After getting my new Wavetrac differential installed a few months ago I started to notice a whine coming from the gearbox during acceleration. It is audible in every gear until 4th when road noise starts to be louder and drowns it out.
For anyone familiar with installing a differential, could the shop have misaligned or improperly shimmed something, or is this normal after installing a wavetrac? It makes no difference if I'm going straight or turning, the noise level is the same.

 

improper backlash when the diff was installed. have the bearings on the ends of the diff remeasured and reshimmed before you wear them out and cause damage to the diff or trans

 

Thanks for the response. I guess the best thing to do is to take it back to the shop that installed it. I really hope if they screwed up the install that they are honest about it. I'm so tired of dealing with mechanics.

 

not normal. improper install or bearings are going bad which should have been looked at during the install. maybe they did, maybe they didn't. sucks, sorry to hear but it needs to be re-opened up.

 

whine is a sign of bearings about to let go. stop driving our car. have the diff pulled out replace the end bearings and have it shimmed properly.

 

take the car back - tell them to fix it.

 

+1

Let us know what they say.

-Luccia

 

I took it to them this morning and the Porsche specialist (he's actually really good) at the shop is on vacation so I have an appointment to drop it off on 6/4 when he gets back.
It's definitely not right and when I drove it there I noticed it was definitely getting gradually louder. I was able to go on the freeway and under light load when the engine is quieter I can definitely hear it in 4th, 5th and 6th as well as 1-3. I really hope it's just an adjustment or single bearing. I love this car and I wish I could go 6 months without an unexpected repair expense in the thousands of dollars.

 

bearing cost about 100$ this can actually be done with the trans in the car but its up to the tech to do it. if they installed the diff they should foot the bill for burnt bearings.. shimming and backlash are critical and should have been checked.

 

fried bearing get worse quickly once they exhibit audible signs of imminent failure. the issue with them is they are "sealed" and the grease simply dries out.

dont drive it except to the shop to leave it for re-repair. it's really difficult to imagine a shop ( any shop ) that would install a wavetrac and not replace the bearings. it's almost unimaginable especially since your confidence level with the tech appears to be so high. its really that bad, i am sorry to say.

you really should quiz the guy. they usually hate it when you know what you're talking about and the only explanation will have to border on negligence. i wouldn't pay them a dime ( more ) either.

if ( and once ) the major failure or replace at XXXX miles issues common to the car have been addressed, you should be out of the woods, and safely back tearing up blacktop. good luck with it ( and "them"! )

 

After waiting weeks for a slot to get it looked at this morning, the shop called a few minutes ago to tell me the noise is coming from the main shaft and has nothing to do with the diff. They said that they need to remove the transmission and disassemble to see what is making the noise. Estimate is $6200 + parts. I trust the shop's diagnosis and I don't believe they are lying but I know they charge too much.
I'm parking this car for a while. I am just tired of all the bad luck I've had. Between the CEL's, lifters, misfires, random boost/vacuum leaks, solenoids, injectors, and on and on it goes....I don't even push the car that hard and track it maybe twice a year if I'm lucky.
Maybe I'll get a second opinion in a few weeks but I was really hoping just once a repair wouldn't require weeks of down time and thousands of dollars. If they're quoting that much to disassemble, in my experience that means the final bill with parts is going to be north of $10K. I know I can do better. That phone call was the last thing I wanted to hear. What really sucks is that I just put the Wavetrac in and new coilovers and now I can't even drive the damned thing. I just get to stare at it in my garage and curse.

 

Where in NorCal is a trustworthy indy that doesn't charge dealership labor rates that is qualified to perform transmission repairs?

 

Man I am sorry all this is happened to you it just sucks. In the last year I have had my share of bad luck had my engine out twice and transmission rebuilt twice in 10 months. I cant recommend anyone in Cali but if I were to to it all over again I would use Rodger at http://californiamotorsports.net in Lake Havasu, Arizona. The first rebuild last June 2014 I immediately noticed a distinct whining sound on deceleration from 3rd gear - 1st gear make a long story short on the 2nd rebuild he replaced the tail shaft bearing and the whining went away completely. Keep in mind 3000 miles before the builder told me my bearings were perfect on the first tear down and his exact words were easily last another 90,000 miles no need to replace, needless to say only lasted 3000 miles before I sent it in to get rebuilt under warranty. Shipping back in forth will set you back $500-$750 depending on gas prices and shipping companies. If you can find a good independent Porsche shop to R/R your transmission you will save on the labor over a dealer. Good luck with everything!

 

I'm in your shoes man - IF anything happens to my car, knock on wood, I'm going to just park and just look at it. (because at this point I have way too many things to take-care of than worry about if i drive it or not) I replaced clutch, few grand here and there, prolly around 6k to make the car run right and fixed few things on my own to save - sure i bought the car cheap with problems, but pretty much working on my car myself, sooner or later I'm going to get a lift and drop that engine myself to save me tons of money. I dont want to get rid of the car, because i said that 2 times allready to previous cars I owned and I ALWAYS lost tons of money. I'm keeping the car, no matter what I can let it sit and look at it--- I think you should just park it, let it sit, start every month and find a better place to fix the car like stated above maybe ship the car to get it fixed to good shop, some places charge for labor like its a Ferrari - sure shops charge a lot , they need to stay in business as well, but some prices, like dropping the motor for example it costs so much, (now depends at what shop and state) call few more shops, you allready know what it is. go there and let them show you again.

not tho throw this thread offtopic but,

As far me, I trust only two people that are local, Markski the tuner and one mechanic that wont lie to me, and i can trust them.

what really bugs me, is this : and it should be a recall, AT LEAST one part:

1) master slave cylinder and damn accumulator
2) blowing coolant hoses
3) 2nd gear pop
4) many members reported: crap coming out of the vents, when you turn the AC on

again, sorry to hear that and I hope you put the car on the road soon, sorry for offtopic crap

 

i would bet cash it's a bearing and they know it. i never suggested it had anything to do with the wavetrac. your symptoms at first and even moreso now, are those of bearings that dry out and whine under load and get progressively worse.

a competent and fair shop would open up your box and see the bearings need to be replaced and charge you maybe 4k all in parts and labor. max.
how do they know ( or could they?! ) a parts estimate without opening it up! see what i mean?

truly sorry to hear this continue for you. something is fishy in denmark, and the shop is NOT trustworthy just based upon what you have related that they have said.

i wouldn't trust their diagnosis at all. i feel your pain and have nothing but empathy given you've just put all this stuff in etc!, but would not share your faith in them at all.

ADD: roger at ca motorpsorts is highly knowledgeable but also expensive. but given their location that might in fact be your best bet. he's gonna quote you 5k to get inside just to r&r bearings. that after you've shipped it to him in AZ!

i just recently referred a member here to some folks down here and he decided to go with them after speaking to them. his problems mimic yours and i believe his quote from them
is close to what I've said. about 4k all in.