Help! Loud sucking / blowing noise by font passenger tire - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

ryanpw3 · 03-29-2010, 07:38 PM

Hi All,

I hope this is normal and I just haven't noticed it, but the last few days I have noticed a rather loud blowing noise while inside my car. Upon further inspection it is coming from the passenger side behind by front bumper. It is sucking air rather forcefully into the radiator on that side, and then appears to be blowing it back out through the vents in the wheel well, back into the front passenger tire.

My questions are:
1.) I have owned the car for about 11k miles (15k miles on it now), and have never noticed this until the last few days. I doubt I have missed it until now. What is it?
2.) Is it normal?
3.) If not, what can I do to get it fixed.

Thanks so much in advance for your advice!

RW

jcb986 · 03-30-2010, 03:58 AM

It sounds like a radiator fan...it maybe going bad...

eightsandaces · 03-30-2010, 04:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcb986

It sounds like a radiator fan...it maybe going bad...

Or if you're lucky it just needs a serious cleaning, you would be amazed what accumulates in there season over season.

ryanpw3 · 03-30-2010, 05:10 AM

Either way, in the event the fan is going bad, something like that should be covered under warranty given that I only have 15k correct?

Bobiam · 03-30-2010, 05:30 AM

You didn't state the year of the car, but I assume it's a 986. Every answer above is correct.
These things are like vacuum cleaners sucking up road debris into the radiators all the time. If you are lucky you can clean it out with a long nozzle vac tool, but most of us take the bumper skin off now and then to really get to it for a cleaning. You can seperate the AC and radiator coolant coils while it's apart and clean it further. (plenty of instruction threads available). But you may have a bad fan and that's self-doable if you have the time and patience.
BUT, keep in mind that these fans are loud. If you only notice this sound when you are standing by the front end, and not in the driver's seat, it may be normal. Right and left should sound the same.

JAAY · 03-30-2010, 05:44 AM

It's Mega Maid - She's gone from suck to blow! :dance: