Newbie: tire noise?

[rusty12]

Guys,

I sold my SL500 and just purchased my first Porsche, a 2002 911 Cabrio AWD and needless to say to all of you, it is the most fun I have ever had driving a car and the power is nothing short of knock you back in your seat excitement. The ECU has been flashed and the exhaust has been upgraded. The car is in amazing condition as the previous owner really babied it and with only 37k miles, I am a very happy guy.

With that said, something strange happened yesterday and I'm hoping that somebody might be able to shed some light on the problem for me. I went for a drive mid-day yesterday and out of nowhere I started hearing a noise, almost like dry crumpled leaves running through the wheel well of the car. At first i thought it was coming from the truck behind me but after about a minute or two, the noise went away and when i looked in the rear view mirror, the truck was gone as well so i figured that's all it was. Last night, I was out driving and out of the nowhere the same noise began again and lasted for about a minute or two. I stopped the car, grabbed the flashlight and looked where i thought the noise was coming from (right front wheel well) and i couldn't see anything. I got back in the car and started driving again and the noise was gone.

Other being a gremlin living in the car, doesn't anyone have any ideas at all because i am really stumped on this one. Thanks.

[rb101]

Might just be a noisy tire (flat spot or worn) or could be a wheel bearing on it's way out. Drive the car for a while and feel the lug nuts. They all should feel about the same on all tires. Sometimes the extra heat generated from a bad bearing can be felt in the lug nuts. Also since it comes and goes, look for a damaged plastic under panel that may be loose.

[rusty12]

Thanks.

[eastbay]

There are a lot of posts on the C4 front wheel bearings having a short life

[joelesmith]

When my wheel bearing went out, it didn't come and go. It was always there. It was so loud I had to turn the stereo up to drown it out. None of the checking tricks worked. I couldn't hear grinding when the wheel was rotated while up in the air. The wheel did not have movement when shaken side to side. The wheel didn't get hot. But, when i took it apart it was definitely bad. I bought the part from Pelican parts and went through the DIY on several sites. The hardest part was finding a 340 ft/lbs torque wrench. Hope this helps.
Joel

[rusty12]

Thanks. It's weird but the noise has disappeared and more importantly, not returned. Maybe it was just something stuck up in the wheel well that i couldn't see and it has finally fallen out. Anyway, here's for hoping it doesn't come back! Thanks for all the reply's