Agreed. I am in a base Macan loaner and it is nothing I would own. Indeed it is nice to have a loaner, however.

 

I would not be an early adopter in the shroud-disable movement. This is similar to oil pressure control solenoid defeat on late model MB engines. On the VAG EA839 engine, the theory is shroud defeat avoids pump failure. On MB engines the theory is pressure control solenoid defeat delivers maximum oil pressure 100% of the time. The risk is unintended consequences which are only found through experience.

Reducing movement of the sealed shroud guide pins would indeed extend the seal life. By how much? Unknowable.

If shroud vacuum servo was disabled, the guide pin seals must continue to statically seal the coolant flow from the vacuum servo chamber. The time element of seal life remains unchanged. Heat, vibration and chemical action continue to work on the polymeric pin seal. Disconnecting the vacuum line would protect the vacuum system, so therefore potentially reduce out of warranty repair cost.

This is VAG garbage engineering at its finest.

p.s. edited after watching the Bentayga video.

 

Same as Porsche has done with the LGChem Lithium LiFePO4 battery and sensor/programming fiasco that has deeply and wrongly profited Porsche over the last 5 years at the cost of Porsche owners.

 

SA said parts arrived, hopefully the car will be ready end of the week. I asked for a few photos of the repair job to see how intensive it is. I will post anything that the SA sends me.

After driving a base Macan for a week, I miss my heavily optioned Cayenne S!

 

When I went in for my 4yr Service at the dealer, the SA recommended to have the coolant flush at 4yr to avoid the water pump failure. He said the coolant have lubricant added to help with the life of the water pump failure issue.
They wanted $750 for the coolant flush. I passed on the service. Wanted to get some insights if that would be effective solutions.

Anyone else been told similar recommendation?

 

Rubbish recommendation from the dealer.

 

Video frames from the SA:

1. Overall view showing that the front fascia is not removed.
2. Water pump removed, serpentine belts removed.
3. Failed changeover valve.
4. Changeover valve installation location.

Hope to have the car back at the end of the week!

 

I'm so glad you got to address this under CPO warranty as well. I still remember when I started this thread, you hadn't encountered this issue just yet.
Do you think we'll get 3-5 years / 30-50k more miles out of these CPOs after the warranty repair before another water pump failure?

 

To be clear, my car is still under original manufacturer's warranty. It has 49k miles and original warranty expires on a time basis on 12/30/2024.

Seems like 40k-50k miles is a somewhat common failure point. In my case the car is 3 year 9 months old since delivery.

I think the new (second) water pump will last through the CPO period of 2 more years. If I keep the car and need to replace the pump again, the job is doable DIY. And in the grand scheme of things not terribly expensive at an indy shop. I put quite a bit of repair money into a 958-gen Touareg TDI during an 8 year ownership period. At a certain level it's the price of owning a German luxury performance vehicle.

 

SA confirmed vacuum pump will be replaced and hopes to have the car in my hands this week. I will post the invoice showing what was replaced.

 

Car is back! So happy. I will post the invoice. No detectable change in function from the new components - there was no indication of failure in the first place.

 

Pump, changeover valve and vacuum lines were replaced.

The SA lied or did not understand what the tech told her, regarding the vacuum pump. She sent me an email saying the vacuum pump would be replaced, it was not replaced. I don't have time to futz with this so no plan to revisit.

Not replacing the vacuum pump could be a number of reasons. Porsche may have decided it is not always necessary, and gives the dealer discretion to decide yes or no. Or Porsche could have implemented field fix documentation instructing dealers to replace only what has demonstrably failed. I did not have a boost error (one indicator of failed vacuum pump) and my car drives fine now, so the vacuum pump works today. If it fails before CPO expiration in 2 years, it will be replaced at Porsche's cost. Will I hold this car beyond CPO? Remains to be seen.

SA said "I don't know how" to print an invoice with the parts cost and tech hours. She "checked with my service manager", same answer. Either a lie or half-truth. Not worth my time, I have bigger fish to fry.

I estimate 16 tech hours. Parts prices can be looked up - I did this earlier on this thread or another thread.

No campaign code was listed on my invoice. Probably is shown on the secret dealer invoice they use for reimbursement from Porsche.

 

Pro forma invoice for parts and labor sent by SA as a quote if it was paid by the customer/not warranty.

$2270.50 labor
$1369.31 parts
$3639.81 total

Looks like 9 or 10 tech hours. Does not include vacuum pump replacement.

If caught early enough this looks like a <$2,000 DIY job doable over the weekend.

Catching it early means frequent reservoir level checks and close inspection of water pump and shutoff valve from above and below using a bright LED flashlight, looking for signs of dried coolant.

 

For giggles I looked up parts listed above:

9A7-121-013-04, water pump, $249, Sunset
PAB-121-678-A, valve, $86, Sunset
PAB-131-055-G, vacuum lines, $222, Porsche Chandler

Savings of $372 for the three listed parts, or 27% off the total parts bill.

In summary the water pump, valve and vacuum line job could be done ~$1,000 DIY in a weekend.

Cost is not bad. Challenge is the short lifespan of the pump and sensitivity of needing to keep an eye out for leaks.

 

Having everything opened with easy access to the water pump, it is really unimaginable that they would not change the water pump.

More, if it is known to have a short life span, and its failure having a great potential to damage the engine..