sietek

Hi all. Although I have been frequent visitor to this web site, this is my first post. I picked up my “S” on December 17th (an early Christmas present to myself). It is Black on Havana, with Comfort Pkg, sunroof, vari. asst. power steering and a few other goodies. It has everything I need, and nothing I don’t.

I have two questions. First, is there a “Break-in” period for the Cayenne? I can’t find any mention of one anywhere. I have about 1200 miles, and I have been babying her thus far.

Second… Initially, I had a rather pronounced vibration between 60 MPH and 80 MPH. My dealer has thus since replaced all 4 tires, and done a through 4 wheel alignment. This has yielded about a 95% improvement. I now currently have only an intermittently occurring shimmy in the steering wheel, between 60MPH, and 80MPH. What I mean is that every once in a while, once I’m up to speed, if I let go of the steering wheel, it will shudder lightly, back and forth, up to about ½ an inch in each direction (rather like a light vibration, but not exactly). It will only do this for a little while, and then it will stop. My service advisor is trying to tell me that this is normal. At over $60K, I don’t buy this answer for one minute. They did say that if I want, they will continue to work at it. They are still very accommodating, but I still just want the issue fixed. They told me that my S already has the “updated” Cardan shaft. I have read a few posts about this issue before. What I want to know is, does this sound right to anyone out there? Besides this, I couldn’t be happier with my new ride.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

GM Austin

I think you should continue to have them work on it. I do not think it is related to the cardan shaft at all.

EPV

Please read my post with A POTENTIAL SOLUTION under "Aftermarket Parking Sensor" My ID is: EPV
I inadvertently posted it there and it is too long to rewrite!
Hopefully, my solution will work better than my "posting ability!"

mudman2

I was told that they wanted about 4500 miles to break it in fully but that 2500 miles before I went wild in it.

The shimy as GM says does not sound like the shaft but still the alignment or wheels.

My alignment was done last week under the supervision of PCA who gave the dealer specific instructions on the side loading they had to meet, 15lbs whatever that means.

Even tho I have 2 tires being replaced Monday the car is stable as a rock which it has been since I got it at all speeds.

Take it back !

Bentley

The balancing solution from the other thread should help.
A key point for ALL drivers is to realize that the CENTER OF MASS of a tire balanced when it is cold IS NOT THE EXACT SAME as the CENTER OF MASS when the tire heats up. Many times these MINUTE variations of mass location will cause disturbances to the wheel. This will be exacerbated because the rotational energy of the hot tire increase the mass difference of the tires relative to the LOCATION of the mass of the wheel weights [which were installed when the tire was cold].
An experienced wheel balance professional will take his time and make more than one dynamic run of a tire, if needed, to accurately balance the tire/rim assembly. Tire balancing is also an art form, as any racer knows.

Periokid

The owners manual states that the break in period is 2000 miles. Same for most Porsches.

regarding the shimmy/vibration issue...does it occur the first time the car is driven at that speed after sitting over night or longer? It is cold by you? If the balance is correct and the wheels are true and the tires healthy, this issue could be flat spotting. This temporary situation occurs with tires as press on the ground as the car is parked. In cold weather this gets worse as the tire is cold and the rubber becomes hard. If the shimmy occurs then goes away as you drive, that is your answer.

My 911 turbo does this at times. I get upset thinking I need a tire balance and then it just goes away as I drive.

Keep in mind it does not have to be cold for this to happen.

You could also consider increasing your tire pressure to help this situation.

skl

Luckily the break-in for the GT3 ISN"T 2000 miles! I would have gone crazy waiting for 2000 miles before I could go over 4500rpm. It's 1000 for that car... (wait, we're in a truck forum)

Periokid

skl,

I was unaware the break in period is different on the GT3. I wonder if the NA engines and the turbo engines have different. If that is the case the Cayenne S and Turbo may have different break in schedules. Actually I think they are the same. Open to page 14 of the owners manual. It says 2000 miles. The manual is for both S and TT, so I guess all v-8 cayennes are 2000 miles.

sietek

Hey all. Thanks for all the great feedback. I will be taking it back in to my dealer this week, to see if they can get it right.

Bentley & Periokid,

As for the temps, it has been relatively chilly here in Atlanta. Lows in the 20’s and highs in the 30’s to 50’s. Not bad temps winter. Atlanta is just cool like that.

I did go out this weekend, and try to heat the tires up some. As I heated them up, the shimmy did get better (happened less often, and it was less pronounced), but it did NOT go away. I think that you are right on the money, with your suggestions. The more I read, the more I think it is the balancing. I would like the dealer to do proper tire balance, AFTER they heat up the tires themselves. Tire balancing is an art.

The only thing that bugs me about this whole ordeal (besides the obvious), is the fact that my S now has about 1300 miles on it, and I have only put about 900 of those miles on myself. The rest of the miles have been put on by the service manager and the head service tech, in an attempt to find and fix the problem. At least I had another S, and a Boxter to drive around while she was in the shop, but I would have much rather have had my new toy. Anyway…..

Thanks again all,

I will keep you all posted.

tdelarm

Not sure if this will help you but I had the fronts on my 928 balanced while on the car and it made a world of differance.

sietek

tde,

I was thinking the same thing. There is a shop here in Atlanta that does an "100 MPH+ on car balancing". I think I will try there also.