Weird Smoke and Burning Smell from Air Vents in My Macan 4 – Anyone Else?

[Sodivine]

I'm experiencing the same issue here in Spain with a Macan 4. It’s not smoke, but there’s an ugly burnt smell when the heater is set above 23°C on the highway. Now at the dealer. I also had to constantly turn on the defrost button. Any updates on your Macan, @piter95

 

[piter95]

I'm experiencing the same issue here in Spain with a Macan 4. It’s not smoke, but there’s an ugly burnt smell when the heater is set above 23°C on the highway. Now at the dealer. I also had to constantly turn on the defrost button. Any updates on your Macan, @piter95

Doesn’t sounds good, if you have to turn on the defrost mode means heat comes up and make your windshield foggy…

No news here, nobody contacted me. I can see the car is still at the German car factory… I’m not happy overall.

Nor about this defect, nor about the car in general. I got another Macan 4 as replacement car and yesterday was a pain to recharge it with 0 degrees outside.
Porsche charging stations after 8% charged stopped charging the car, I had to move to another charging station of another brand and it interrupted with an error charging 4 times…

Is that the electric future we are going ?

 

[krissrock]

ouch... sucks to not be able to charge at home

 

[nulled]

I also experienced the burning smell but no smoke... Initially I thought it's coming from the outside but It's the first time any sort of smell comes in the cabin (I got the fancy air purifier thingy + I was in the foresty area).

 

[piter95]

I also experienced the burning smell but no smoke... Initially I thought it's coming from the outside but It's the first time any sort of smell comes in the cabin (I got the fancy air purifier thingy + I was in the foresty area).

Try to keep an eye on it… I didn’t have the fancy air purifier, just standard one…

btw, still not news… soon it will be 2 months since my car got back to the factory…

 

[nulled]

Try to keep an eye on it… I didn’t have the fancy air purifier, just standard one…

btw, still not news… soon it will be 2 months since my car got back to the factory…

Did the smell/smoke disappear after a while? In my case the smell stayed for a minute or two and I opened the windows to check if it's from the outside. Then drove for another 20min without any smoke or smell. Charged it on a 50kw charger fore 20min and stayed in the cabin with AC and heated seats on, etc. No smell or smoke.

The burnt plastic smell came after a short sprint from 100 - 180 and then a rapid deceleration to 80.

 

[piter95]

Did the smell/smoke disappear after a while? In my case the smell stayed for a minute or two and I opened the windows to check if it's from the outside. Then drove for another 20min without any smoke or smell. Charged it on a 50kw charger fore 20min and stayed in the cabin with AC and heated seats on, etc. No smell or smoke.

The burnt plastic smell came after a burst from 100 - 180 and then a rapid deceleration to 80.

Unfortunately it didn’t disappear! It usually happens time to time, 130km/h or more while driving in the highway. Never noticed it during city strolling…

I also noticed it when I had a deceleration, but mostly happened while cruising at 130 or more…

 

[nulled]

Unfortunately it didn’t disappear! It usually happens time to time, 130km/h or more while driving in the highway. Never noticed it during city strolling…

I also noticed it when I had a deceleration, but mostly happened while cruising at 130 or more…

Ok... so in my case also happened on the highway. GPT is not very optimistic:

1. Overheating Components:
• High speeds and sudden deceleration put significant stress on the motor, power electronics, or regenerative braking system. Overheating in these systems could cause insulation or plastic components to emit a burnt smell.
• If the smell is coming from the motor or inverter, it might be due to overheating of internal components like cables, connectors, or even windings.
2. Battery Management Issues:
• During high-speed driving or regenerative braking, the battery is under increased load. A malfunction in the battery cooling system or damage to any battery cell connectors might cause overheating and lead to a burnt smell.
• If the issue persists, it could indicate a problem with the thermal management system.

 

[piter95]

Ok... so in my case also happened on the highway. GPT is not very optimistic:

1. Overheating Components:
• High speeds and sudden deceleration put significant stress on the motor, power electronics, or regenerative braking system. Overheating in these systems could cause insulation or plastic components to emit a burnt smell.
• If the smell is coming from the motor or inverter, it might be due to overheating of internal components like cables, connectors, or even windings.
2. Battery Management Issues:
• During high-speed driving or regenerative braking, the battery is under increased load. A malfunction in the battery cooling system or damage to any battery cell connectors might cause overheating and lead to a burnt smell.
• If the issue persists, it could indicate a problem with the thermal management system.

I think there is a serious issue with all of the Macan models or at least with a specific component made by one of the suppliers…

Obviously they are investigating and it will take time to find the root cause of the issue and start a recall…

Overall? I’m not happy.

 

[M324]

For me this hasn't happened again. Only once. Nevertheless I am very interested to hear what's the root cause.

 

[PanameraFrank]

I think there is a serious issue with all of the Macan models or at least with a specific component made by one of the suppliers…

Obviously they are investigating and it will take time to find the root cause of the issue and start a recall…

Overall? I’m not happy.

There isn't nearly enough reports of this problem to suggest that.

It sucks, I feel super bad for you, but it seems to be a very rare occurrence. I see 4 reports in this thread, 2 of which happened once and never again. If anything, I'd say it's more likely to have been one production line of cars where something got messed up.

I'm quite certain we'd see a LOT of reports on here if people were getting smoke in their cabins. That's a pretty big one.

Again, very serious issue. I'm super bummed for you and hope Porsche does something significant to make up for it. I'm "hopeful" that it was just a few cars on one production day where something got messed up or a single shipment of parts was flawed. Doesn't seem to be very widespread at the moment.

 

[BfG]

I've had the same issue in UK a few times now (smell only) reporting it now.

No known cause just random.

 

[piter95]

There isn't nearly enough reports of this problem to suggest that.

It sucks, I feel super bad for you, but it seems to be a very rare occurrence. I see 4 reports in this thread, 2 of which happened once and never again. If anything, I'd say it's more likely to have been one production line of cars where something got messed up.

I'm quite certain we'd see a LOT of reports on here if people were getting smoke in their cabins. That's a pretty big one.

Again, very serious issue. I'm super bummed for you and hope Porsche does something significant to make up for it. I'm "hopeful" that it was just a few cars on one production day where something got messed up or a single shipment of parts was flawed. Doesn't seem to be very widespread at the moment.

But keep in mind that not many people are posting on the forum for example... So we don't know what's the impact. Yes, that's true that there are many users on this forum and probably not many have the same issues, but some already complained here...

So there is definitely something wrong with a component...

 

[alvaro]

I got a burning smell once when I had the heat cranked WAY up for the first time (I think 75º F).
Turned it down never gotten it again.

 

[nulled]

Did another 500km yesterday on a highway and couldn't detect any smoke or burning smells. Wonder if I should notify the local service center or wait for a repetitive issue?!

Sponsored