986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners - View Single Post - MOST annoying rattle ever

williamsF1 · 12-16-2007, 03:00 PM

Hi'

I have THE most annoying rattle you can think of.

It started on my summer holiday trip to Italy, all the way through europe and up in some very curvy roads, at high temps. After that the steering wheel got a feeling of being full of sand. I went to Porsche Italy and they diagnosed it to be either servo or some steering mechanism in the front. The sand-feeling actually went away after I got home and I was left 'only' with a rattle.

When I got back to denmark I went to have it checked at the dealer and the mechanics charged me for a diagnose.

They said it was a valve on the actual servo-engine that caused it to take in air or not properly let out air, this was unclear to me.

However they said I could drive it and wait for it to break down. It was a 1900$ repair, so I was not that keen to get it fixed back then.

Now it's starting to drive me nuts. It comes from two different places in the car.

1. From the steering-wheel, or at least that area. and its almost constant if I dont turn the wheel... which means I listen to music all the time and not to the cool engine sound of the 2.5. It's a low quiet rattle and it can have different volumes I think.

I feel sure it's the servo somehow because as soon as I turn the wheel 30-40 degrees the sound goes away.... so its a IDLE rattle only.

2. From behind in the engine area... its only obvious at about 2500 RPMS almost just before a gear change, but it doesn't seem to be gear-related since when I put it into manual mode and push the gear further up to 3000+ rpms the rattle is there anyways.
This is a short 1-1.5 second rattle unless I find the exact RPM then it can last for a few seconds. Durint this rattle the car 'drives' just fine and it never happens at other RPMS.

Can someone explain this ?

I have driven this for 4-5 months now. It's a 98' TipTronic Boxster. I had the servo-fluid checked at several occations and it at the right level and not leaking as far as I know.

Now...

What should I do ?

Should / Can I find a cheaper installer to get the part home and change the servo engine, I think 1900$ for the servo engine is pretty high priced. Can anyone tell me the parts price ?

Could this error be related to the servo-tubes being broken ? I had a episode where I scratched the underside of my car on my holiday where the noise appeared shortly after ?

Anything I can check or DIY to somehow try and fix this ?

Thank you everyone!

12-16-2007, 03:00 PM	#1
williamsF1 Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Location: Denmark Posts: 71	MOST annoying rattle ever - I need advice. Hi' I have THE most annoying rattle you can think of. It started on my summer holiday trip to Italy, all the way through europe and up in some very curvy roads, at high temps. After that the steering wheel got a feeling of being full of sand. I went to Porsche Italy and they diagnosed it to be either servo or some steering mechanism in the front. The sand-feeling actually went away after I got home and I was left 'only' with a rattle. When I got back to denmark I went to have it checked at the dealer and the mechanics charged me for a diagnose. They said it was a valve on the actual servo-engine that caused it to take in air or not properly let out air, this was unclear to me. However they said I could drive it and wait for it to break down. It was a 1900$ repair, so I was not that keen to get it fixed back then. Now it's starting to drive me nuts. It comes from two different places in the car. 1. From the steering-wheel, or at least that area. and its almost constant if I dont turn the wheel... which means I listen to music all the time and not to the cool engine sound of the 2.5. It's a low quiet rattle and it can have different volumes I think. I feel sure it's the servo somehow because as soon as I turn the wheel 30-40 degrees the sound goes away.... so its a IDLE rattle only. 2. From behind in the engine area... its only obvious at about 2500 RPMS almost just before a gear change, but it doesn't seem to be gear-related since when I put it into manual mode and push the gear further up to 3000+ rpms the rattle is there anyways. This is a short 1-1.5 second rattle unless I find the exact RPM then it can last for a few seconds. Durint this rattle the car 'drives' just fine and it never happens at other RPMS. Can someone explain this ? I have driven this for 4-5 months now. It's a 98' TipTronic Boxster. I had the servo-fluid checked at several occations and it at the right level and not leaking as far as I know. Now... What should I do ? Should / Can I find a cheaper installer to get the part home and change the servo engine, I think 1900$ for the servo engine is pretty high priced. Can anyone tell me the parts price ? Could this error be related to the servo-tubes being broken ? I had a episode where I scratched the underside of my car on my holiday where the noise appeared shortly after ? Anything I can check or DIY to somehow try and fix this ? Thank you everyone! Last edited by williamsF1; 12-16-2007 at 03:04 PM.