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I just purchased a '15 Macan Turbo; received up to date service records, clean carfax, drove it twice, visual eye test pass, but made sure to buy an aftermarket 3 yr/36k bumper to bumper high tech/luxury warranty.
Fast forward one week, the vehicle has mostly sat inside my garage, with the occasional trip to the liquor store (connoisseur) or grocery store.
Last night, I crawled under to take a gander at the stealth hitch mechanism, and noticed some darkening spots on the engine guard cover below the engine....great...
Seems to align with the idea that I may have a leak, although there is no oil on my garage floor, the engine guard cover must be a solid diaper for moisture. I haven't pulled back the cover to see what is leaking, as I fear it is the timing chain cover.
In a week I have an appointment with a local porsche dealership to address an open recall, but at this point I am fearing the worst.
That being said, I read through the fine print of my aftermarket warranty, as most people have asked if something like this could be covered post factory warranty, and I do have a timing chain cover clause in print.
"The following parts are covered only if they are damaged by the failure of a covered internally lubricated engine part: Oil Pan, Timing Chain Cover, and Valve Covers."
I guess we will see? Haven't had this car for a week yet...I have put less than 200 miles on her. *fingers crossed*
Had my timing chain cover done in February at 10300 miles because a tech noticed a small leak during the 1st service.
Now at 12800 miles (not driving as much as usual due to covid-19) I get a 1qt low warning message. Strange I thought, as oil the gauge never moved in the first 10k miles, even with the slight leak.
Crawled under the car today to find this. Not happy with my dealer the moment, we’ll see what they have to say tomorrow.
Had my timing chain cover done in February at 10300 miles because a tech noticed a small leak during the 1st service.
Now at 12800 miles (not driving as much as usual due to covid-19) I get a 1qt low warning message. Strange I thought, as oil the gauge never moved in the first 10k miles, even with the slight leak.
Crawled under the car today to find this. Not happy with my dealer the moment, we’ll see what they have to say tomorrow.
Had my timing chain cover done in February at 10300 miles because a tech noticed a small leak during the 1st service.
Now at 12800 miles (not driving as much as usual due to covid-19) I get a 1qt low warning message. Strange I thought, as oil the gauge never moved in the first 10k miles, even with the slight leak.
Crawled under the car today to find this. Not happy with my dealer the moment, we’ll see what they have to say tomorrow.
AFAIK, Porsche dealers are required to warranty their work for at least one year and X k-miles (where X is, IIRC, 12.) At least that's the way it used to be. If still under factory or CPO warranty then there's no option but to warranty it.
However, if indeed the chain cover(s)are leaking again the dealer will have to eat the repair because PCNA will blame the dealer's work rather than accept responsibility for a poor design and no - AFAIK - updates to parts or procedure.
Be prepared for the dealer to attempt to wiggle their way out of this.
When our Macan had the repair done, I talked with the tech and asked, specifically, what he was going to do to prevent a occurrence. His answer was a professional-use-only Loctite product for - effectively - gluing the chain cover on.
AFAIK, Porsche dealers are required to warranty their work for at least one year and X k-miles (where X is, IIRC, 12.) At least that's the way it used to be. If still under factory or CPO warranty then there's no option but to warranty it.
However, if indeed the chain cover(s)are leaking again the dealer will have to eat the repair because PCNA will blame the dealer's work rather than accept responsibility for a poor design and no - AFAIK - updates to parts or procedure.
Be prepared for the dealer to attempt to wiggle their way out of this.
When our Macan had the repair done, I talked with the tech and asked, specifically, what he was going to do to prevent a occurrence. His answer was a professional-use-only Loctite product for - effectively - gluing the chain cover on.
Dropped the car off this morning, waiting on a call back to hear what their diagnosis is. I don't have any concerns at this time that they won't take care of it, the car is only 1 year into the factory warranty and clearly this is unacceptable.
Update: Apparently the new gasket that was used was "deformed", so they are doing the job all over again. Now I have absolutely no confidence in my dealer, or the longevity of this repair.
Anybody know the best course of action to escalate this at PCNA?
Update: Apparently the new gasket that was used was "deformed", so they are doing the job all over again. Now I have absolutely no confidence in my dealer, or the longevity of this repair.
Anybody know the best course of action to escalate this at PCNA?
In most states, they get 3 tries to fix the same problem before it's a lemon and you get a replacement car. Otherwise, demand a really good loaner through PCNA if the dealer balks and/or request deferments on payments if car is leased or financed.
I'm not really sure what they can do, but I want them to know that the engine has been out of my 1 year old $92k car twice so far and I have absolutely no faith in this vehicle beyond the factory warranty period.
Hello everyone! just wanted to share my experience here. I'm an Audi guy but this is my second Porsche. It is a 2015 Macan Turbo, purchased with 91,365 miles. I dont know much about its history but based on the Carfax it shows a bunch of service records at Porsche of Tysons Corner in VA. Last service was done there at 90,042. I knew with these many miles a lot of maintenance items will have to be addressed, but i immediately noticed the oil leak coming from the timing cover, specifically the drivers side. also noticed 6 snapped bolts all around. I decided to tackle the job myself. It looked to me that dropping the engine down would be an easier option given the fact they have all the harnesses/hoses designed in a way where they can be disconnected easily, but i decided to take apart the front end and do it from there since i'm working on it by myself. What surprised me is that the spark plugs/belt and tensioner and all other maintenance items INCLUDING OIL/filter looked to be past due even though the Carfax showed service at Porsche every 5-10k miles. I took a few pictures while working on it to post here and as of right now I am waiting on the oil cooler seals that are on order before i can finish putting it back together. I also wanted to note that i replaced all the bolts and the new ones were exactly identical to the old ones, so I don't think Porsche changed them, unless the strength of the aluminum used has been changed and that would be hard to detect by the eye. In my opinion it wasn't that hard or complicated, but I also like to tackle difficult jobs like these! I posted this for anyone who might be thinking of doing it themselves but are still not sure due to everyone saying engine has to be dropped. IT DOES NOT have to be dropped and the hardest part I would say was carrying the radiator/condenser/support alone and moving the harness that goes from the right side of the engine to the alternator. I had to remove the alternator in order to move it to where I can pull the timing cover out. I also had to remove the A/C compressor so i can clean up all the oil that was in there. Took me about 10 hours total stretched over 3 days and tomorrow I hope to have it back running again!
Good job. I did the belts and pulleys by moving the carrier forward. How did you get it off without disconnecting the A/C?
Thanks for sharing your experience on this repair. I also noticed an oil leak from the timing cover on my 2015 Macan S. I took the front end out like you did and found out that at least one bolt on the passenger side had broken off. I have a few questions, and I would truly appreciate it if you can answer them for me. How did you remove the broken bolts out? Did you drill them out? Also, aside from the timing cover bolts, valve cover gaskets, timing cover gaskets, and oil cooler seals, what other parts did you need in this repair? Finally, what torque specs did you use especially for the timing cover bolts, valve cover bolts, and crank pulley etc.? Thank you in advance for your response to my questions.
New to Porsche with a used 2017 Macan S at 58K miles
I bought a used 2017 Macan S with 58K miles in January and now I have 61K miles. Bought it at CarMax and got a 3 yr/ up to 125K miles warranty from CarMax. It was the car’s first time at my local Porsche dealer for an oil change and 2 recalls (fuel pump flange rub and something else) and the AC wasn’t blowing cold air (so far the recharge hasn’t shown any leaks). After the work was done the SA told me they found a crack in the timing cover and some oil seepage but no drip. By timing it’s only a little past warranty and he said they may be able to get Porsche to cover at least some, maybe all, of the estimated $6000 repair and then I told him about the CarMax warranty and he said he has had good results working with them before. I looked at the warranty paperwork which has a long list of covered parts which does include the timing cover and they pay to have it fixed at a Porsche dealer if it’s something they can’t handle in the CarMax shop. So now it’s just a $500 deductible and we keep the blacked out 2020 base Macan for a while longer. I did have my car checked out by a independent Porsche specialist when I first bought it and when I looked up their eval paperwork they do mention a tiny bit of oil seepage seen under the engine but they didn’t know where it was coming from and it wasn’t mentioned in the overall verbal summation of their findings, which was overall great. CarMax had even put a new set of Michelin’s on it just before I got it (correct sizes front and rear, hard to find in other brands, I guess). Sorry for the long post but lots of stuff going on. One more thing - SA at Porsche said they have had to change lots of timing covers on Macans lately - he said at least one a week for the past 2 months. He told me they think it’s because the bolts holding them on were torqued too hard at the factory. Maybe if this gets accepted by Porsche as a recall/extended warranty item I can get my $500 back. Everything else about the car is great and it does not drip any oil out, only found out about it from Porsche dealer since I didn’t comb every detail of the independent’s paperwork. Nice of them to say they would come to bat for me with Porsche (before knowing about my CarMax warranty) even though I’ve never set foot in there before and didn’t buy it there! Dealer is 15 minutes from home, Porsche specialist is 50.
addendum - I verified with my SA today that the timing cover itself was not cracked, it was just the bolts whose heads were cracked and the oil seepage was just turning into a drip. The CarMax insurance will cover but they have to send a rep over to verify the situation, which might take up to 48 hrs.
Thanks for sharing your experience on this repair. I also noticed an oil leak from the timing cover on my 2015 Macan S. I took the front end out like you did and found out that at least one bolt on the passenger side had broken off. I have a few questions, and I would truly appreciate it if you can answer them for me. How did you remove the broken bolts out? Did you drill them out? Also, aside from the timing cover bolts, valve cover gaskets, timing cover gaskets, and oil cooler seals, what other parts did you need in this repair? Finally, what torque specs did you use especially for the timing cover bolts, valve cover bolts, and crank pulley etc.? Thank you in advance for your response to my questions.
Removing the broken bolts is way easier than you might think. I used a 3/32 drill bit, drilled for a second and then flipped the drill to the reverse operation and it just unscrewed the broken bolt out. worked every single time for all the broken bolts. they are not super tight once they are broken inside. Pretty much those along with the camshaft adjusters seals. I made one mistake and that is not securing the cams when taking out the timing cover, and ended up having to retime the engine. Surprisingly it wasn't hard but I had to do a lot of research to know how to do it and finally had it done and my Macan is running great now. Needed a few tools that I purchased online and got it all in order. In order to prevent this from happening you need to purchase the camshaft staking tool which holds the cams in place once the timing chain tensioner is removed so you can simply put it back in place once done and not have to retime it. let me know if you need more details on this. I believe torque specs were 9 nm for the timing and valve cover bolts. I can look up the crank pulley numbers for you.
Removing the broken bolts is way easier than you might think. I used a 3/32 drill bit, drilled for a second and then flipped the drill to the reverse operation and it just unscrewed the broken bolt out. worked every single time for all the broken bolts. they are not super tight once they are broken inside. Pretty much those along with the camshaft adjusters seals. I made one mistake and that is not securing the cams when taking out the timing cover, and ended up having to retime the engine. Surprisingly it wasn't hard but I had to do a lot of research to know how to do it and finally had it done and my Macan is running great now. Needed a few tools that I purchased online and got it all in order. In order to prevent this from happening you need to purchase the camshaft staking tool which holds the cams in place once the timing chain tensioner is removed so you can simply put it back in place once done and not have to retime it. let me know if you need more details on this. I believe torque specs were 9 nm for the timing and valve cover bolts. I can look up the crank pulley numbers for you.
You ARE the Man!!
I felt like "Mr Fix It" replacing the spark plugs and air filters with the help of a friend.
05-08-2020, 06:59 PM
