Cowl *pop*

[Samson]

This may be a normal sound, but whenever my '01 goes over a large bump or into a driveway, the front end pops, or tinks. Not the suspension, but the body.
I remember when the car was new it did not do this. Is this just the car getting old (16k miles), or is something loose? Could it have anything to do with the front stress bar?

Thanks!

[70Sixter]

Could be the windshield. Try a search on that.

[Topless]

Originally Posted by Samson

This may be a normal sound, but whenever my '01 goes over a large bump or into a driveway, the front end pops, or tinks. Not the suspension, but the body.
I remember when the car was new it did not do this. Is this just the car getting old (16k miles), or is something loose? Could it have anything to do with the front stress bar?

Thanks!

Definitely not normal. Something is loose. Get her up on a rack and start poking around front suspension components.

[blue2000s]

It's not unusual. There's probably nothing loose, as you mention, it only happens going up a curb.

There's motion between two bolted metal components, typically behind the dashboard, sometimes behind the console. There have been a couple of technical service bulletins on how to add a teflon shim between the two mating parts.

My advise is to become a paying member on Renntech.org and download the TSBs if you don't want a mechanic to do it.

[70Sixter]

I found the windshield problem/solution. Hard to diagnose sounds over postings!

Might help.

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=20612&hl=windshield

People have added a front strut brace and claim these annoying noises go away or lessen.

[Samson]

Originally Posted by 70Sixter

I found the windshield problem/solution. Hard to diagnose sounds over postings!

Might help.

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=20612&hl=windshield

Thanks for the tip. I'll give that a shot.

About the strut brace - is there an additional one that some people add? Mine already has one (looks to be a 2-piece, but I didn't take off the cowl cover to look), and last night I put a wrench on the strut side mounts, and they were a little loose. I torqued them down, so we'll see what happens.

[70Sixter]

Not sure if I understand, but if you have a front brace somebody added it.

And if torquing down the mounts was required, then let's hope that got 'er dun.

Samson, be careful torquing the bolts on the strut tower bolts. I am not sure what part you did. But the torque requirments for the stut tower bolts is pretty low. Too much, and they can snap off.

Do a search on "strut brace" and you will find the proper setting.

[Samson]

Thanks for the information.

I was a bit careful when tightening them down, as I'm a veteran of the temperamental Neuspeed nutsert from my VW days. The bolts on the Boxster were a hair over hand-tight, and I more or less snugged them down.

I'm going to take it out for a drive tonight, so we'll see if that was the culprit.

Samson,

The torque setting is 26 ft. lbs. The bolts are 13 mm (could be 10 mm on the 986).

[Samson]

Originally Posted by bmussatti

Samson,

The torque setting is 26 ft. lbs. The bolts are 13 mm (could be 10 mm on the 986).

Thanks for the spec. After tightening, the cowl "pop" seems to have gone away... to be replaced by a new, unrelated *pop* when the top lowers. It looks to be just a plastic spring-loaded trip piece slapping another piece of plastic. I hope. Oh, how I love ze Germans.

[9eighty6]

Happy to hear that the problem was resolved! By the way, nice picture in the original post. Looks really nice!