I have a 2012 997.2 base 911 that exhibits a slight tremor felt in the wheel and in the seat when in drive at idle. It goes away as I accelerate and runs smoothly at road speed. It is not as noticeable when the engine is cold, and in colder weather. The car has 35K miles. It is not a miss like a bad plug would cause. I tend to think it is the MAF as a tundra I had started doing when I used one of those air filters with oil on it. However, this car has stock filters. Anyone have any better ideas?

 

You say "when in drive". Does that mean this is a PDK equipped car. The symptom you describe sounds like those of a bad torque converter on a traditional automatic transmission where it won't sit there smoothly in drive and slip with your foot on the brake, like it trying to go. This leads me to believe it might be something to do with the PDK or its clutches. I'd start there and maybe with a PDK fluid change and service.

 

yes. it is a pdk. I will look into that, though it shouldn't be bad at 35K miles. But then I don't know how the previous owner drove it.
Thanks

 

I have a manual trans '06 C4 with similar mileage. I have the same issue, so I changed the plugs, all belts, fluids and the motor mounts & tranny mount (except the front one because my indie mechanic told me it would cost me about $1,000 to change that one) and I still get the same vibes (especially on cold start).

I did not change the coil packs (I know that on the 997.1's if the car is not driven much like mine is, they tend to build up corrosion that causes a misfire that soon clears away after the car warms up after 30 seconds to a minute). However, at idle, the car still shimmies, just like yours.

The 997.1 gets 997.2 coil packs when you change them during maintenance, but I have yet to do that as that is the only thing that I have not changed during my 10 year preventative maintenance overhaul.

From what you are reporting, and being that your car is a 997.2, I am starting to believe that this is just the nature of the beast.

Remember, you have a flat 6 boxer engine, where the pistons are basically banging back and forth at a 180 degree angle, so that just might be the culprit.

 

Slight difference here is that the OP's only does it in drive, which I assume to mean doesn't do it in park or neutral. With a MT you can separate the driveline from the motor just by pushing in the clutch, whereas with a PDK you can't, the clutches have to disengage internally.

I think on PDK cars (don't have one), that pulling both paddles toward you at the same time puts it in neutral. OP does that make the tremor go away like when it's in park?

 

WEll, I cleaned the MAF sensor today and that seemed to almost completely clear the problem up. It also seems to accelerate from a stop much smoother. Not perfect but maybe it never was. I'm the second owner so I don't know what she experienced. If she is like my wife, she wouldn't notice it if the tires were flat.
I put an ICarsoft Por11 on it and it did not display any faults or codes so I'm just keep an eye on it.
Thanks everyone for your input.

 

Since there is still a little tremor, I took the car to an indy in Temple, Tx called Werks 11. They do everything from routine maintenance and repair to rebuilds, restorations, and customizations. The owner, Julian, drove it and said he wouldn't do anything to it. Said the PDK is fine and the tremor isn't abnormal. That gives me peace of mind. I certainly appreciated his honesty. I think the dealership would have stiffed me for several hundred dollars.