nccaymans

I don't know if anyone here has experienced this, but hopefully someone can shed some light on this for me.
I have a 2007 Cayman S with 16,000 miles on it. I have owned it since new and it has never given me any bother. However, today as I walked out to the garage I could hear a low, humming, throbbing sound coming from the car. It was audible even with the doors closed. I got in, listening for the source. The speakers were buzzing and humming intermittently, without the key in the ignition. It stopped for a while, then started again and got a little louder. It almost sounded like interference from something, though there was nothing there that hadn't been in the car before. I put the key in the ignition and started it.... the noise was still there. When I turned on the Nav system it said "loading map", which I don't recall seeing before. I drove to my destination about 3 miles away and the noise seemed to have stopped. I got out of the car, and when I got back in the noise was back. It is still under warranty and I shall be at the dealer first thing tomorrow..... If the car hasn't gone up in flames....! Has anyone had this experience with their car? Should I disconnect the battery overnight? I don't have any electrical metering/diagnostic equipment available, and don't really want to mess with things as it is still under warranty. Any thoughts?
Thanks for your help.

Dave DE

The electrical circuits are protected by fuses, so I don't think fire is a big concern. If it were me, I wouldn't disconnect the battery as that may reset whatever is happening and the dealer won't be able to duplicate it. If they can't duplicate it, they can't fix it. The car does do things when the ignition is off, so it wouldn't suprise me if what you are seeing/hearing is 'normal'.

good luck with it,
Dave
'06 CS

mooty

long shot, but did you by chance bought a new cell phone?
i have several cell phones and some will cause noises/vibrations from speaker.

nccaymans

Thanks guys, I appreciate your input. It's sat in the garage at the moment waiting to go to the dealer tomorrow. The sound got worse on the way home..... you could hear it over the stereo. The wife said that it sounds like someone blowing into a microphone. I leave all the technical stuff to her.........!
I have indeed left the battery connected as I hope to replicate the noise for the dealer. What's the betting it clears up 100 yards from the workshop?!
I had considered the cell phone situation, though with no new phones or appliances there was nothing out of the ordinary there. The noise certainly isn't normal. My money is on a short or loose connection from the stereo/nav unit. It's all factory original, and as I'm no electrical Harry Potter I'll leave it to the dealership to poke around. I'll keep you informed..... thanks again for your help.

nccaymans

OK,....... the dealership was booked solid until this morning, so I dropped the car in for an appointment at 9.00 a.m.
The lady at the service desk said she vaguely recalled there being another car with the same symptoms presented to the workshop around 2 years ago. At around 3.30 this afternoon she called to say that the problem was caused by a malfunctioning amplifier. The part is being ordered...... I believe she said it would take 5 days for the part to be delivered. I'll pick it up tomorrow and drop it back when the part arrives. Glad it was nothing more serious. I'll let you know how it all turns out once everything has been taken care of.

mingazoid

Hey nccaymans, I am experiencing some similar issues with my Cayman right now as well.
I did not buy any new cell phones or anything of that sort... kinda just happened all of a sudden one day when I put in the keys. Now, it is making the "blowing into microphone" noise whenever there is power in the vehicle, with or without keys in ignition.

So, was it really just the amplifier that was the problem when you took it into the shop? Please let me know so I can have some idea of what to look at first!

Thanks for your help!