porschemacans

I have a 2015 Certified Preowned (CPO) Porsche Macan S that I bought at my local Porsche dealership. I take care of the car and it is garaged on a daily basis with regular interval Mobil 1 fully synthetic oil. I really love the Porsche brand and how sporty and luxurious their vehicles are and would consider another Porsche in the future.

The problem that I have now is that the "Fault Of The Engine Control Unit. Gearbox fault possible no R-gear Possible to drive on." light came on and it is the second time this type of check engine light has come lit up. The first time I believe my local Porsche dealership mechanics might have done some repairs and updated the software

This time I seem to have Coolant sprayed or leaked all over the engine bay along with the light and this came out of nowhere. I have only driven my Macan for less then 15,000 miles in the 6 years of ownership and is surprised by the quality of the build. I really expected better for such a top tier luxury brand and at that price point.

My regular car warranty is expired and the Certified preowned warranty has expired. I believe there was an extension for the pandemic and that expired too. I have no clue where to start and would hope that Porsche can help with this situation. Thank you for any help as my car is sitting there and I am unable to drive it since it wont go pass 2nd or 3rd gear and there is no reverse. It is quite disheartening and I have driven other luxury brands such as Mercedes, Acura, Lexus and more without major issues such as this that rendered my car immobilized.

Thank you in advance for any help or guidance. Is it possible that a defective hose, valve, seal, thermostat, water pump, Y pipe, or radiator could have caused a massive leak and trigged the ECU to shut down the engine and let it get pass 2nd or 3rd gear and no Reverse? I will search through the forum more thoroughly and read up on my own but any help or guidance would be most appreciated. I would have hoped Porsche NA would have helped but so far no response from them on their website inbox or even on X. Any repair shops recommendations in NY would be most appreciated and thank you all for any advice or suggestions.

AoxoMoxoA

On the surface — to me —I'd guess the coolant leak and the gearbox error are unrelated.

The coolant leak, since it appears on the top-side, is likely a failure of the poorly designed, now infamous plastic coolant Y-pipe, but I imagine it's also possible that your coolant tank could have ruptured, or one of the plastic hose fittings from the hoses which attach to the coolant vent valve (on the side of the driver's side airbox) could have snapped... Without digging into it further, we can't be sure.

HERE's a thread which leads to a DIY repair of that coolant Y-pipe.
And a YouTube video below by @Santirx showing that repair.

As to the gearbox warning, We'd need to see the codes which were generated from the fault to be able to steer you towards the root cause. A better quality scan tool would be able to read them. There are a few failure points associated with the mechatronic unit of the Macan's transmission, which is actually an Audi DL-501 gearbox, but again, the codes will reveal a bit more info.

HERE's a lengthy thread which deals with most of the issues associated with the Gearbox fault you are getting.
Depending on your mechanic skills, tools and workspace, most of the issues involving the mechatronic can be DIY'd.

Good luck and keep us posted.

porschemacans

Thank you so much for the advice yeah it could be anything really like you said, Maybe a lose or damaged pipe but it just lost all the coolant out of nowhere which is strange. The gearbox failure is the second time I had this but I just checked my receipts and was told that Porsche only warrantys the part for 2 years. I am on my third year which is unfortunate. I called Porsche NA and they couldnt really assist me which really sucks. I can barely drive the car anywhere to have it checked out. Thank you so much for the video and I will go watch it.

AoxoMoxoA

Failure of the coolant Y-pipe is a very common issue on the Macans. It’s a hard plastic preformed line (routed through one of the hottest spots of the engine) which over time gets brittle and just snaps, spewing coolant everywhere. It’s not because of coming loose. The plastic just breaks suddenly without warning due to poor design.

As to the gearbox warning, I’m curious as to which part Porsche replaced that they warranted for 2 years? Do you have a receipt that would show the replacement part and/or associated codes they came across?

DHL

If the gearbox warning occured while under warranty, you have a strong case that it still should be covered, particularly if it might have been caused by Porsche service, unless you have put a lot of miles on the car between incedents (and Porsche has made no attempt to repair the vehicle). Hopefully the observation of the fault is documented on service sheets and if Porsche techs "reset" the fault code that is documented.

porschemacans

The Y Pipe breaking will be a tough one for me to spot. I lifted the plastic engine cover and have been searching around for cracks or loose connections and probably will need to look again. The coolant that I refilled is all gone again and I don't see a puddle on the floor and have no clue where the coolant is leaking or spraying towards. To me it feels like everytime the heater or air conditoner is on there might be a slow leak somewhere but then again this time it was just a complete dump.

I called Porsche NA and they said that the dealerships only covers the serviced parts that they installed for 2 years and it has been 3 years so that is no go on their warranty. I have only put 2000 miles on the car in those 3 years and is surprised how fast anything can break. The gearbox issue was resolved during that time under warranty but they only offered 2 years from then so I just lucked out. Porsche NA was friendly but could not offer me any assistance. I guess I am on my own which is unfortunate but very grateful for all the help and responses on this forum. From my receipt this is what they serviced

1) ALA2 Campaign - Reworking Service Cover of Fuel Pump
2) WLA0 Campaign - Reprogramming DME Control
3) 9A7-325-025-01 - Slide Valve Gearbox
4) 9A7-321-371-00 - Gasket
5) PAF-013-827 - Seal Ring
6) Lens-Head Screw 6x20
7) Cover Front Removed and Reinstalled
8) ATF Inspected and Added

For the Transmission I believe they did the PDK service but made me pay for the oil and filter

1) 37302551 - Transmission Electronics Control Unit Programmed
2) 38775500 - Transmission Control Mechanism Replaced
3) 37021999 - PDK Fluid and Filter Replaced
4) 7x Transmission Oil
5) Filter Element

I was able to scan the car with a basic Autel Dongle that connects to the OBD and the codes I got were

1) 00A046 - Instrument Cluster - Warning:Coolant Level
2) 84040E - Rear End Electronics - Roof Control Unit, Interior Lighting Faulty
3) 89010E - Rear End Electronics - Alarm Siren, Faulty
4) P174E00 - Transmission Control - Valve 3 in Gear Train Half 2 - Electrical Fault

DHL

Its clear from your post they serviced the transmission. The issue remains that (a) did they cause the new fault or (b) did they miss the current problem when they did the service. I suspect you can still argue that 2000 mi is very low mileage and that a trans fault should not re-occur in that time frame, even if its 3 years.

porschemacans

Thats the problem now and for me I need to spend a hundred to tow it in and another few hundred just to have it diagnosed. Without having anything repaired I'd probably be a thousand down the drain, which is kind of ridiculous. I guess I will have to seek out a recommended independant Porsche shop and see what they charge since I am out of warranty and out of luck. Thanks for the help and advice.