mikescayenne

Hello All, i have a 2013 Cayenne S with 115k miles on it. I recently began hearing this strange noise coming from the front passenger side wheel area that begins at 15mph and goes away over 50mph. It also seems to go away when turning left and putting weight on the front passenger wheel. It sounds like a shutter and today began to squeak a little. It's like something is flapping and causing a shutter, its not a grinding noise. You can only hear it with all the windows up, and above 15mph. Putting the car in neutral while driving doesn't change anything, you can still hear it. Its driving me crazy. Wheel bearings and wheel well look ok, nothing evident. Any idea what this could be?

Also, we want to put the car in drive while on the lift, to see if we can hear the noise when underneath the car, but i have air suspension and was told if it gets enabled on a lift, it could break itself. It automatically enables itself once you start driving though, so is the only option to get the wheels moving in place an AWD dyno? I find this hard to believe, is there anyway to keep the air suspension disabled when driving? Thanks everyone.

Gus B.

check to see that all of the bolts from the various undertrays are in place... could be a CV/axle going bad too...

mikescayenne

all the bolts are tight and no play at all from the axle. I even swapped the wheels and tires, and that made no difference. its driving me crazy. we even checked the driveshaft support bearing and that was good. Im thinking its the front diff...

Gus B.

When I took my car in for service on Monday, we took the under trays off and to be honest, the bushings were not in as bad of a shape as the sound would imply. That said, not going to tell the local dealer "please don't change all of these under warranty for me"....

The mechanic told me that it's usually bushing #3 on the below pics that goes bad.

long "tube" to the left is for the driver's side wheel. Bushing #1 towards rear of vehicle.

#3 is the one that most often gets worn out

CAVU

OP, Did this new noise happen after a recent servicing...oil change, brake work, air filter changes, etc? Start with the last servicing.

If engine compartment was the latest, make sure the air filter boxes were put back together properly, the engine beauty cover was firmly fitted, the cowl covers fitted and the seal placed properly, the engine upper suspension connected properly?

If the underside was the latest, oil change, etc, I would first start with putting it up on a lift and remove the under panels. Try and move everything under the car. look for road debris that has lodged itself under the car.

Inspect the wheel well liners for missing screws and loose fitment.

Inspect and check the front bumper cover and the front fenders for proper attachment

When putting the under panels back on make sure every attachment point has a screw and around the transfer case make sure the panel's vent is seated properly.

Did something find its way into the radiator area

Otherwise, use chassis ears to further and refine the search.

mikescayenne

hmm thanks for sharing that but i think whatever is making the sound in my truck is something that is rotating. When i increase speed up to 50mph the shutter sound gets faster and faster.

mikescayenne

i was able to get it on video. You can hear it in the background of this video the entire time and especially each time i let off the gas... its that shuttering/puttering sound