Hi all,

I took my 2018 Macan GTS in for a 40k service and the dealer said I have a timing belt cover leak (which I heard is a known issue) on these cars. They said it's coded yellow meaning there is wet spots but there are no droplets forming therefore it's not going to be repaired under the warranty. I have the CPO but if it's a known issue, it's gonna leak and they just want to not pay for it in hopes I'll be out of warranty when it's so bad it's dripping on the alternator and my car fails on the side of the road?! This sounds like BS to me and Porsche should be fixing these under warranty when it's showing signs of failure. I also have spots of oil on the garage floor and took pics but my dealer said they still won't do anything because the tech said it was only "wet" at the seal. Am I crazy?! What recourse do we have?! Anyone have any success with their Porsche dealer or PCNA? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Jon

 

Take the vehicle back in and tell them you want NO oil seepage. None. Not even moist. DRY! I can take you under mine with over 66K on it. It's dry. And yes. At exactly 30K, I got the leak. And it did take out my alternator. The timing was unusual in that I had bought a set of plugs I was planning installing myself. But, since the engine was dropped back then, they swapped out plugs at no cost to me.

If they refuse, find another dealership. I have one very close to me. The one I use is on the far side of Houston. If it's broken down or an emergency, I have it flat bedded. If not and driveable, I schedule an appointment for a loaner.

 

The dealer is going to do the “fix” for it now under warranty but told me Porsche
only replaces the bolts with metal bolts and basically nothing else. They used to do a full replacement of the seal but they had to drop the engine. They apparently stopped doing the full seal replacement and now just replace the top 2 bolts. Not sure this will
permanently fix this issue.

 

On two other forums the two bolt fix isn’t working properly. There is oil contamination between the TCC cover, the seal, and the engine. All that should be redone to guarantee no future leaks.

 

Porsche won’t do a full replacement anymore under warranty. They told me their latest bulletin won’t allow it unless they’re is warping on the cover and or there is a significant leak. Porsche has stopped dropping the engine anymore unless these two conditions are met.

 

Anyone from Porsche define how to determine warppage without removing it? Second question, what defines a ‘significant’ leak? My engine was dropped right at 30k. I went to change my own oil and filter and found it then. I lucked out that while the engine was out, I had them change my plugs that I was planning on doing myself that same weekend.

 

Porsche’s latest bulletin defines significant leak as drops of oil as opposed to “sweating” as mine has. They will NOT drop the engine for sweating as they have defined it. I don’t know how they define warping but it usually coincides with a significant leak and oil droplets so they will drop the whole engine in that case and replace everything other that just the two top screw as that’s all they do for mine as the fix since it’s only “sweating”. Not sure this will prevent leaking later but the bolts they replace are metal and they can torque tighter.

 

In another life (my youth) Chevy Corvairs were notorious for oil leaks. Rear mounted engine with valve covers on the side of the engine. Initially you could tighten them. But after a while they would leak again. The fix was to buy elongated strips of metal through-bolted in order to grab more surface area. In every case the valve covers were removed cleaned, a coating of Permatex#2 and new cork valve gaskets.

IMO…swapping two bolts and torquing them down tightly will disturb the other areas currently not leaking and also run the risk of damaging the cover itself. Again, my opinion.

 

I agree but that’s the Porsche bulletin and the dealers cannot do anything other than follow these exactly or they will not be reimbursed. My dealer swears that will fix it as Porsche engineers have created the bulletins and they stand by it.
I tried arguing but they won’t do anything other than follow Porsche’s rules.

 

The only advice I could offer is asking how long the warranty is for this fix. Knowing that I would check for leaks myself for any further issues leading up to the end of said warranty and balance that against your current warranty.

 

If these have aluminum bolts then possibly they are breaking and causing the bad seal. If it possible to access a few of the bolts, just verify they are not loose. They could just be yielding (stretching). Don’t retorque them. If they are loose, there is a case for replacement.

Apparently they now have steel replacements with insulating sleeves available. The magnesium cover and steel cannot have direct contact or corrosion results.

 

There’s a lot of history regarding this issue. A lot. Mine started leaking right at 30k. I change my oil and filter every 5,000 miles on my ‘18 Turbo. Excessive? Don’t care. My car. My rules. I had bought a set of plugs a month before thinking when I did my oil change I’d do the plugs too. Because I dropped the belly pan first, I caught the leak. When I dropped it off to have the engine dropped, asked them to drop the plugs in then. Saved some coin that day. Eventually somebody figured out a way to swap two bolts. A long time later Porsche started to recommend it too. And yet, I’ve read a few cases where it failed. The only real way to do this is to drop the engine, remove the TCC, clean the surface and use a new gasket. It’s a crap shoot any other way. IMO…