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I had an issue with my Macan S transmission after being in a drive-through covid test line for 2+ hours. On the drive home I thought we drove over a huge metal road construction grate or something, but the sound and vibration came from the transmission. Weird thing was that it was only that bad on the drive home that afternoon. On subsequent drives, it felt like the clutch was slipping in odd gears 1, 3, 5 and 7.
Took it into my local dealer and those guys couldn't figure it out. No faults or codes so they basically said I was imagining things and couldn't help me. The second dealer I took it to confirmed the issue and replaced the differential which they said had low fluid levels and what little fluid was in there was burnt/black. But, when I picked it up that day and started my drive home, the issue was still there. Brought it right back and the next week they told me the transmission needed to be replaced. Thankfully, I'm still under factory warranty (it's a 2018 with less than 30k miles on it) so everything was covered. I also purchased an extended warranty from the dealer late last year.
The car was with the completely incompetent first dealer for 2 weeks and with this second dealer for a month now. I'm finally picking up the car today. I'm anticipating an extensive write-up on the transmission issue since they have to document everything for warranty. Curious as to what they found.
Sounds like a problem with the mechatronic unit to me. It does have control over the clutches of course. So glad you had a warrenty! You probably will not get a write up as to what was wrong with yours as they really don't open them up once a decision is made for a new trans.
Update mine went on the rack today. Talked with the mechanic for a little while and he believes he can tap into the factory temp sensor ( one on top of the mechatronic unit) for a read out of temps. He is going to play around with that since we have two transmissions now! He also believes that the trans is getting hotter than it should under certain conditions....stay tuned!
Hi to the OP, I'm not too sure about your finances, but I did a general search using: used macan PDK transmission for sale. I found a lot. I'm not sure about the mileage or condition of each. Prices seem to run from ~$2200 up to over $7K. GL...
I'm late to this thread, but had a complete transmission failure on my Macan. The car was bought the first week they came out, summer 2014 (I think).
About a year ago, the car suddenly became undrivable. Would only access 1st and occasionally 3rd gear. Solenoid replaced at my expense (several thousand dollars). A few weeks later, same thing. Car needed a new transmission. I was quoted $23K repair, as the car was well out of warranty. The dealership stepped up and called Porsche NA. The transmission was replaced at no additional cost to me. Everyone agreed that a transmission should not need replacement on a 6 year old vehicle with less than 50k miles.
I would add that I have a very nice overall relationship with the sales manager, but I don't think I'm such a "special" client.
Sorry that you're dealing with this.
Sounds like a problem with the mechatronic unit to me. It does have control over the clutches of course. So glad you had a warrenty! You probably will not get a write up as to what was wrong with yours as they really don't open them up once a decision is made for a new trans.
With how strict I hear their warranty approvals are for new transmissions, I would assume they had to be able to explain the claim in a fair amount of detail. I was really curious about what the actual issue was too, so I was hoping for an explanation of any kind.
In the write-up they gave me, it said they "found metallic particles in the transmission." Later in the paragraph it says they found metallic particles in the oil pan and r&i filter, so I don't know if they actually opened up the transmission? They also found a fault regarding clutch valve control 00494D, which is interesting because dealer #1 said they didn't find any faults at all, hence dealer #1's further disbelief that anything was wrong with the car.
All in all, the car is back and everything works properly again which I'm thankful for. I'm relieved that dealer #2 found and fixed the issue and I feel vindicated after the grief dealer #1 gave me. The service tech from dealer #1 went on a road test with me and literally said, "I don't hear anything. Have you ever driven a Macan before? This is normal." Well yes I have, sir. This is my car that I've daily driven for 3 years. That's why I know this isn't normal.
Needless to say, I will be going to dealer #2 for any warranty-related services moving forward.
Thank you for your response. I am glad that your service advisor went to bat for you. It makes all the difference! Mine didn't. Mine is a 2015 turbo with 66000 miles. Sold and serviced at that dealership until 2020. I pursched it used in 2020. No help from the dealer plus there would be an over $2000 diagnostic charge juts to find out exactly what was wrong. They were pretty insistent a new transmission was what it needed. I told them I could not afford that! Lol.
At my indie shop there are several Macans with transmission problems. All have suspected problems with the mechatronics unit. More and more Macans are going to have this problem at some point. I am sure of it. That doesn't mean it is a bad transmission. The problem is that Porsche will not usually repair the unit and they heavily restrict the sale of parts for it. That leaves us with a very expensive paperweight. I contacted corporate and told them that it was embarrassing I had to fix my 100,000.00 porsche with a part from the junkyard. I pray that the right to repair law passes with enough teeth to get Porsche's attention.
Meanwhile on the home front my car is now on my indies rack, they are disassembiling the other transmission for the parts and researching the best way to monitoring the temps of the fluid. I am also replacing the transmission oil in the gearbox, the front diff and rear diff with Motual. I hope it will be buttoned up and ready sometime next week. It seems we will
be the first to monitor trans temps in the Macan!
Well my plan has taken a nose dive. I was told my car was on the rack this past Monday but a visit today to the facility today discovered that it is not and it hasn't been touched. They have other cars on their racks that have not been waiting in the yard. Who knows? I fired them. They have had the parts needed to fix my car for over 2 weeks with no movement. Being told one thing then doing another doesn't fit well with me. I was very nice about it, didn't blame anyone etc and certainly will pay for what they have already done. I have walked in their shoes before and sometimes things just don't happen as one planned. I like the guys. Meanwhile either I will gather the necessary equipment and make this a diy job or find another shop somewhere. If I install the mechatronic unit myself....and pretty sure I can, then I can have it trucked to Porsche for the calibration part.
My car has been down for multiple months now. To tell the truth after this experience I wish I had never bought it. I probably will not post for a while....until I have more positive news. This sounds like it is turning into a bitch thread and I really don't want that. I just want my car repaired.
On the positive side of this experience , I have learned a tremendous amount about our transmission and the way Porsche handles some repairs.
It's not a bad transmission, it is just that Porsche will not sell the parts needed to fix it if one does have trouble out of warrenty. Y'all ish me well I hope ans if I do this myself I will try to post pics etc.
Last edited by Olddragger; 04-14-2022 at 08:48 AM.
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Yep...Down this way we think this transmission in the interest of longitivity could use cooler fluid. That no cut system looks interesting!
The transmission itself has three separate systems to protect it from overheating.
Including opening the valve to the cooler once it has reached a certain temperature, turning an additional pump on to increase flow at another point, then limp mode and the cars coolant fans turn on at another point.I also have read from another's post that our coolant temperature gauge can be converted from a basic idiot light to a real gauge with some software changes per PIWIS. That's important to know because the fluid temp in the trans cannot be lower than the coolant temp with the Oem setup.
Car is coming home next Monday....time to set my little garage up for the job and get some pain pills for this old body lol
Last edited by Olddragger; 04-15-2022 at 12:24 AM.
I don't think there is a second pump in the transmission, for cooling. There is only one ATF pump. I think if the ATF temp gets too high, the output volume of the ATF pump is increased by increasing it's output pressure (there is a pump pressure control solenoid valve), which results in increased flow through the ATF radiator.
The ATF fluid temp can be lower than the engine coolant temp, because the radiator coolant outlet temperature is always lower than the engine coolant temperature (flowing into the radiator), and that's where the transmission cooler is located, on the outlet side tank of the radiator. When there is significant airflow through the radiator the outlet coolant temperature is much lower than the engine temperature (coolant inside the engine itself).
One way to perhaps get lower ATF temps is to turn on the radiator fans earlier than normal, triggered when the ATF temps get above 80C.
The simple part of this is that there are no modifications to the ATF lines, and a simple thermostatic switch (or adjustable temp sensor) could be easily added on the ATF output line of the transmission, but the trickier part is that the radiator fans are controlled with a PWM signal from the engine ECU, which will require an added circuit to interface this external fan control. I have been considering such a PWM interface circuit for my Corvette, which uses a similar fan control scheme. It is not really that complex, I just need some time to explore it and come up with a circuit design. (I am electrical design engineer).
I am adding a P3 Gauge to my 2019 Macan, which reads many engine operating parameters from the OBD2 port. It displays the real engine coolant temperature, not the dumbed-down display of the instrument cluster. For my Macan, the actual engine temp normally varies between 187F to 225F, but the instrument cluster always indicates a rock-steady 194F. The P3 gauge has an input to add 2 external sensors, one of which I will use to add a temp sensor for the ATF fluid. Home | P3 Gauges
Thank you...sometime I do not explain myself as well as I should. Here is a post from a 2021 discussion the Audi guys were having about the cooling of the dl501.
"I can't find specifics, but the transmission fluid cooling valve is opened at 92C and the after-run cooling pump is turned on when the ATF temperature is above 96c. The valve closes again at 80c
"Above an ATF temperature of 197.6°F (92°C), N488 is opened, and the ATF is cooled. The pumps are still OFF. Pump V51 is switched ON above a transmission fluid temperature of 204.8°F (96°C) and OFF again at 197.6°F (92°C). If ATF temperatures reach a value of 248°F (120°C), pump V178 is switched ON. When the temperature falls below 230°F (110°C), V178 is switched OFF again."
The radiator fans also come into play at some predetermine temperature. Perhaps pump V178 really means that the pressure of the pump is increased because you are right we only have one pump.
Engine coolants temps is measured on the hot side and not the cool side and I see your point about the fluid is cooler returning to the transmission than the hot side measurement of the engine coolant. This is why I really want to measure the transmission fluid directly.
Think I will be running mine in the sport mode from now on lol!
Does anyone know if there is a unit available for purschase that can do the transmission calibration that is not a PIWIS 2 clone? Not saying the clones don't work well, just wondered if there is anything else. I would rather not go to the dealer in town...don't trust them after previous experience. I also don't want to invest $1500 in something I may not need again.
04-06-2022, 08:38 PM
