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high gear low speed clicking noise

11K views 36 replies 9 participants last post by  tvad 
#1 ·
2015 Cayman GTS 12000 miles PDK

I started to notice a clicking noise in the engine area when I'm driving at about 35mph in 5th or 6th gear, around 1500-1800 rpm with moderate acceleration. The clicking noise is more noticeable when car is traveling on a load (uphill).

The noise can be described as a bolt shake inside a metal can.

Took it to the dealer last week, they said they couldn't really hear it but it is normal to have noises with PDK gearbox.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.
 
#2 ·
Not sure about anyone else but I do not thing 5th or 6th gear is a good choice for 35 mph with moderate acceleration, Especially when going uphill.
 
#3 · (Edited)
What you are describing sounds like engine detonation from lugging it so badly, although the ESC should be detecting this and pulling back timing to stop it unless you are so far out of bounds with what you are doing that the timing simply cant be adjusted enough to stop it. 5th-6th gear at 35mph and such a low RPM is inappropriate on a level surface, much less trying to accelerate uphill like that! That is loading up the engine very badly, so drive the car in the proper gear and I bet you problem goes away
 
#4 · (Edited)
First of all, sounds like pinging to me, but could be something else. Second, you were in auto PDK (which mode?), right? Assuming that, I touched on this subject on another thread, but nobody replied. Seems to me PDK auto would never lug the engine dangreously, especially in sport mode. I've noticed in all other cars I've owned rpm are really low most of the time, but due to quiet exhausts, you don't hear the engine laboring. On our cars, especially a GTS with PSE, you can clearly hear it getting louder at low rpm loads (drone, if you like). Logic says if PDK was keeping tranny in those gears, is because engine could handle it. But 1,500 to 1,800 rpm seems awfully low for uphill acceleration... but at the same time, you were going slow, and probably accelerating mildly (give us more details, please). If you were in auto normal, try auto sport and see if that goes away. I still think auto sport upshifts way too quickly for sport mode, but sport+ goes at the other extreme, so it's useless on the street. At any rate, I kept climbing Hwy 550 from Durango to Silverton in 6th gear around 2,500 to 2,700 rpm, and thought was lugging the engine. I always drive in manual sport modes, but put the lever in auto, and tranny didn't downshift on its own, so thought it was fine... but was questioning that later. I did it because my wife was asleep, and wanted the least noise in the cabin. If I pushed the gas a little more, car would accelerate accordingly, so figured it wasn't being lugged badly at all. But still want others' opinions;). I think in general, any uphill cruising at higher speeds and altitudes should be done at 3K minimum. But at the same time, with a light and aerodynamic car, maybe we're not lugging the engine at 2,500+ rpm in 6th. In heavier and less powerful NA V6 cars, that's exactly what happens when in D.
 
#5 ·
Thanks for all the replies. I'm driving in normal mode in automatic. Cruising uphill back home everyday and the pdk accelrate normally to 5 or 6 gear and just under 2000 rpm, those clicking noise is audible. If I downshift or choose manual mode to go uphill and rev the engine more. It does not click. Sometimes even on freeway at 7th gear and mildly accelrate, I can hear it when the gearbox not at the optimal speed. But again. Maybe I'm not driving it hard enough and should've step ok a little more so the pdk will kick down.

If I'm in sport or sport plus mode. I don't hear anything. The gearbox selects the best gear for the speed.

Any advice?
 
#6 · (Edited)
Are you using 93 octane fuel? I think maybe only 91 is available in Cali where you are, but bottom line use the highest octane level you can get. Is the fuel coming from a top tier brand and station and not some no name brand mom & pop station? Do you always fill up using the same station? If so, then I would start experimenting with other brand fuels. It definitely sounds like engine detonation based on what you just described, which is not good for the engine at all!
 
#15 ·
I drive the car on the weekend, I don't drive as much as I want to. My wife drives it daily (normal mode) and maybe she is hypermiling it a bit. She might be reluctant to use sports mode. haha...

But she brought up the noise to me, so if she can hear it, something is wrong.
 
#18 · (Edited)
#17 ·
Get the sport-button memory mod from T-Design, turn it on, and forget that the button even exists. "Normal mode" wasn't added to the car for your benefit, it's there to pass arbitrary government-mandated tests.

Rule of thumb: if the RPM is less than 1/3 of redline, downshift before attempting to accelerate. Modern engines with variable valve timing have allowed that rule to be relaxed somewhat, but certainly not to below 1/4 of redline.
 
#25 · (Edited)
Not sure other than to pass some sort of fuel or emissions testing that isnt comparable to any real life driving anyone would actually do. None of the EPA test are. Anyone that has driven these cars in full auto, normal modes sees instantly how ridiculous the shifting is handled. It will have me in 5th gear crawling in a parking garage beofre I can get from one speed hump to the next.
 
#24 · (Edited)
I haven't had an auto since 2004 in my BMW X3 (which I hated - it was always in the wrong gear for me). But even that lame transmission purportedly "learned" something about your driving style. I had been told it could need to be reset to build-up a new profile. And after a reset, it did seem better. I'd think PDK should be more sophisticated. Maybe the dealer could reset it.
aah01010 you didn't state if you bought it new or, if not, when you acquired the car. How many of the 12K miles did you put on it? Since you joined P9 in 2016 and ATT only have 15 posts, I'd guess it was pre-owned. This might be another reason to start fresh with a reset.
The basic facts are:
  • Your description sounds like engine knock. You might try a tank of 100 octane racing fuel.
  • 1500-1800 in 5th or 6th while under load is lugging. I don't know why the PDK isn't downshifting, but you can probably give it more throttle to force a kick-down.
  • Dealers' first response seems to be - "they all do that". See if they can give you a test drive in a loaner to dis-prove that.
 
#26 ·
Thanks all, I purchased the call when it had 5000 miles, i bought it in Jan this year. I had 2 PDK before this one Panamera S and Cayenne GTS. None of them had this issue, dealer told me it is the different mapping of the PDK, i'm not technical enough to understand it. Thing that pisses me off is that sometimes not only uphill causing this noise, even on flat surface road, I can hear it. Anything I should worry about on this "lugging"?
 
#27 · (Edited)
Thanks all, I purchased the call when it had 5000 miles, i bought it in Jan this year. I had 2 PDK before this one Panamera S and Cayenne GTS. None of them had this issue, dealer told me it is the different mapping of the PDK, i'm not technical enough to understand it. Thing that pisses me off is that sometimes not only uphill causing this noise, even on flat surface road, I can hear it. Anything I should worry about on this "lugging"?
Yes, as already stated detonation is bad for the engine and can damage it, so gear down and dont allow it to happen if you are hearing it.
 
#33 ·
I think the best advice, besides using Sport mode exclusively, is to test-drive a couple of similar cars under the same conditions. Get the tech to ride along, make the dealer earn their keep. I will say that while the PDK in normal mode is absurdly lazy, I've never heard any pinging in either mode under any conditions. Especially in a car that's never driven aggressively, you might be seeing some carbon buildup that's causing predetonation, I suppose.

My previous car, on the other hand, was a 6-speed NB Miata, and it pinged frequently even before I added a blower. Really irritating. And it definitely didn't spend any time in granny mode. Now Porsche wants to sell me the same engine for 3x the price, yay...
 
#37 · (Edited)
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