I have a metallic clicking noise coming from the rear of the car...
it sounds similar to driving over gravel, when it hits the fender wells or maybe a rubbing brake dust shield. its seems to be coming from the rear of the transaxel and matches with axle speed. clutch in or out in any gear or neutral dosent change anything. it is audible on both sides but can be heard more clearly on the passenger side. My mechanic diagnosed as a differential bearing.
How hard is this to service? Am I better off buying a used lower mile transaxel off of ebay for $2500 and just swapping it? Iv never heard about this type of failure before anywhere on a Cayman, the transmissions on these cars seem very reliable.
Unfortunately an LSD a pretty expensive upgrade otherwise this would be the perfect time. I haven't been able to find a used transmission with an LSD already installed
The car is a 2006 Cayman S with 72,000 miles that is daily driven very hard on back roads and in the city
The bottom line here is im afraid of opening up the transmission and it being a can of worms if the problem isnt what i think, or is, idk... replacing the transaxel is simply a more known quantity because its a part, plus labor in and out.
this would also allow me to have a 2nd transmission that i could fix, sell, upgrade with an lsd or whatever.
Any thoughts, experiences or suggestions would be helpful right now.
Hard to tell, but it could be galling on the ring and pinion. You, or your tech, could confirm this by opening the side cover and having a look. A few hours should do it, and then you'll know.
Porsches may be different, but with most 12 year old cars if the rear end, I'm talking differential not transmission here, starts to make noise the recommendation would be to just continue to drive it till you can't stand the noise anymore. Of course fresh oil and changing it often would be recommend. But otherwise don't worry about it. Good luck with your decision.
