Cayman 2.7 5 speed gearbox/diff whine

My Cayman 2.7 5 speed manual at 17k miles has developed a loud gearbox/differential whine. This is apparent in all gears and all speeds. It's most noticable between 2000 - 3000rpm. At 10k miles, when I reported this to the dealer I bought the car from during an oil service, I was told that all the 5 speed boxes were a bit noisy. They did not road test the car. The noise seemed to be getting worse. At 17k I asked another Porsche dealership for a second opinion and following a road test, they confirmed the whine was abnormal and seemed to come from the gearbox/diff areas. They have recommended a complete replacement gearbox under warranty. I am awaiting confirmation of this from Porsche . My car is 18 months old and was previously an ex- Porsche management car from Porsche GB in Reading UK having done 6k miles before I bought it. Could this be a factor with my noisy gearbox? Has my car been thrashed in it's early life by journo's and other test pilots? Anyone else heard of similar problems?

There are quite a few threads on this in the forum. Type "gear whine" on search. One informative thread is: http://www.planet-9.com/cayman-chat/20549-questions-about-sounds-within-cockpit.html Obviously with the engine sitting less than 18 inches behind you and the rear axle less than 4 feet away, there will be noises you just don't hear on front engine vehicles. For the record, on my car there is both an engine whine and a gear whine at lower speeds. When I start and rev the engine while stopped, I hear one whine at lower rpm (which is said to be the alternator, the power steering pump, or the accessory belt, depending on who is talking). When I'm driving at lower speeds, I hear the gear whine. It has gotten softer as the car has broken in, but then again I may be used to it now. Once the engine is over 3000 rpm I hear only the engine. That said, I only have 6300 on my car right now and since you have more miles and the whine is getting louder, I may ask the question of the dealer about this noise at service time and have them take it for a spin. Given that so many others have this same noise, I am suspecting this is typical of the car.

The service technician has driven my car and confirmed an abnormal gearbox whine. It's loud at all speeds. We had a drive in a Boxster 2.7 with the same 5 speed gearbox and there was no whine. Porsche have requested the dealer to remove the gearbox, strip it and locate the fault. They will then make a decision whether to replace the gearbox under warranty. Just a thought, I believe the 5 speed box has now been discontinued by Porsche . Could it be that it's servicability now marginal on the more powerful 2.7 Cayman engine. I think this box goes back to 1999 and the original 204bhp Boxter.

Hills2Go I have 5 speed 2.7 Liter and have NEVER heard any gear box whines what so ever. I have 32K miles on my car and ZERO problems so far .there has to be a problem with the gearbox and I am sorry to hear about it I hope this gets resolved please keep us posted

You mean that sweet, sweet music? You're talking about that eerie alien spacecraft noise, right? It's a characteristic noise only heard in the Cayman. Personally I love it, it's part of the uniqueness of the car. No other vehicle quite makes that sound, not even the Carerras. Otherwise, a transaxle noise could be related to the way the pinion gear is shimmed. That's a pretty easy fix.

Re: Hills2Go My car is booked in at dealership on 5th May for gearbox strip. I'll be told then what the problem is. I'll post the results when I know what is happening.

I had a progressively louder whine which at first I thought was coming from the gearbox. Eventually it was diagnosed as a bad idler pulley bearing in the serpentine belt on the engine.

Now that my interest in the whirr and the whine has been further piqued, I tried listening a little harder during my commute this morning with the radio off. The whirr in the engine varies with the revs, just gets higher-pitched and kind of fades into the background as the engine revs higher. I really cannot hear a gear whine now, except if I'm slowing down with the clutch engaged in 2nd or 3rd, and it is just a dull background sound, no different than any other stick I've owned.

Re: Hills2Go My local Porsche dealership have now removed and stripped the gearbox. They found the large bearing on the pinion shaft had failed, causing movement of the shaft which resulted in accellerated wear of the crown wheel and pinion teeth. This was the cause of the transmission whinning noise. I am now awaiting a decision from Porsche as to whether they will either replace the complete differential assembly or replace the whole gearbox/transaxle under warranty. I'm very much hoping it's the latter.

Re: Hills2Go My local Porsche dealership sent a written report and photos of the gearbox transaxle internals showing the failed bearing, the damaged gear wheel teeth and metal filings washed throughout the gearbox by the contaminated gear oil. Porsche agreed to replace the complete 5 speed gearbox/transaxle unit under warranty. I was loaned a new Gen 2 Boxter S for the duration of the repair. Nice car, great new engine, but I think Cayman is a better driver's car by far. It's much pointier and grippy at the front end. I collected my car today and it is transformed. The whine has gone completely. I can hear the engine better now. I'm more than happy that the gearbox was replaced under warranty, but I'm still a bit concerned as to why the pinion bearing failed in the first place after such low miles. The message is, beware of loud whining noises in all gears at all speeds. It needs your immediate attention. Thanks for all your posts on the subject.