Bob (CT)

I have a pampered '06 C2S with 18k miles. Within the last six months or so, I've been hearing a low-level rumble coming from the front end when driving on uneven payment. Nothing alarming, more an annoyance. So, I lived with until I brought my car in for service this week. The dealer replaced two stabilizer links and one control arm (bushings?). Problem solved? Nope. Same low-level rumble from the front-end on uneven payment. If this sounds familiar, I'd love to hear from you. If not, I'd been interested in your hypothesis. Thanks.

JW911

Check your front tires for uneven wear.

Mike in CA

+1 Hard to imagine mechanical wear with that kind of low mileage.

Alan Smithee

Also check for a bent wheel. I had a rumble only on braking, and a bent wheel was the culprit (wasn't a Porsche, FWIW).

stefon993

What kind of tires?? I had the original pirellis' on my 06 with 25k miles when i got it, front end felt like cement! Replaced them car drove like new!

Bob (CT)

Thanks, folks. Keep in mind, that the rumble is only heard on uneven pavement. I would think if the problem was tires, I would hear it on all pavement. By the way, front tires are wearing evenly. I'm starting to think the rumble is coming from the trunk area. Perhaps something came loose?

johnwb

There have been some other posts like this on this site and/or 6 speed. I started one of them.

The theories have ranged from loose top strut mounts to the trunk lid loop rattling in the locking mechanism. Other than the one guy with the loose struts, I haven't seen anybody come up with a source for the noise or a solution.

Macster

I have nothing concrete just questions.

Does the steering wheel vibrate/shimmy when you hear the rumble?

What does the rumble do if you try applying the brakes, various levels of force?

What does the rumble do if you turn the steering wheel?

Have you checked the tire pressure?

Have you checked the shocks for any signs of fluid leaks?

When were the front wheels last off the car?

Are tires N-rated?

Have you thought of having the front wheels/tires load force balanced?

Is front (and rear) tire wear ok? Even. Across the tread face? Side to side?

When was the car last treated to a 4-wheel alignment?

Is there a tool kit in the front trunk? Even a space saver spare?

Also, if the car is under warranty you can revist the dealer and get it in writing you are unhappy with the symptoms and suspect it is leading up to something serious. As a result you have lost all enjoyment in owning and using the car.

Remind the dealer one important factor in your purchasing the car was the assurance the dealer was quite capable of servicing and repairing these cars and if the dealer can't fix this perhaps you can mention you feel you have been made a victim of consumer fraud.

Further remind the dealer you just had the car in and parts were replaced -- at your expense? -- and the symptom remains. Suggest that this suggests the vaunted service capabilities you were led to believe this business had were misrepresented to you.

Don't lay it on too thick but I think you get the idea.

Sincerely,

Macster.

Edgy01

My guess is the age of the tires. When you drive a car so little you have little tire wear but they are still drying out. Tires feedback through these suspensions considerably. I would wager that if you replaced them things would have a way of quieting down.

Macster

There's some validity to that. However with these tires it is the heat cycles that appear to harden these tires. I run the front tires on my cars for 30K or more miles -- while the rears last half that number of miles -- and by the time the second set of rear tires are ready to be replaced while the front tires have plenty of tread left they are as hard as the plastic wheels on cheap kids' toys.

In fact, my 03 Turbo's front tires (Continentals) have a bit over 30K miles on them (the car is on its 3rd set of rear tires, the 1st having lasted around 15K miles while the 2nd set due to a bad alignment lasted barely 8K miles) and while the front tires still have plenty of tread left they're getting hard. Oh, the 3rd set of rear tires has over 7K miles and looks like they'll make 15K with no sweat.

Kind of coincidental but the Turbo has developed a bit of vibration/shimmy at I believe the front wheels/tires to the point the steering wheel develops a noticable shimmy. This symptom only appears at certain speeds (around 70mph) and appears to be related to the road surface.

I checked tire pressures and they were low so I added air the other day -- tires were hot so I had to guess at what the proper hot air pressure would be -- and today this AM before leaving for work I'll re-check tire pressures cold and make sure they're ok.

If this doesn't fix the symptom I'm going to have the front tires rebalanced and if that doesn't do it I'll consider having the front tires replaced. Since the car is covered by a CPO warranty it will be interesting to see how the dealer handles this.

As for the OP's situation I can't recommend he replace the front tires without more evidence the tires are at fault and require replacing. But it is certainly an option if other possible causes of the symptom are eliminated and the symptom remains.

Sincerely,

Macster.

Bob (CT)

I still don't get it with the tire theory. I have P2s. Both fronts were replaced by the dealer at 5k miles (sidewall damage on one, so both were replaced). There is no rumble on even payment. Front suspension is tight, as is the steering. Brought the car back to dealer this morning so I could ride with the mechanic. He heard the slight rumble. Doesn't beleve it's the brakes. Yet, he says its trial and error. Now he's going to replace the control arm (their nickel). Gotta believe there's a better approach than replacing my front suspension piece by piece.

Edgy01

Some of these cars from that era (06 S) were improperly assembled and the shocks mounts work themselves loose at the top. That should be something they know about, but perhaps not.

Bob (CT)

After reading the post from johnwb, I remembered my front hood having some extra play when I last wiped down the car. During lunchbreak, I returned to the dealer believing this might be the solution. The hood was adjusted to eliminate the play. Almost immediately after I departed the dealership, I heard the rumble. Back to the dealer on Monday. Can't tell you how uncomfortable it is when the problem can't be identified and a piece by piece replacement of my front end is the only course of action.

997_rich

can you talk more about the specifics of the noise? is it really a rumble- it doesn't sound like it from the parts they are replacing? is it more of a clunking? clicking? rumbling?intermitent, regular? does it go away with the clutch depressed? what kind of uneven pavement does it occur on? does it occur when a specific wheel goes up or down? does it happen at high speed and low speed or just one? does it seem to happen with the same frequency as the wheel spinning or the bumps you hit? Does it happen only when turning?

If you can answer all of these questions with certainty I'm sure a competent technician can help you without playing the replace and see game more than twice. Hell, we may even be able to help you. You need to make sure you communicate the issue completely. You may have a junior technician or the technician is not fully understanding exactly what the sound is that you are hearing. If the service manager isn't asking you the questions above or taking a test drive with you then he isn't doing his job.

Macster

Sidewall damage to a front tire? What happened?

Any impact severe enough to damage a tire's sidewall I would suspect could damage a wheel and if so this could account for the rumble you report. While one might believe a damaged wheel would be spotted during tire mounting/balancing if the tech doing the work was not paying attention -- and at some tire stores the techs have barely enough interest in their job to get all lug bolts installed and tightened down -- he may not have spotted the damaged wheel (assuming it wobbles during the tire balancing phase). Or perhaps the tire/wheel was balanced statically instead of being spun on a load force balancing machine? In this case while the balance would be ok (maybe) a damaged wheel would escape notice.

In fact I would also suspect the alignment -- at least at that corner -- out and would have the car treated to a full alignment check just to be sure the alignment was not off.

Does the shop doing the work know about the tire damage/replacement?

Sincerely,

Macster.