mdonline

I autocrossed my car hard about a month ago. Afterward, the car developed a crunchy/rattle noise like someone is crumbling paper into a ball underneath the car. This happened when I drove over an uneven surface (like a driveway) at an angle at low speed.

Took it to the dealer. They found the sway bar was loose. Torque wrenched it. Noise went away for about two days. Now it came back.

What I notice now in addition to the noise is a mushy feel in steering input. I swear that the car does not have that laser/knife feeling like it did before. I move the steering wheel and the car seems to respond a split second later.

Should I be concerned? Any idea? Something broken besides the loose sway bar? What is a sway bar anyway? May be I am just paranoid or may be this is a sign that the car has finally broken in.

Thanks.

dstrimbu

MD -

Sway bars (more accurately: anti-sway bars) tie the independent front suspension (right and left) elements together to transfer torque from one side to the other - keeping the car flat through turns. There was at least one TSB (Tech Svc. Bulletin) from Porsche regarding 997s' sway bars being loose from the factory... and I do believe that there was a hardware change to longer fastening bolts to prevent the mounts from coming loose.

Your steering should not be "loose" under any circumstances. Is there any slack in the steering wheel when coming off center? My car has zero slack...

Did your workshop check the front steering rack assembly? Maybe steering rack mount bushings (but I don't know how Porsche has implemented their rack mount). Are all of the front suspension elements properly torqued?

Take that sucker back to the dealer, something ain't right.

Be safe,

-don

jpcourt

I agree with Don, get the car back to thr dealer asap and don't take it home until you are happy with it.

cgng30

I had the same problem. My sway bars were loose, but after i got the car back , it does not feel the same , it feels mushy, unless its my head playing games with me. did you ever find out waht was wrong with yours


cheers

ronnie

mdonline

took it back to the dealer. They changed out the four link bars to a more "heavy" one. Noise went away for 1 day. The best description of the noise is like someone shaking a cereal box under the car when it goes over a driveway at an angle. Steering wheel feels precise. As soon as the noise came back, the steering input felt mushy again.

No it is not in my head. No, you are not imagining things. Something is not right. I'll bring it to a different dealer.

Update to come.

cgng30

what do they mean by relace with heavy link bars, there should be only one type for the 911 I think. currently i am not getting any noise, but my steering sure feels different.

mdonline

They changed out the link bars. There is a new design for them and they changed them out for me. That's what they told me.

Drmark

What year is your car? If it's an early 997 is this not the classic story for the problem with the suspensions mounts - known to Porsche and due to the way the upper end of the springs seat, allowing movement? I am sure I saw a recent thread on this, including the "sounds like a box of cereal being rattled" symptom.