Groaning sound from steering - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

ChrisZang · 07-23-2010, 07:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by landrovered

At the risk of angering the Porsche gods... my boxster is no longer making the noise.

I topped off the pentosin (it was not really low) and it made the noise a couple of more times and then it stopped on it own.

I would not relate the cessation of the noise to my merely adding a thimble full of pentosin any more than I would suggest the effectiveness of offering blood sacrifices.

I am still just as stumped on this one as I was before.

Hey, when you said "you topped off", where in the dipstick is the level after topping off?. There are two marks in the dipstick.
"Cold" which is pretty much at the end of the sipstick and "Warm" which is much higher
My car makes the noise only when cold so I am tempted to overfill a little...

landrovered · 07-23-2010, 07:52 AM

Yes when I say "topped it off", I mean I overfilled it.

ChrisZang · 07-26-2010, 09:08 PM

So I did a little search on the interwebs and apparently tracked Boxsters and Caymans have the tendency to cook the power steering fluid and consequently damage the pump and the power steering lines:

http://boxcar-racing.com/forum/index.php?topic=177.0
http://boxcar-racing.com/forum/index.php?topic=145.0
http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/racing-and-drivers-education-forum/149499-boxster-ps-fix-for-brian-p-and-other-boxster-de-and-racers.html
http://www.planet-9.com/cayman-boxster-competition/19400-power-steering-fixes-without-big-bucks.html

Ah, one more thing to worry about in these sleepless nights...

RandallNeighbour · 07-26-2010, 09:25 PM

Landrovered, you are a very good writer. And entertaining too!

My power steering fluid reservoir needs a top off once a year but doesn't make noise. Should I be worried about this?

ChrisZang · 07-27-2010, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by landrovered

Yes when I say "topped it off", I mean I overfilled it.

Hmmmm, so far so good, no more groaning this morning

Fluellen · 09-20-2010, 02:26 PM

So, I (2001 S) have this same groan / creak coming from the front when I turn the steering wheel. It's not doing it all the time, so that's what makes it more challenging to diagnose.

However, yesterday I had a diagnostic breakthrough: the noise appeared when I came back from a drive. I jacked up the front of the car, and there was no noise when turning the steering wheel. Back on the ground, the noise was back.

To me, this indicates the noise has nothing to do with the steering rack, or low/high p/s fluid. It must be something in the front suspension that gets stressed when the wheels turn. I am thinking control arms, perhaps struts.

Anyone have an idea based on this information?

blue2000s · 09-20-2010, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fluellen

So, I (2001 S) have this same groan / creak coming from the front when I turn the steering wheel. It's not doing it all the time, so that's what makes it more challenging to diagnose.

However, yesterday I had a diagnostic breakthrough: the noise appeared when I came back from a drive. I jacked up the front of the car, and there was no noise when turning the steering wheel. Back on the ground, the noise was back.

To me, this indicates the noise has nothing to do with the steering rack, or low/high p/s fluid. It must be something in the front suspension that gets stressed when the wheels turn. I am thinking control arms, perhaps struts.

Anyone have an idea based on this information?

It is probably still the pump. The resistance from the tires on the road build pressure in the fluid, which is what stresses the pump, which is what makes it groan.

Fluellen · 09-20-2010, 02:57 PM

Blue,

The sound comes clearly from the area right next to the front wheels. I stood outside the car, turning the steering wheel through the open window. No mistake possible. I don't see how the p/s pump could be responsible for the noise coming from that area?

Also, it is a very mechanical sound. Like a rusty old spring, or a creaking door hinge opened very slowly. A low metal-on-metal scraping sound.

Thanks!

Edited: the more I think about it, the sound is probably what I would imagine a dry ball joint would sound like.

RandallNeighbour · 09-20-2010, 02:58 PM

I experience creaking/groaning from my lower control arm (the one with the ball joint) and I've replaced one side three times now and the other side once up front. These go out frequently on our cars.

Fill the power steering reservoir and then see if the creaking still exists, if it does I'm confident you have a worn lower control arm. If you remove it and the ball joint flops around and grinds with aluminum on steel, you know you found the culprit.

blue2000s · 09-20-2010, 03:10 PM

Agreed with Randall. Vertex auto has rebuilts and just ball joints (for the already rebuilt arms) that will save a little $.

http://www.****************************************.com/SubCategory/Steering%20and%20Suspension/Control%20Arms%20and%20Related%20Parts.aspx

TimAustinW · 09-27-2010, 06:50 AM

Where is the power steering reservoir on our cars? And what are you filling it with? I have this same issue on my 02. Lower speeds in a turn like pulling into a parking spot I'll hear a low groan from what seems to be my front left wheel. I just recently had my sway bar links replaced (which had gone bad) and thought that would have fixed the issue.