicle, then intentionally or inadvertently press the brake pedal harder, you engage hill-hold mode. You would think this mode would be fool-proof but what happens to Cayennes when you engage hill-hold mode (perhaps not being aware you did so), then you put the Cayenne in reverse when hill-hold mode is expecting only forward motion to follow the stop? There must be some over-ride that keeps anything bad from happening if a driver does this, but you never know. It is troubling to think that there might be an issue with some device failing that can cause aging Cayennes to do some flavor of snapping drive train components without warning... which would be indicated if failures like these are getting more common in older Cayennes.

And I have to ask... while in the parking lot, what sorts of throttle application were involved while in the parking lot? Are we talking about typical, no more than 1/8 th throttle for any maneuver? It seems, again, mind boggling that the vehicle didn't just STOP MOVING when something bound up with small throttle openings and low engine RPM (relatively). You'd think you'd have to apply some pretty decent throttle to work up enough torque to snap something as big as that shaft, especially with the transmission likely in second gear at very low speed.

Snipe656

Which dealer? I had Porsche North Houston tell me they have seen a lot of transfer case failures, that was back around August if I remember correctly.

TomF

Absolutely.

Remember, these vehicles are full-time AWD and having different rolling diameters is a problem at any time, not just when the diffs are locked, etc...

More than a couple of percent difference and you will eventually destroy your running gear.

Cheers,
TomF