Engine Vibration around 1900 RPM

Today, I noticed a slight engine vibration around 1900 RPM. It starts at around 1850 RPM and disappears at about 1950 RPM. It can only be felt when the car is standing still (not when driven) and it occurs with the manual transmission in neutral with depressed and non-depressed clutch pedal. Engine temperature (cold or warm) doesn't affect it either. The vibration is very small but it can be felt in the seat. The symptom doesn't have to be new - I just never revved up the engine slowly enough to have enough time to actually notice it. Does anybody else have this symptom, or am I the only one? I would really appreciate some feedback, because my Porsche dealer is 290 Miles away and I would hate to drive all the way to Albuquerque just to be told that "they all do that".

i dont have the exactly the same problem but a similiar two: when slowing down, with 1, 2 or 3 gear engaged, and the rev needle passing 1200 rpm there´s a "bump" in the transmission (the car sorta jerks..). can anyone try doing this and tell me if they feel anything. second: my car (ca 8.000 km) has developed a prominent vibration (somewhere in the engine or the drivetrain) between starting from 2.000 rmp. worse when cold. what to do when the diagnose unit of the dealer doesnt show anything?? regards, nick p.s all comment very welcome!!

Just a theory, but often times with Bosch fuel injected cars, if you come completely off the throttle the Motronics will stop feeding fuel to the engine all together, effectively shutting it down. This is done to save fuel, add some torque braking and reduce emissions. It only happens above 1,200 RPM and when the engine falls below this point the Motronics brings the engine back to life by feeding it fuel again. This reduction in torque brake resistance can be felt if you pay very close attention. You may very well be feeling this transition. If the 'bump' you are feeling is very light, almost like you need to pay close attention to feel it, this is probably what you are feeling.

Thanks for the response Nick. I don't quite understand your second issue. You write "between starting from 2.000 rmp. worse when cold" . Between 2.000 RPM and ??? It could potentially be similar to mine with just a slight upshift in RPM. Since I didn't get any other responses on this site, I have to assume that nobody else has this problem. I have sent my issue to the Technical Committee member in charge of the Boxster, Cayman (986 & 987) area of the PCA. Will post the outcome here.

Guys I get the same metalic vibratio noise when coming off the throttle from around 2,500 rpm down thru 1,500 rpm. It only happens when its cold (below 80). Should we be worried?

The metallic vibration at 2000-2200 rpm when the engine is cold (below 80) is always the pressure release valve in the oil pump. Take it in to the dealer straight away and tell the dealer there is a Technical Service Bulletin about this issue. They will replace the valve in the oil pump. Jack

Freestyle and JackWood, thank you guys for your comments! My vibration is, however, NOT accompanied by any kind of metallic sound. It's just a slight vibration that can be felt in the seat. Do your cars actually vibrate or are they just producing the metallic sound? I probably wouldn't even be too concerned about it were the car not totally vibration-free in the remainder of the RPM-range. I'm actually worried that it might be the announcement of a clutch-related issue (as you know, many of the folks here had insufficiently torqued flywheels). I think I would have never noticed it had I not checked the RPM-correlation between the reading of my latest toy, the “Gtech Pro RR”, and the car's tach. In the process I increased the engine RPM very slowly to compare the readouts. That's when I caught the 1900 RPM vibration.

Rainer: i meant that the vibration starts at 2.000 RPM. And its much more noticable when the engine is cold. The vibration is not metallic, and i too feel it through the seat. Have you tried to test my "first issue" with the slowing down?

K. Car booked in to have it inspected. They confirmed it is either the valve or the pump and will check.

@freestyle: how did they find out? with the standard Porsche diagnose computer?

A computer won't help them with this. This particular malfunction is entirely mechanical, and it's a known issue. Would you like to read the Technical Service Bulletin? It's right here in the file library.

Rainer and Nick, Your vibrations do not sound like the oil valve. They just sound like an engine balance thing. Yes my car does run "rougher" in the lower RPM range when stationary and worse when cold. It always has. As the revs rise the engine becomes smoother. Jack

i went to the dealer, and the diagnose computer showed nothing. sounds really mechanical. problem is that these things do not show up on the diagnose unit of the tech, thus "no error message on the diagnose unit = problem not existent". ....just hate it.

Nick and Jack, Thanks a lot for your responses. I guess I'm just not used to any vibrations. My Lexus Coupe ran as smooth as a sewing machine and so did my SLK. Nick: I'm sorry to answer you somewhat late. Yes, I did test and retest your first issue. In first and second gear I can barely notice a very slight hesitation when I'm crossing from higher RPM over the 1200 mark, but there is nothing I would consider a "bump". In third gear the engine feels very unhappy at 1200 RPM. It's so close to stalling that I would not consider any "studdering" abnormal. Jack: I've also retested my initially reported issue more systematically and found another, even less pronounced vibration at 950 RPM (again, car is parked and engine is slowly revved up). That is exactly at half the RPM of the more noticeable 1900 RPM vibration. Since it appeared as if there might be a harmonic relationship between them, I tried 2850 (3 x 950) and 3800 RPM (4 x 950): Absolutely nothing! Do you have similar vibrations at 950 and 1900 RPM? I guess my main concern is the possibility of a flywheel defect or the flywheel coming loose. Many CS owners with clutch failures reported in these forums, amongst other things, insufficiently torqued flywheels that had to be replaced or retorqued.

Rainer, All engines have their smoother rpm ranges and rougher rpm ranges. If you have been in a jet-prop airplane when it is warming up, there are rpm ranges they don't want to spend much time in. I heli-ski and when the pilot warms up the helicopter, they run up and down the rpm range and they can actually "dial out" bad vibration through some kind of harmonic adjustments. We can't do that but I like to run my car down through those ranges when I'm breaking in a car. We spend so much time at idle or in the 3000-5000rpm range that the 1800-2200rpm range doesn't get broken in (just my opinion). You have low miles on your car, so braking rpm down into 1800 range (engine under load) I think can smooth out the whole power band (??) But it is good to make sure it isn't one of the potential problems mentioned above. Here's to a smooth ride ahead.:cheers:

Sorry to resurrect such an old thread, but I'm experiencing the same vibration issues with my 06 CS @ 40k. Maybe others are too & they just haven't noticed it because it's easy to miss. Rainer, what was the outcome with your car? Thanks,

OK, I guess the original posters have moved on but in case anyone is interested, here's what Sunset Imports ( Porsche ) had to say about my car's vibration: "Normal operation in comparison to other Caymans . Vibration is present in the other cars. This is normal operation." BTW, Sunset repaired/replaced a BUNCH of stuff on my car under warranty. No hassles and an exceptional service ethic. A+!

Sorry to bring this old thread back up BUT I too have the same vibration that Rainer had at exactly the same RPM's, as a matter of fact my car is at the dealership in Houston being checked. So far, nothing is wrong with the car as far as they can tell?! If I hear something different I will post something here!!

Did it have this vibration in the past? At least the dealer is working on it. Hopefully it's something simple like a bad engine mount.

This vibration is normal if its very small. I could just notice it prior to my last mod. Now I changed the engine transmission mounts to semi solid types and its much worse! Actually, I kinda like it. -Nuts hey? I explain it thus "I made it GT3 like". :hilarious:

I had this vibration at 2000 rpm, also a tapping sound, when I first brought it to the dealer, the tech didn't hear the tapping sound, and there was another Cayman waiting to be serviced in front of me, he went into that car, and started it up and said it has the vibration and it's normal. So, I waited till something else was wrong brought the car back again, to hear the tapping sound the engine had to be at operating temp, for at least 30 minutes. I left the car running, when the tech came out to look at it, he felt the vibration and heard the sound. He was more worried about the vibration than the sound. They replaced one engine mount, flywheel, and throwout bearing. The vibration is gone, the sound remains.

I need to update what the dealership said; I made them take a look at the vibration very carefully while they had my car for 2 days and the technician said that it was normal and well within their specs?!..........whatever that means!!:argue: I am still not convinced that it is normal, I feel it even more when I turn on my sprint booster to red......then I really feel it and I hate it. I feel it at idle and when in first gear when starting from a complete stop and the RPM's go thru the 900-990 range...........:wall: Oh well, hope that they are right!!

Check the DUAL MASS FLYWHEEL! Rink

With all due respect, and I mean that most sincerely, why would you be concerned about a Porsche revving at such low RPM's? I get in the car, put it in first, shift around 4k-5k (or so), then second, and so forth. I've never run the car at less than 3000 rpm, in fact when I hit 3000 rpm I downshift.

Why do I care? Because no other Cayman that I've driven vibrates like mine does, meaning that there is something wrong!! Does the dual mass flywheel matter when the car vibrates even in neutral??

Mine vibrated in neutral, the steering wheel was shaking, below 2000 rpm and above 2500 no vibration. Since it was the flywheel, throwout bearing, and one motor mount that were replaced and that stopped the vibration. It seems that it had to be one of those.

Mine was vibrating around 1900rpm. Neutral. Felt it in the seats. 45k miles. I change the motor mount and the problem was solved. Runs really smooth now.