Squeek sound upon acceleration from slow speed?? what is it??
 

Just recently I noticed a squeek sound when I accelerate from a slow speed.

I notice it mostly when teh top is down. it sounds like it's coming from the engine bay area or back of the car.. it's not somthing in the interior like a seat or something..

if i am going slow, say in a parking lot like 5mph and then give it gas, it makes a "squeek" for a split second, then it's gone.

it is not a constant noise..it's only there when the speed changes from slow to fast...when I hit the gas... i'm n ot mashing it to get it to do this.. i may only be giving it a marginal amount of throttle...but enough to get the car moving and there is the squeek..

i'm thinking a motor mount?? my car has 78k and the motor mount is original.

i have the 3k vibration... and I am under the impression that that is motor mount related...althohg I shoudl add that my car has ALWAYS had the 3k shudder since I've owned it, but this squeek is new... maybe the mount is wearing more..

any other ideas would ber appreciated..

it's not super loud, nor does it sound "bad"....i'm not worries something is about to blow up given the nature of the sound, but I do wonder what it is as it is a new one....

thanks guys!

any chance it could be the fan belt

OK you're going to think I'm crazy but have you checked all the spark plugs for tightness? One of mine loosened up a poster sent me a sound file of squeaking and that is exactly what it was.

I have heard similar squeaks on other Boxsters:

1. Serpentine belt/ worn pulley bearings -no biggie
2. Water pump going south- biggie (possible engine overheat in near future)
3. loose spark plug (more of a chirp I think)- no biggie
4. Worn timing chain tensioner guides - A real serious biggie (motor probably would have grenaded shortly if this was not found and repaired in time)

I recommend you do not ignore this. It may be nothing, it may be everything.

i get squeaks with the top down going over bumps

It could be a worn control arm as well.

The last time that my car did this same EXACT thing it was my IMS bearing heading south. That accompanied by something that could only be explained as someone rolling dice on the back side of my flywheel. It was very subtle and my wife thought that I was crazy until I pulled everything apart and just barely saved the engine.

please tell me that was a joke... well, at least I don't have any sounds like dice rolling on my flywheel...

mine is just a squeek. a brief squeek or chirp sound.

chriping might be a more appropriate way to describe the sound.

it's a brief chirp that happens just fo ra second when i gas it away from a low speed or a stop.

spark plug??? i can live with something like that. :)



maybe i'll let my mechanic hear it...

That's no joke, mine was also like chirping or maybe two pieces of metal being rubbed together briefly. I would definately look into it. To me a 6 hundy dollar bearing is better than a 3000 dollar rebuild, but that's just my take. I could be wrong some of these other posters have a million different explanations that I don't have wrong on my '03 S.

what does the IMS bearing upgrade cost parts/labor?

my clutch is coming up for replacement...I'm sure I could get more life out of it..but obviously, it makes sense to do them all at the same time... and maybe sooner is better than later...

can any Porsche mechanic do the IMS upgrade or is it something they need to have prior experience with? I can go to Jake for it as I live much too far away...so I'd hae to have either a dealer do it, or my indie. My mechanic a porsche specialist who builds race motors..so he is a capable guy...I just wasn't sure if it's a easy job in terms of technical skill..or is you need someone "special" to do it?

thanks!

My 2000 S started making the same squeaking sound when I pull away from a stop. I tried to replicate the sound while stopped ( hand brake on, tried both in neutral and with engine under some load, transmission in gear) but cold not make the squeak. It only happens when the car begins moving very slowly so I don't think it's coming from the engine. I hope...

I have a new serpentine belt I put on (with great difficulty) and mine is making the sound at low speeds and idle. It's like a constant squeaking that I can only hear top-down and at idle... also my temp. light is flashing now but the temp is totally normal even though we're having a heat wave.

Mechanic time?

Squeak- pull your inspection panel behind the seats and see if you can identify the source. Too much tension on the serpentine belt can cause water pump bearing failure over time. If the water pump or any of the idler pulleys turn with resistance, wobble, or noise they should be replaced.

Flashing Temp light- low coolant level or failed radiator fan motor.

Thanks! I'll be investigating this weekend while installing my new brake booster and changing my Audi's oil. Ohhh holiday weekends, I love you.

Jon

my sound is more of a "chirp" than a squeek.

it warmed up here recently and the sounds totally stopped.

i took the car out the other night and it was cold out - and I heard it a couple times. so I'm thinking it may be something temperature related???

where I live right now it's in teh 80-90s at day, but cools up to 60s at night... so big temp diff oin the evening... I mostly noticed the sound in cooler weather.. it's still very quiet.. but you heqr this chirp at very slow speed when I pull away and give it power.

Assuming this IS the loose spark plug problem - can I reach them all from the top of the car or do some need to be accessed from the bottom and can I do it with a standard spark plug socket or is there a special porsche tool for this?

I"ve taken the engine access panel off - that's no problem. I have repalced spark plugs plenty of times on OTHER cars...never did it on the boxster and honestgly don't even know if every single spark plug is easy to access..

before I go pull the cover off and try to tighten them all - i thought i'd ask here - is it relatively easy to get to all of them? i'm off of work this week so I've got time to look into it and try to fix it myself...

i'm also thinkign of tackling my window regularor...the driver's side is going bad...

Mine has access in the back tire wells, a small door panel. The access isn't the issue the plugs are very deep, you need a long extension and a flexible link, I also use a rubberized plug socket. Make sure to use extreme caution not to cross thread. Mine was making the noise, it has not since I serviced the plugs, I'm confident it will solve your problem.

is this sometehing I can realistically do m yself or would it be better to let my mechanic do it???

i'm going to take it in in the near future to replace my engine mount - uit's cracked and I have the 3k vibration....

maybe they can easily do this when it's in for the bearing?

I have no problem opening up the top and getting access but I only have basic hand tools..I have a large socket extension and the little flex thing that lets you go in at an angle... is that what you mean I need ??

or is there a special porsche tool / flexible socket attachment??

is the standard spark plug socket attachment the right one to get onto the boxster plugs? sorry if that's a stupid question but i've never even looked at mine... :)

http://986forum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=210915&postcount=9

I posted someone else's video/audio clip of spark plug chirp in the above post...

okay, I listened to that sound file of the spark plug chirp..

my chirp noise sounds VERY similar to that one in terms of the actual noise - but the chirping in that video is 100x more prevalent than mine..the car in that video had nonstop chirping as it idled... my car ONLY makes ONE brief chirp at very low speed when I pull away from a stop or slow speeds...i hear a very brief "chirp" and then it's gone...

sometimes it doens't do it... but when it does chirp, you hear it..and I know it's therte..and it didn't use to do it..so something is worn / wearing out / such that it's making this intermittent chirp noise...

if my spark plug is "barely" loose..woudl it make tjhe sond only under certain conditions..such as mine..like pulling away from a stop... ??

and also - is thsi somethign I can fix witgh regular hand tools myself or do I need a mechanic with special porsche tools to tighten the spark plugs?

can all spark plugs be accessed from the engine bary or do you need to get at them from whels wells and remove the wheel liners??? thanks. i have no frickin clue how to get to them...

Dude,


Don't be nervous, it's going to be OK. You will need a metric hex (allen) wrench for the two fasteners on each coil. A long extension, a flex joint and a plug socket. You can either access the plugs from underneath the lower pan or the wheel wells if so equipped, (I'm not sure if other year models have them).

The wheel wells are the easiest and hey if you are worried, don't replace the plugs, just tighten them a bit and check for the noise. I don't have my Bentley manual in front of me so I don't know the plug torque, what I can tell you is if you work without a torque wrench, don't horse on the plugs, snug is good for test purposes.

good luck, report back