Hi.
I am hopping someone can help me diagnose this problem for me.
My 2002 911 C4S has had significant road noise coming from the front end of the car (driver side more so then the passenger side) and I was told that it is more then likely the tires as the front's were 10 years old, and the rears were 7 years old. I had it in for service at the beginning of the season and no issues were identified interims of bad bearing (Note: I didn't disclose to the mechanic about the road noise at the time because I felt it was likely the tires).
I have since put new tires on and this has not helped at all. Over the last 3 month the road noise has actually gotten worse, note I only drive the car about 50- 100kms per week.
My next guess is that it could be the wheel bearing, I talked to a mechanic and he said that if I drive and swerve from side to side the noise should change as you take the load of the bad bearing, I tried this and no change in the noise, I'm going to get the car up on a hoist next week, but I'm curious as to what else it could be. The noise starts at about 60km/hr and stays that loud all the way through, it does not very with RPM's at all.
Any help, suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

Has the car ever been in an accident and have you checked your alignment recently?

Also, this is sorta stupid but so are some chain store installers. If your tires are directional, make sure it is mounted correctly.

 

^ +1. I would suspect a bad wheel bearing or possibly a front differential problem, I would be hesitant to keep on driving it though.

 

I agree with the previous comments. Wheel bearings need to be replaced every so often on these cars. I've had both of my front wheel bearings replaced over the last few years.

If it's not a wheel bearing, then it could be your front differential bearings. I had mine rebuilt early this year. It's important that you get a proper diagnosis and address the issue as soon as possible. If it's a front differential issue, the cage that constrains the bearings could literally break apart, allowing metallic debris into your differential that could damage the ring and pinion gears. In my case, these gears were still undamaged and I was able to have the differential rebuilt for ~$3,800. Porsche will tell you that the differential is not a servicable part and it needs to be replaced. A replacement part is ~$7,000 plus the labor to remove it and install the new one. It's not a cheap proposition...

Hopefully it's just your wheel bearing and it won't hurt too much!

 

Hard to diagnose over the internet....

I would bet wheel bearings.

Jack the car up, grab the wheel with both hands and see if there is any play at all in the hub.

 

This was my initial thoughts but he did say he did the swerve test and no noise.
The swerve test doesn't always work 100% however and only seems to work consistently on wheel bearings on it's last leg. Could be the OP needs to load the up car with heavy items in his frunk and bring along a passenger and try the swerve test again or as indicated, jack up the car and see if there is any play.

Front diff wouldn't seem to fit his description of only noise happening on the driver's side so I initially ruled that out.

 

When my front differential went out, the sound was definitely front and center. However, mine had a more pronounced sound volume from the passenger's side.

 

Thanks for all the replies, I did jack the drivers side up and tried to see if there was any play and I did not feel any at all. The sound is like a loud, deep humming sound, it sounded like tires for sure but obviously not. I like the idea of loading the front end, I will try that tonight.

I'm definitely nervous to find out if its anything other then the wheel bearings.

 

I had the same noise coming from my front passenger side. It got progressively louder and my 2002 c4S only has 38k miles. After replacing rotors, pads and rebalancing the tires, I found out it was a worn wheel bearing. Out of an abundance of caution I replaced both and had the front end realigned for $1200. Now she rides so quiet and perfect I've been driving her this past week for no reason other than to hear no noise. LOL

Ed

 

Thanks for everyone's help, just want to give you guys an update.

It turned out that it was the left front wheel bearing, it was difficult to pin point that is was the bearing as there was absolutly no side to side play when the wheel is up in the air, and there was no trasnfer of noise when swerving the car side to side. The part cost me roughly $100, and I had a local mechanic that I can trust with the car do it for $200. I have never had the car this quiet, it must have been bad for over 1 year since the day I bought the car from the previous owner. I couldn't be happier with the car now.

 

Glad to hear you figured the issue out and that it was an inexpensive wheel bearing fix and not something worse.