What Goes Wrong with Porsche Macan?

The Porsche Macan is one of the more reliable vehicles on the market as of right now. That being said, it has its fair share of problems considering the amount of time it’s been in production.

Common issues with the Porsche Macan include oil leaks, drive train problems, a squeaky accelerator, and the quality of the backup camera. It is relatively difficult to find complaints about the Porsche Macan because it was released in 2015, and most owners haven’t dealt with any issues.

Let’s get into what these problems might mean, both for current Macan owners and prospective buyers who are considering purchasing a Porsche Macan.

Oil Problems

Oil leaks are serious problems that should be taken seriously, as they can lead to permanent damage to your vehicle. However, the Macan does tend to have other oil-related problems than just oil leaks.

More common than leaks, the Macan’s digital oil level reader can sometimes fail to measure the amount of oil in the car correctly, and since there is no manual backup in the chamber it can be difficult to interpret what your vehicle is trying to tell you when it says that the oil level is too low or too high.

Fortunately, you can solve the problem by draining and measuring the oil externally if you have reason to believe that your machine isn’t measuring properly. This problem can be mistaken for an oil leak, which is unfortunate because the Macan also suffers from oil leaks occasionally.

The oil leaks experienced by the Macan can be especially difficult to deal with, as no matter where the leak is located it tends to leak out in the same spot in the pan. While in the first couple of models these leaks were usually caused by a bolt problem during production, more recent years still get leaks due to problems with the timing seal.

These leaks are incredibly difficult to fix, as they require the engine to be completely removed from the vehicle before repairs can even begin. Not only this, but the repairs themselves require extensive time and experience. This makes oil leaks easily one of the most common problems with every year of the Macan.

Gas Leak Recall

For Porsche Macan’s produced between 2015 and 2018, about 1% end up having a problem where the fuel pump service cover deflates and causes hairline cracks to develop in the fuel delivery system. This causes gas to leak out and into the car, which can be dangerous for a large number of reasons.

Porsche has recalled Macans for problems with the fuel delivery system twice, which is an indicator that this particular system has serious problems, especially in older vehicles.

If you frequently smell gas in your Porsche, you may have this problem. The best thing to do is to get it checked by a professional, and then if it does have a fuel leak take it to your local dealer to start work on getting it recalled.

Fortunately, these problems are all fairly uncommon, and the vast majority of Macan owners will never have to deal with them.

Loud Accelerator

This problem is all but solved on newer models, but on older ones, it’s fairly common to be able to hear something like a belt chirp. This is occasionally dismissed as being a normal sound for the vehicle to make, and that isn’t necessarily wrong.

The problem is usually caused by a cracked piece of metal either on the exhaust mount or on the mid-pipe exhaust pipe bracket. Because these pieces of metal tend to twist a bit during normal driving, the cracks are pushed into each other and the resulting noise can sound just like a belt chirp or some other high-pitched noise.

This problem may not be difficult to solve or especially dangerous, but it is fairly common. If you notice your vehicle having this problem, you should probably have it fixed before the cracking causes an actual problem to occur, but you probably shouldn’t lose any sleep over it if you have to wait for a month or two.

Vibration Under The Transfer Case

Some Macan’s will experience loud annoying vibrations under the drive case when accelerating unevenly at low speeds. This stems from the function of the transfer case, which is meant to keep the front and back wheels rotating at the same speeds during acceleration.

The problem is that as the case is used and wear and tear occur, the transfer case can start to fail, leading to a difference between the intended rotation and the actual rotation. This can be mildly dangerous as it evolves into jumping or skipping at the extreme steering lock.

The only real solution to this problem is simply to replace the transfer case. Once this is done, your vehicle should be good to go.

Chassis System Failure

You may be wondering why the Porsche Macan has a chassis system. Isn’t the chassis fairly static most of the time? You would hope it to be, but it’s a good thing that the vehicle has a system to monitor its chassis.

This is because it uses a pneumatic suspension system that has several potential points of failure. Most commonly, the electrical relay to the air compressor will fail, causing the suspension to deflate over time.

The struts can also cause problems by leaking. It’s fairly easy to tell one of the struts has failed, as exactly one corner of the car will appear to be sunken below its usual height. This problem can be easily solved by replacing the old broken strut with a new one.

This should be done quickly though, as a leaky strut puts undue stress on the compressor which can cause it to break down rapidly.

Finally, the ride height level sensors will occasionally break and report the wrong height to the system control. This can lead to some wild situations, as the sensor tells the system control to lift or lower a part of the vehicle that doesn’t need to be moved.

This is often misdiagnosed as a leak, and because the location of these sensors is outside the vehicle it can often get damaged. If you think your car leaks, you should probably check the sensors first to make sure you don’t replace the wrong part of the vehicle.