Hi all,

It got unusually cold here in Houston a few days ago and my 2006 Cayman S starting making a clicking noise when I turn the wheel all the way to the right or left. It has warmed up a bit, but the car is still making that noise when I make a full turn. Does anybody know what kind of issue this is? Alignment? Suspension? My warranty is over in January, is this the kind of problem that would be covered by warranty? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

Normal. These cars have lots of front wheel caster. As a result when front wheels turned sharply the inside tire is not flat on the ground.

You can verify this yourself. Pull car into a spot in an empty parking lot with steering wheel turned full lock. Shut off engine. Not good for steering pump/etc to have wheel turned full lock and engine idling.

Get out of car and get down low in front of car and look at front tires and their contact with pavement. You'll see the inside front tire's contact patch is maybe half of what the outside tire's contact patch.

Anyhow, when tires are cold, wheels sharply turned that inner wheel will skip cause it doesn't have as much traction as outside wheel/tire which has full contact with pavement and has some additional loading due to weight transfer.

Backing up or going forward.

This skipping is the clicking noise you refer to. It can also feel like the steering wheel is shuddering/shaking a bit.

Disclaimer: As long as tire wear normal and even, car exhibits no other signs of steering/suspension/tire/wheel problems the symptom you describe is an articfact of the car's steering/suspension settings and is normal.

Sincerely,

Macster.

 

run it by the dealer and let them hear it

 

Thanks for the advice guys. I think you're right, macster, today was much warmer and I didn't hear any clicks. Thanks again!

 

Mine does the same thing. Annoys me and people always ask "what was that?!"

but i dont think anything bad is going on there.....at least i hope!!