Porsche Front suspension / Arm? Creaking noise?

[itsmecraig]

Hello everyone,

I have owned my 1999 2.5, 986 Boxster for 6 or so months now, and I have in the last few months, found that the car has developed a creaking noise from the front drivers side.

The noise happens mainly in the hot weather, or if the car had been driven for some time if the weather is cold. It is very annoying and at times, through town very embarrassing!

The noise predominantly occurrs whilst turning Right and the noise is fairly global around the inner workings of behind the wheel.

To try and fix this squeaking / creaking noise, I have sprayed grease all around the area and joints etc but this has not resolved the issue.

Please, if anyone has encountered this problem and knows of a fix - I would be very grateful!

I have uploaded a video with the noise on Youtube, at this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCAxi71ug2g

Thank you for your time.

Craig

[Jager]

Maybe this will help you [url]http://986forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29080[url]

[itsmecraig]

Jager, Thank you, I will have a go at that with in the week

fingers crossed a little WD40 will fix all!

Craig

[itsmecraig]

Fantastic! I sprayed the WD40 in the rubber and the problem was rectified in seconds! (I also sprayed the door hinges a lil to make them less noisy) so strange how it initially sounds as if the creaking noise is coming from the suspension.

I also managed to stop the heat shield which was wrapped around the pipe of the exhaust from rattling on startup. happy with my Boxster again Thank you

Craig

[Jager]

I’m glad the information in the link helped you.

I removed the heat shields from around the exhaust pipes (easy to do); they collected gravel which caused rattles. I’m not sure what purpose the shields serve anyway?

[itsmecraig]

haha, im sure that the 986 can cope with out it. i agree, just something that Porsche can charge a fortune to replace come the time when it will do nothing but rattle!

I honestly can not get over how a little WD40 has solved such an irritating problem! it had been causing me a lot of Boxster rage over the last few months

[madmods]

Originally Posted by Jager

I’m glad the information in the link helped you.

I removed the heat shields from around the exhaust pipes (easy to do); they collected gravel which caused rattles. I’m not sure what purpose the shields serve anyway?

I've been told that apparently the shields are to prevent flamable debris to have direct contact with the hot metals. Driving or parking over fallen dry leaves for instance. Risks of fire are less. I've been told, I'm not an expert...

[kk2002s]

I just replaced my front lower control arms and tie rods
I had cracked boots. For the past year+ I had "The Noise" coming from there. Every 3-6 month I would spray WD-40 in and that kept things quiet.
What I observed when I took out the old control arms is that the ball joint that I applied WD-40 to, was very easy to move around. The other old arm, I did not spray, was vary stiff to move. The new replacements arms have very stiff ball joints.
I think the WD-40 is a temp fix if you are planning on replacement. I also now think that once you start the WD-40 regiment, it's just a matter if time
Again, my boots were in pretty bad shape so I'm sure that was a contributing factor. The thing is the old arm that was stiff also had a cracked Boot but didn't creak so I never applied WD-40

[jb92563]

Injecting Lithium(thin) or other grease is probably better as it will stick to the moving parts better and stay where its needed to continue its lubrication.

WD40 will leak out quickly and need to be reapplied often.

[RandallNeighbour]

I've spent some time investigating this common issue on our cars. Some high mileage 986s and 996s may truly have "worn" lower control arms (ie, the ball joint is floppy and has vertical movement, or can be yanked by the bolt and you can feel loose play inside).

However, this noise is not always the symptom of a worn out part. It's just dust inside the rubber boot that causes the steel ball joint to rub against the aluminum and make a racket.

WD40. That's stuff is a miracle in a can I tell you, a miracle!

[IMACMAN]

Thanks for the response, I Took it to my P Mechanic ( Very hard to find up here in Newfoundland... and his shop is busy with some Targa Racing work for some clients.)

They were very familiar with the issue, they put it up on the lift, and injected the grease, and also did rust check treatments on both left & right suspension parts. It only took a few minutes, didn't charge me anything for it, and it worked perfectly.

I decided to replace the parts on both sides, so I had them order in the arms... they were only $85 each, so I figured it's just as well to replace them both... it will also be an opportunity to check/torque/tighten the front end as long as they have it up in the air.

About a month ago, I had a bad "Knock" on the right Rear, so I had it looked at and the right rear shock was blown, so I had them replace the rear shocks. They installed Bilsteins... was a bit pricey for the shocks... but was well worth it no more Knock/Bang and the ride is great. Replacing the rear shocks was not easy, without the "Porsche Shop Compressing Tool thing-a-ma-bob"... to took 2 big dudes to remove & install them.

Thanks

Paul
IMACMAN, Newfoundland 99,986 Triple Bl

[boxster7614]

3-4 years ago mine started making noise. I bought a needle that attached to my grease gun at Autozone for like $5 and injected grease into the boots. To this day I've never heard them again. Now the sway bar links that's another story. It seems like I change those out every year. They rattle and make so much noise when they go bad. Last set I purchased through O'reilly Auto parts were Moog brand because they came with lifetime waranty, waiting to see how long they last....so far 10,000 miles and still silent.

[IMACMAN]

Got the car back, with the replacements, The squeaking is of course gone....and there are a few other small rattles & minor clanks, that are gone as well... I guess those were from the worn rubber bushing making some metal on metal contact over bumps, all around much better, and a tighter feel on the road. It was well worth the money.

Imac, NL

[986_inquiry]

my 987 has been having a similar problem, but it's more when driving or going over bumps.

What caught my eye in your video was when you pressed down on the car it made the noise. That's what I have been doing to mine to demonstrate the noise.

I followed the advice here and spraying WD40 under the rubber on the ball joint, hope that solves it, at least until i can schedule some time with the shop

Originally Posted by itsmecraig

Hello everyone,

I have owned my 1999 2.5, 986 Boxster for 6 or so months now, and I have in the last few months, found that the car has developed a creaking noise from the front drivers side.

The noise happens mainly in the hot weather, or if the car had been driven for some time if the weather is cold. It is very annoying and at times, through town very embarrassing!

The noise predominantly occurrs whilst turning Right and the noise is fairly global around the inner workings of behind the wheel.

To try and fix this squeaking / creaking noise, I have sprayed grease all around the area and joints etc but this has not resolved the issue.

Please, if anyone has encountered this problem and knows of a fix - I would be very grateful!

I have uploaded a video with the noise on Youtube, at this link:

Porsche Boxster 986 'creaking' problem - YouTube

Thank you for your time.

Craig

[ilikeching]

I had just the same issue creaking noise front wheel driver side, I used a very small needle wd40 and grease(mixed) and injected thru the rubber, the noise was gone immediately. and sealed with silicon with fingertip(I cleaned the rubber first), this will seal the tiny hole(not necessary if the needle was tiny...)

Question:
for those who has done this earlier, will the creaking sound come back? if so, how long did it last before the sound come back?

[RandallNeighbour]

I did it almost two years ago.

However, it's gotta be tied to mileage and heat and humidity and water penetration and probably one or two other factors as to how long it lasts.

Frankly, if I had to do it every three months I'd still think it was a great cheap fix for something that's still quite functional but just noisy.

[dghii]

I started to get a little drivers side creaking on my 2000S with 123K miles. I injected a little lithium grease while I had the tire off during a brake pad change.

I've put about 1000 noise free miles on....so far so good!