peterp

Got the car back from service for a one-time "Gearbox fault - No R-gear, Drive on Possible". I thought the problem would be in the solenoids, but from the code and their description, it looks like it was the sending control unit. The code was "P189100 - Selector lever signal line - implausible signal", and the tech verified with voltages being intermittently being bad. So they replaced the sending controller to fix the problem. I'm still not sure why they replaced the shifter -- maybe he thought I had difficulty moving the lever -- but no cost to me under warranty.

It looks like the dealer was right and I was wrong about it being with the solenoid end rather than the control end. I changed dealers for this service and I'm very happy with them. The prior service at a different dealer was the worst experience I've ever had -- glad to have a dealer I now feel I can trust.

Everything is N/C on the receipt because of warranty, so I can't see the prices -- but I think it would have been about $500 in parts for shifter and controller, plus a few hours labor. Not too horrible for a PDK issue.

Looks like you were right

Olddragger

A lot of good points on this thread. When surfing through the different Macan forums and through continued contact with the indies in the Atlanta ga area more and more people are experiencing transmission related problms. This is to be expected as the mileage and age increases on the first generation Macans. The good news is I have nor seen any gearbox problems, only the control side. The clutch also seems to be pretty good. All the problems seen that are repaired have to do with the mechatronic controls. The tcu itself seems to be pretty good too.
As time goes by indies are giving this advise in the interest of longitivity.
1- drive the car in sport mode and use the paddles frequently. This helps the transmission run cooler. The heat reduction is from less gear changes and the engine coolant being better cooled from the louvers being open. Don't believe the engine coolant temperature gauge in the cluster.
2- do not tow anything over a lawn mower trailer size with the stock setup. If you tow a big boat, camper, horse trailer etc install a additional transmission cooler and temperature gauge.
3- change the fluid more frequently if you do a lot of stop and go driving or have a driving environment that promotes transmission heat build up --- living in the mountains for example. This includes changing the internal filter, every other change. A lot of Audi guys ( basically the same transmission) change every 20K miles. Change the transfer case fluid when you change the transmission fluid. Also upgrade your fluid from what Porsche uses. Motul/ Redline comes to mind.
These suggestions will go a long way toward helping this transmission stay trouble free.

coquette

This is what I was told destroyed my transmission. Im also in Atlanta area (Gwinnett) and my car has been at an Indy over 2 months now.

Olddragger

Interested in who told you that and their reasoning? Can you tell me what indie your car is at and what happened to it? Would be glad to talk anytime and help out where I can. My adventure did allow for a tremendous amount of educattion about this transmission. When2 indies in the area gave up I ended up fixing it myself. It took a while!

coquette

Ive been following your posts since mine died in mid july. It's currently at Solo Motorsports in Gwinnett.

I was driving to my birthday dinner when it started jerking and lurching with gear change and it refused to go faster than 20 mph. I would try to push it to 40 and it would decelerate back down to 20. I was told it was caused by not using sport mode by Hennessy Porsche in Alpharetta (took it there first and it sat for 3 weeks) and the indy shop confirmed it after i had it towed to them.
I have an extended warranty which is what caused some part of the delay because they didn't want to pay for a brand new transmission which Porsche was going to put in. I settled for the used transmission which was shipped from California. I think this debacle is almost over as they're in the coding phase now.

Olddragger

I know it is difficulty dealing with an issue such as you describe.. To have your car down for weeks like that is no fun. I hope the used transmission turns out to be a good one!
I would argue the point that driving in sport mode caused this to occur. If that was the case then just doing a reflash possibily could have fixed it. It sounds like the computer was putting your car in a safe mode for some other reason. This just happened suddenly....wow. What a birthday! I would bet any day that this was a mechatronics pack problem. Clutch pressure solenoids that malfunction can cause symptoms like you posted. Since they are using a used transmission, you should be able to take your old one home? Do it! It can be fixed and it is an expensive piece of equipment.

coquette

So just got off the phone with them. They were able to "virginize" the mechatronics and replacement transmission successfully. But now there's a new issue. The car will not shift into 2nd gear. They're getting a tool from their location in johns creek to see if that will work.
Any idea what could be causing this? I feel like it's always something at this point im so frustrated. It's been over 2 months without a car.

Olddragger

I get it and it sure is. I take it that they installed the used transmission as a whole and did not swap out the transmission control units? By virginalizing the new used tcu...they wiped it clean. This means that it has to be reflashed to mate with your car. That is a tricky process and requires a legit PIWIS system to do. I am sure they are aware of this.
I would suggest that they swap out the tcu so that does not have to be done. It is not a big job to do this. They just have to pull the mechatronics packs and swap them over.
I made that mistake myself when I first tried to repair my own and the same thing happened to me. When mine shifted into 1st gear or reverse it also did it very hard. I swapped out the tcu's ...installing my old one and then it shifted fine.
Now if this occurs when your old tcu has been installed they something else is going on. But one step at the time.

coquette

I will pass this along to them thank you so much!

chassis

Porsche rates the Macan with a 4,000lb tow capacity. That's a big lawn mower.

How is the towing performance of the Macan with 2,000lb - 4,000lb trailers? I have 35 years of towing experience with many pickups and mid-size (Cayenne-size) SUVs including German SUVs. My experience and advice with those vehicles is to tow with confidence and without hesitation or equivocation. up to the manufacturer's tow rating.

I realize brake pad consumption increases when towing. No concern for me. The main question for me with the Macan is the PDK.

Looking for comments from Macan owners with experience towing such loads. Thanks in advance.

p.s. Search did not produce a thread with real-life commentary on towing in the heavy half of the Macan tow capacity.

scottiemac

Look at "towing with Macan" thread

VERUS

Are you certain it’s front biased? That means the marketing and the gauge that shows it being 60% to the rear is all wrong.

VAGfan

The Macan (and the gen-1 Audi Q5 with Torsen Quattro) are both rear biased.

CPG890

I’m also in the Atlanta area. I have a ‘17 Macan S with 51k. I’ve been noticing weird behavior with the PDK shifting ever since the car was at 15,000 miles, but nothing terrible. Last week, I was in stop and go traffic, in normal PDK program, and upon acceleration, a car violently jerked and lurched in first gear. I managed to get out of first, and I drove relatively normally. But, whenever accelerating from a stop, the behavior with repeat itself —just like someone who’s learning how to drive a stick for the first time.

I have an appointment at perimeter, Atlanta dealer. Seems like a few members who are also in the Atlanta area. I took the car to a well known in the shop in Midtown, and they told me there was a fault code: P17D800– “torque limit due to clutch temperature”. But, they said they don’t deal with repairing anything having to do with a PDK, because it requires a proprietary Porsche computer for mating. A couple of questions:

1) for those in the Atlanta area, which dealership seems to have the best service center?
2) is anybody familiar with this exact code, and what it might mean as to what is wrong?
3) does anybody know of a good indie shop that is onto problems like this and has successfully repaired the Mechatronics unit or similar components?

This thing is breaking, and I really don’t want to wait until it goes kaput! If this can be successfully repaired, I’m inclined to do so, because of substantial dealer markup’s on new Macans. I’d it can’t be repaired without a huge headache, I think I am going to sell it and just move on. But the car is so sweet and I’d love to keep it if possible and if feasible. It bothers me a bit to shell out 5k for a new Mehatronics unit (if that’s what it is), but shelling out 10k above MSRP for a new one is something I will not do.

Any advice would be so greatly appreciated.
Best regards to all.
CG

Faust T.

I'm with you on this one, my car has the exact same problem since Sep of this year, 17 Macan S with 62K on the clock,
except that my car doesn't give a fault code, but I have 96mo/100k extended warranty so I can wait a bit.