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IT IS ALIVE! I drove it today. All gears work. It does need calibration....clutch not completely engaged in reverse and is not completely free in gear and at full stop. Just a smidgion of wanting to go.
But I consider this success! Approx 3k dollars invested, many hours of work, more hours of worry, made new friends, learned one hell of a lot and this continues. I am convinced this transmission is running to hot. Hard data to come. Next step is to go to the dealer for calibration, simultanousley designing, procuring and installing a trans temp gauge, recording the hard data and report back. Thanks all for y'all's support and advice!
Last edited by Olddragger; 05-09-2022 at 11:30 AM.
Update. Getting my transmission calibrated at my indie tomorrow. Service at Perimeter at Atlanta is really bad. The service manager himself is a nice guy but to get through to him you have to call a service person. Most of the time you have to leave a message. I tried 3 times left one message a day, I was told they would call me back.....never received a call in 3 days. So I went back to my indie today....super nice guys...they don't have a licensed PIWIS system but they can do it. Going tomorrow
To anyone following this thread. Swapping out a mechatronics unit is a doable diy.....on Jack stands. Finding parts is the big problem. All Macan transmissions are the same. I am not convinced that even the clutch packs are different. Buying individual parts for the mec unit is possible....if you can find them. If you have to use another transmission control unit other than your own....then you will have to get a dealer that will mate it to your car, if not then you just need a calibration. You can save a lot of money over paying 20000 for a new transmission.
I bought a good laser temperature gun while I am waiting to install a temp gauge. I am already surprised. The converters are HOT and they are not far from the trans.
with laser gun immediately after driving on a 40-45 mph road, ambient temp 78F, engine oil temp 192F, coolant at 200 F, no underbody panels around transmission and the temp on the outside of the transmission filter was 185F. This is with No stop and go driving. I would think that the temp on the inside of the transmission was a little hotter than the outside. This is going to be interesting.
Ok I have a real head thumper going on here guys? Drove my car to the indie today. Stop and go traffic for about 6-7 miles. It did perfect until the engine oil got over 200F. So the transmission was warm. Then it started shifting erratically, threw a possible no reverse, continue driving, then it was skipping the odd gears in the last mile or so. It threw an engine code also. It was launching hard from a standstill...enough to spin the tires. I had to turn it off and then restart it twice (at red lights) to get it going. I got it to the garage. No codes showing by their autel system. .????! Ok , the fluid temp was 185F. Ok , it was decided to wait for it to cool off ( the fluid has to be at 60C to recalibrate) and then calibration was done.It went fine, no problems. All the usual noises etc. Wonderful! Ok, I get in it to drive, put it in reverse.......no reverse. I put it in drive.....lurches forward. WTF! Yellow fault in display.
Indie guy brings his system back out and hooks it up. One things shows. High pressure on one of the clutches! That's all. Now what is that all about? Technician seems to think not enough fluid in it....that can cause a high pressure code. I know I put enough fluid in it.....I did the two stage filling.....it took almost 6.5 liters...a good stream was running out of it and the car was perfectly level. Well, it was closing time, so I had to leave it again. I have no clue, I truly do not have any clue on this. One second it is running, shifting well, no problems. Then this? Why did it calibrate without a problem? Any ideas from anyone? This has been an extremely frustrating 4 months.
Indie is to try and see what they can find out. I wish someone would offer me 30K for it and a second 23K mile complete transmission and transfer case.
Last edited by Olddragger; 05-12-2022 at 09:10 PM.
No takers!? Lol. I wish. Lastest finding is k2 clutch pressure control solinoid is not drawing current. Now how did that happen? It is theorized that debri from the oridginal mech unit melted plastic found it's way to that circuit. It was flushed well before I put the new one in but I did not have a pressure flush machine. One would think the filters would also catch it? Who the heck knows? Tearing it down again at the indie. I will report what they found out. I am beginning to think this transmission can not be fixed. I hope no one ever has to deal with this kind of problem. It has been 4 months now. I may just stop posting. What else can I share? Beginning to understand why Porsche doesn't sell parts to fix it. There will be at some point a bunch of Macans with trans problems that no one will fix because of the cost. Junk cars then. What a shame. I wonder if an Asian trans be fitted lol!
Remove the bottom horizontal black plastic board, it plugs into the bottom solenoid valves, one of which is the K2 clutch solenoid. The K1 (N435) and K2 (N439) clutch solenoid valves are the two ones with the visible brown copper windings. See the below picture for the location of N439. Measure both the K1 and K2 solenoid valve terminal pin pairs with an ohm-meter, they should all be less-than 500 ohms, and probably the same resistance. If they measure good, then reseat the black plastic board that they plug in to, and check that the connector on the other end (with the wires) is properly plugged into the TCU. Inspect to see if there are any bent pins.
If this doesn't solve the "no current for K2 solenoid" DTC, then try replacing the bottom board.
If this doesn't solve the problem, then the TCU has an internal problem.
I don't think melted plastic debris can cause the solenoid winding, or the bottom board, to have an open electrical circuit.
I am also thinking the tcu, it seems that is the only logical thing. I have another tcu but it is such a headache getting it adapted to my car. Indie guys are sorting this. They don't have a PIWIS 2 factory system.....use acutell and I don't think that system will allow mating the car with another tcu. They do have some dealership contacts though.
I also tore my old mechatronics down and the contaminated fluid was everywhere...more so in the tower. All the solenoids met ohm specs but of course that doesn't tell you the whole story. There were no wearing of the sleeves that I could see. You know, in all honesty I really like this car. I haven't been able to find something else that checks all my boxes and I have looked. I am cursed. I will let all know what is discovered and really appreciate everyone's input.
Since the solenoid resistances look good, I would replace the bottom board, which is probably where the open circuit (no current flow) between the ECU and the K2 clutch solenoid is.
Agreed. I think....if the indie is successful in doing what they are doing, i will rebuild my old mech unit with a sourced kit, that way I will have a complete good transmission and transfer case in reserve. Knowing my luck, I probably will need it. Here are some more pictures of the solenoids , the hydraulic sleeves ( notice the black residue) and the 20k mile fluid in the glass. I tried to get a picture of the black grandules suspended in the fluid but it was difficult to do with my I pad.
Vagfan, appreciate your input and will be sure to include this in the evaluation.Thanks!
Last edited by Olddragger; 05-17-2022 at 11:42 AM.
Just discovered today that the earlier model of this transmission (2010-2014) placed into Audi's had a class action lawsuit that just settled this year with monetary awards to those that had to pay out of pocket for repairs and an longer period of warrenty given to current owners. I don't know all the details. If I am not mistaken the transmission was " updated" before placed into the Macan but even so...this update, whatever it was, was untested in reference to time before the Macan came out. Personally I did notice a slight difference in the 2017 model vs my 2015 off increased plastic insulators on certain components. This is just an interesting information. To tell you the truth if I had known this before I bought my first Macan I would not have purchased one. It was mentioned in some of the Audi communication that most of them had trouble after their car was 3-5 years old?
I do wonder if Porsche models that also have possibily the same transmission can be included?
Last edited by Olddragger; 05-17-2022 at 11:50 PM.
I think this has turned into a saga!
Latest update. The car does fine when cold, after a certain temperature is reached in the transmission (around 180f) it throws a high pressure fault and the dreaded no reverse yellow warning pops up. The shop has repeated this twice. REPEAT.... transmission shifts all gears fine ....no problems...feels good...when it is cold. After it heats up then the problems start!
Rather than chasing our tail concerning this , the tech has a friend that will loan use of his real PIWIS system. Picking it up this weekend and hooking it up on Monday to see if we can drill this down to more specific's. There are a multitude of things that can cause a high pressure fault, a bad solenoid, contaminated fluid, blocked line, blocked by pass valve, the clutch, the transmission control unit, or a problem with the electrical connection. We know it is not contaminated fluid, the tcu looked good, the solenoids were replaced, all connections look good...the boards and the plugs no corrosion etc,, the clutch case looks fine and there is no slippage when it is shifting well (cold), never any history of any slippage, plus it calibrates ok with an autell pro setup.. Dang mystery this! Hope this can be figured out. Appreciate all feedback/ ideas.
I think PIWIS is key. You can get a Chinese clone of PIWIS 2 for less than $1K these days. Any credible shop should at least have one of those, if not a full factory version.
Trying to use non-PIWIS-compatible diag/coding tools on these cars is like trying to fix them with a hammer, Crescent wrench, and a can of STP.
Totally agree! Perhaps Porsche should send each owner one once warrenty expires....🤣. If I do end up keeping this car....wife now hates it....I have to get a cloned piwis2. I sure hope this coming week brings me good news.
05-06-2022, 06:51 PM
