The driveshaft on your German made Porsche is built for the performance that is expected out of the famous European brand. There are times however, when you can experience a failure from your Porsche’s driveshaft and the driveshaft support. Located about halfway down the length of your driveshaft, the support system holds the unit precisely level and supports the weight of the driveshaft. Without this support system, your driveshaft will not be able to maintain its integrity.
Symptoms of Driveshaft Support Failure
Before looking for the possible causes of why your Porsche’s driveshaft and its support system can become damaged, here are a few things to watch for to recognize that a problem has presented itself.
- Shuddering: When accelerating your Porsche and you feel a shuddering, you could be experiencing a damaged driveshaft support system.
- A Clunking Sound: This sound is most noticeable when shifting gears or taking off from a stop. If the support system has failed for your Porsche, the clunking sound you hear could be the driveshaft being unlevel when turning due to a damaged support system.
- Burning Smell: The support system for the Porsche driveshaft includes a strong bearing with rubber seals to keep out moisture and lubrication inside. If the bearing is damaged and heats up while driving you will soon begin to smell the burning rubber of the bearing.
- Vibrations: Once the bearing begins to wear on your Porsche’s driveshaft support, you will feel a vibration from the shaft having resistance while turning.
- Screeching Sound: A metal on metal screeching sound is a good indication your driveshaft support has been damaged.
Causes of Driveshaft Support Failure
Now that we know of some of the symptoms to recognize when your driveshaft support system fails, let’s investigate some of the ways the support system is damaged.
- Impact: The driveshaft on your Porsche runs most of the length of the car and is located underneath between the body and the ground. Due to this, any foreign objects considered road debris can cause a serious impact on the driveshaft support system. Think of blocks of wood, or tire debris you have seen on the roadway. When you run over them with your car they can easily impact the system causing damage.
- Worn Parts: Time has a way of ending the lifespan of everything. This is however more due to poor maintenance than anything. As long as your Porsche is serviced regularly throughout its life, your driveshaft support system could last for many years.
- Environmental Conditions: The environment that you drive in can make a huge difference in how long your Porsche’s parts will last. For those who live where roads are salted and chemicals used to melt ice, you may want to know that these types of conditions can wear on the underside of your car. This is the same for those who live in a heavy salt air environment, or others who spend time driving on dirt roads.
Long Term Care of Driveshaft Support System
The driveshaft on your Porsche, along with its many other parts are engineered for performance and quality. While this statement is true, this comes with a rule. That rule is that no matter how well something is designed and manufactured, it must be maintained in the proper way.
Porsche has spent years collecting data on every component that goes into its cars and developed manufacturers’ service plans to maintain them. Expert technicians who are trained in all aspects of repairing and servicing the Porsche, know how to maintain your car for its fullest life. This being said, no technician can help unless the owner of the car makes sure that servicing takes place as the Porsche plan dictates. By making sure you have your car maintained properly you will have the assurance that your Porsche is as reliable as the day you purchased it.
The Porsche Experts
At Bavarium Autoworks our team is the #1 shop for European auto repairs and service in the Mountain View, California area. Also serving Cupertino, Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara, and Saratoga, California, Bavarium Autoworks is your higher quality than dealership alternative to keeping your Porsche performing as it was intended.