Just changed my TC w/ Ravenol - 2011 CTT 74852 miles

 

Is there any reason that people are not reporting these failures to the NHTSA? I checked the website and it is very easy to report, potentially helping lead to an investigation for a recall, yet there are really very few reports.
There is so much posted online about these failures and every dealer knows the problem before you even finish explaining it. It is a known and regular issue and silly that it is not warrantied beyond the original btb warranty..

https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2012/P...AWD#complaints
You can "report a problem" on the same website.

Is this something we should start a campaign for?

 

I was thinking about it too.
Can we justify it as safety issue ?

 

That's the catch - NHTSA recalls are only for "safety" related failures. It doesn't cover defective engineering or manufacturing except as it may cause injury or death to a human being. So far no one has reported their Cayenne stopping dead in traffic due to the transfer case being wonky.. they may behave oddly, but the vehicle can be driven safely.

I doubt very much if an NHTSA campaign of reporting the failure would lead to any action on the part of Porsche.

 

What is someone will keep driving on Transfer Case that is going bad - it should end up with total lock up or lost of acceleration?
Or vehicle spinning out of control when 2 axels going at different speeds?

There may be a way we can make a case that it is "potentially" a safety issue and manufacturer quietly trying to hide it by installing updated design of transfer cases in large numbers.

 

Hi all, just looking through this thread. I am considering a 2011 S with higher mileage (120,000). I would hope that the transfer case would have been done under warranty but it doesn't have any records. I will see if I can get a dealer to check to see if it has been done based on VIN.

Anything that I can check with a PPI, other than the driveability issues mentioned?

 

Check for wetness under the front carpets, a sign the cowl drains and/or AC condensate drains are blocked. Water under driver's side front carpet can corrode the main wiring harness causing many strange electrical gremlins. If the transfer case part number is legible on the car that might be a clue that it was changed. Good Luck.

 

I'd suggest reading the sticky on buying a 958. Most of the major issues are addressed there.

 

A previously replaced transfer case does nothing to convince (me) anyone that it won't happen again. We're now on our 4th transfer case replacement between 2 cars and 7 year's ownership (3 on the last car alone). It doesn't seem to matter the model or mileage. People here have suggested replacing the fluid. Well, one of our cases lasted on 11K miles. I guess that means changing the fluid every 10K is required? 7.5K? 5K? Sounds like a complete re-design is needed instead, which probably wont happen as we end the lifecycle of this model. We can file this with the '70s 2.7l motor failures, Carrera chain tensioners, IMS failures.....

 

Where are you located, what kind of weather conditions and what kind of driving was involved?

 

Restore,
Did your replaced transfer cases get the vent tube fix?

Rob

 

How did you do that? I mean - please give us more info on your driving conditions. There are people here with perfectly fine factory transfer cases that can't get an updated design under warranty because the factory case is fine.
There is an updated transfer case and vent kit - I think it became available in 2017 - anything before that probably got the same failure prone design

 

I'm on the East coast. I'd have to check records but don't remember snow or real frigid weather ever involved. Car's are only suburban-driven. Never sport mode, mostly my wife but me on weekends. No teenage kids or valets involved. I did pull a trailer for 1000 miles a few months prior to one failure but never before or since. To be fair the vent issue was possibly not known with the second-to-last replacement but I was always told I had the most up-to-date version and on the 3rd replacement I got under the car and verified the date stamp which was up to date; not a 2011 unit. On this last invoice it did mention the vent change for the first time so.....I'll report back after #5 if it continues (I'm CPO'd to 100k miles (or else I wouldn't have purchased a second Cayenne). It would be interesting to know if anyone has had a failure after the vent change.

 

Hows humidity level where you live?
Also how far do you go on a set of tires - may be slipping tire on one axle contribute to transfer case failures. (i once drove RWD Mercedes to the point rear tires were basically slick with barely visible traces of tread)

 

I moved from the NE to SE. I'd say normal type of humidity with the first two failures but much more humid with the last two. I got 50K miles out of initial tires and traded at 92K on second set (I think two failures were on stock original Michelins and 3rd failure on Pirellis. Current vehicle has 29K miles on original tires. None were bald except normal wear. We were original owners of first car with 3 failures and purchased this one with 15K on it (now with it's first/our 4th failure). Interior was immaculate and not abused. I've thought about this but my own experience seems to show there is no as yet pattern to discern. At first I thought it was a first year model thing as we bought a 2011. Obviously this is not the case.