Rear Motor replacement on '23 Taycan

[Maverickcoco]

Folks! Recently purchased a '23 Taycan Base with 6k miles on it, my first non-Tesla EV. Drove it for about 1000 miles and it's with the dealership for the past 3 weeks since I complained about humming noise and hard gear shift at 50 mph. It whines as I accelerate (so does the brand new loaner, but no hard gear shift at 50 mph). They are replacing the rear motor now which could take a while. Is anyone else facing this issue or faced? TIA

NOTE:- I have a performance battery plus package, not sure if it would make a difference.

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[RingoDingo]

I have a humming sound on my 4S that kicks in at around 40MPH (only in first gear) and whines/drones as I accelerate until second gear kicks in. It's not present in second gear. I don't like it, but my dealer says it's normal. Well, the head of the service department, who went on a ride-along with me, says it's normal, but attributed it to heavy regen.

 

[hifi239]

humming noise and hard gear shift at 50 mph.

In Sport mode, my '22 RWD runs the motor up to high RPM in first gear before shifting at around 50 or 60 mph (depending on acceleration). You can definitely hear that motor hum before it shifts. My first reaction was "something is wrong." And yes, the shift itself under acceleration in Sport mode is noticeable. In Normal mode I don't experience any of this. I will say I haven't read of any Taycan rear motor replacements. It must be rare. If this is a defect, it seems also a problem with the transmission, which I have also not heard of failing.

 

[RingoDingo]

In Sport mode, my '22 RWD runs the motor up to high RPM in first gear before shifting at around 50 or 60 mph (depending on acceleration). You can definitely hear that motor hum before it shifts. My first reaction was "something is wrong." And yes, the shift itself under acceleration in Sport mode is noticeable. In Normal mode I don't experience any of this. I will say I haven't read of any Taycan rear motor replacements. It must be rare. If this is a defect, it seems also a problem with the transmission, which I have also not heard of failing.

Normal starts in second gear, I think, like Range, whereas Sport and Sport Plus I think start in first, so it seems intuitive that it's an issue with first gear itself being noisy. My amateur opinion is that the transmission is super noisy in first gear and this likely has nothing otherwise to do with the motor. Haven't heard any motor issues like this at all. If it had come from the factory like this, I probably wouldn't have ever said anything, but I came from a Model 3 that was dead quiet and my Taycan for the first year was dead quiet - the transmission whine only came on in year 2.

 

[Maverickcoco]

I have a humming sound on my 4S that kicks in at around 40MPH (only in first gear) and whines/drones as I accelerate until second gear kicks in. It's not present in second gear. I don't like it, but my dealer says it's normal. Well, the head of the service department, who went on a ride-along with me, says it's normal, but attributed it to heavy regen. I think he doesn't know what he's talking about. I'm going to take it into the other Porsche dealer in town to see what they say.

I think the whining is normal since it's there in the loaner as well, but the real problem was the hard gear shift at 50 in normal mode.

 

[Maverickcoco]

Normal starts in second gear, I think, like Range, whereas Sport and Sport Plus I think start in first, so it seems intuitive that it's an issue with first gear itself being noisy. My amateur opinion is that the transmission is super noisy in first gear and this likely has nothing otherwise to do with the motor. Haven't heard any motor issues like this at all. If it had come from the factory like this, I probably wouldn't have ever said anything, but I came from a Model 3 that was dead quiet and my Taycan for the first year was dead quiet - the transmission whine only came on in year 2.

which is why I posted this thread up. Replacing motor triggers that something else was also found which I wasn't aware of. Also, I was ready to fight with the dealership to look into it because we all know how it is, but the fact they came back with this solution is making me very suspicious.

 

[Avantgarde]

This is not a new issue. Number of Taycans got their rear drive units replaced because of transmission failure (the same symptoms). You can find threads it in this forum if you search. It seems to be unique to rwd and 4Ss which has the smaller rear motors.

 

[Avantgarde]

which is why I posted this thread up. Replacing motor triggers that something else was also found which I wasn't aware of. Also, I was ready to fight with the dealership to look into it because we all know how it is, but the fact they came back with this solution is making me very suspicious.

Transmission and the rear motor are part of the single rear drive unit so they replace the whole thing when this happens. I believe when dealer says “rear motor” they mean “rear drive unit” - and the issue is with the transmission not the motor.

 

[hifi239]

Normal starts in second gear, I think, like Range, whereas Sport and Sport Plus I think start in first, so it seems intuitive that it's an issue with first gear itself being noisy. My amateur opinion is that the transmission is super noisy in first gear and this likely has nothing otherwise to do with the motor. Haven't heard any motor issues like this at all. If it had come from the factory like this, I probably wouldn't have ever said anything, but I came from a Model 3 that was dead quiet and my Taycan for the first year was dead quiet - the transmission whine only came on in year 2.

That the noise is new is a different matter. Keep us posted please.

 

[Maverickcoco]

This is not a new issue. Number of Taycans got their rear drive units replaced because of transmission failure (the same symptoms). You can find threads it in this forum if you search. It seems to be unique to rwd and 4Ss which has the smaller rear motors.

Thanks sir! My initial search didnt show me anything obvious, but I will try again. Glad to know this is not a unique problem.

 

[Maverickcoco]

Transmission and the rear motor are part of the single rear drive unit so they replace the whole thing when this happens. I believe when dealer says “rear motor” they mean “rear drive unit” - and the issue is with the transmission not the motor.

yeah I thought the same. Let me clarify and post it here then.

 

[Hirschaj]

I think the whining is normal since it's there in the loaner as well, but the real problem was the hard gear shift at 50 in normal mode.

There should be no gear shift at all in normal mode unless you stomp on the accelerator and cause a downshift to first gear. Sounds like something was wrong with your car and it also sounds like Porsche thought so too since you’re getting a new rear motor assembly.

 

[RingoDingo]

That the noise is new is a different matter. Keep us posted please.

I think I need to drive another Taycan to see if they're consistent with the noise I hear. Unless I'm going crazy (entirely possible), the transmission is noticeably louder than when i bought the car.

 

[Marcad80]

My ‘22 RWD has very noticeable gear noise. The dealer recorded the noise and sent to Germany. Porsche told them to change the trans fluid. Apparently that didn’t fix it because today they told me they have ordered a new “transmission”. I thought they would have to replace the whole drive unit, but I guess we’ll see.

 

[Hirschaj]

This brings up a question in my mind. Should we be using our cars in such a way as both 1st and 2nd gear see regular usage to ensure proper lubrication and functionality over time? I'll freely admit that I know basically nothing about automatic transmissions or how the transmission on the Taycan works. Can anyone with more knowledge about it than me (so almost everyone) make an educated guess?

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