Squeak Question, Suspension? w/Pics & audio

[szyzygy]

My car has a slight squeak. It's been there for quite some time, a little over a year. I can't hear it when the engine is running loudly with the windows down. But if I'm going slow, I hear little mouse squeaks when I go over even the tiniest bumps in the road. Sometimes it is totally quiet. I haven't been able to correlate it with rain/dry or hot/cold. Seems totally random.
The car groans/squeaks when I enter and exit as well.


I removed my toolkit and jack, still squeaks.
I tightened up my front valence (it was rather loose), still squeaks.

I took some pics of the front a-arms, shocks and I think that's the front sway bar. Some of the bushings look like they are not snug against the bar, and are a little cracked. The shocks look really dirty, I'm not sure that you can tell if they're good or not just by looking at them.

PICS
Drivers side sway bar I think:

DS sway bar, from diff angle:

DS shock:


BTW, what is this thing?



The clip illustrates the squeak when I sit in the vehicle, it's right at the beginning. And when I exit at the end.
2012-12-25_14-33-40_652_1977_Porsche_911.mp4 - YouTube

If someone would let me know how to post a vid right in this thread, I would appreciate it

Thanks guys!

[Flieger]

Sway bar bushings are toast. There's your problem. Also, there is your fuel pump.

[szyzygy]

Originally Posted by Flieger

Sway bar bushings are toast. There's your problem. Also, there is your fuel pump.

cool, thanks. Is it tough to replace the bushings?

I thought that might be the fuel pump. It sounds pretty sickly. I thought there would be some electrical wires running to it, but it looks like it just has fuel lines. Maybe there's more to it from another angle. I also thought it was under a skid plate or something, not just sticking out like that.

[Flieger]

It takes some doing for the bushings. I have a through-body model, so I am just going by what others have said. Rachet straps are your friends.

[rusnak]

Could be metal on metal squeak caused by bad a-arm bushings. And that cylinder might be an AC receiver dryer.

[DRACO A5OG]

+1 A arm bushing, squeek is metal to metal contact due to worn out A arm bushings. Sway should be replaced too

Not too hard to replace either

[szyzygy]

thanks, guys.

Could I please get another opinion on that cylinder piece? AC or fuel pump? or something else?

[kodioneill]

Originally Posted by szyzygy

thanks, guys.

Could I please get another opinion on that cylinder piece? AC or fuel pump? or something else?

That's the a/c receiver dryer.

As far as the noise while driving over a rough surface pull the hood latch and see if the squeak stops. I've had many cars that the hood squeaks because of a worn gasket and loose latch.

[szyzygy]

Originally Posted by kodioneill

That's the a/c receiver dryer.

As far as the noise while driving over a rough surface pull the hood latch and see if the squeak stops. I've had many cars that the hood squeaks because of a worn gasket and loose latch.

ok, I'll check it out

[Flieger]

Let's have a picture of the rear of the crossmember first. I know that the only rubber bushings on my car are in the sway bars and those are what are squeaking. When doing rear suspension work I had the rear bar disconnected and the bushings looked a lot like yours. The bar made a terrible squeak/moan/groan when I turned it.

[rusnak]

Originally Posted by kodioneill

That's the a/c receiver dryer.

As far as the noise while driving over a rough surface pull the hood latch and see if the squeak stops. I've had many cars that the hood squeaks because of a worn gasket and loose latch.

A dab of grease on both the latch and the hood light actuator metal tab will take care of that.

[szyzygy]

This noise is really bugging me. It comes and goes.

I know on the vid I posted, you hear a groan/squeak when I enter and exit the vehicle. I don't doubt I need to replace the bushings already advised.

But when I drive it, there is a "ting ting ting" noise, sounds like it is behind the dash. I removed my blower cover and nothing back there feels loose. It almost sounds like a cat toy or something.

Would the issue with the bushings on the a arms or the sway bar make such a quiet "ting" noise in the cabin? The frequency of the noise and the volume of it really sound like a little metal wire like a coat hanger or something tapping another piece of metal.

Anyone able to relate?

Thanks

[szyzygy]

went to the hood this morning before leaving and placed my palm on the badge on the front hood and pushed in - it definitely made some metallic noise. I'm not 100% that was what I was hearing in the cabin, but apparently sounds can be deceiving based on what some other threads on here say.
I drove it and heard the squeak/tinging, stopped at bond auto (it's right on my way to work!)and picked up some white lithium grease. Applied some to the hood latch thingies, closed her up and no more noise.

FOR NOW

[szyzygy]

went to the hood this morning before leaving and placed my palm on the badge on the front hood and pushed in - it definitely made some metallic noise. I'm not 100% that was what I was hearing in the cabin, but apparently sounds can be deceiving based on what some other threads on here say.
I drove it and heard the squeak/tinging, stopped at bond auto (it's right on my way to work!)and picked up some white lithium grease. Applied some to the hood latch thingies, closed her up and no more noise.

FOR NOW

[szyzygy]

So far so good! Drove over some bumpy roads (pretty much any road around here, lol), no more squeak

[thumbdoctor]

Originally Posted by Flieger

Sway bar bushings are toast. There's your problem. Also, there is your fuel pump.

er that would be the A/C accumulator drier assembly not fuel pump.

[Jdub]

Squeaks in the front end can be traced to the amount of gas (weight) put on the front suspension. Often, if the rubber bushings oval out from wear they allow the torsion bar to grind on its housing.

But sounds like you may have rotated the rubber bump stops to take up the slack on the trunk? Or drop the latch mech. a bit?

I chased a rearend noise everywhere until I realized it was the AC radiator under the engine lid - a quick tighten and it's gone.

[mpetry]

Side question - is the front swaybar (lower mount) difficult to remove without removing the a-arms ? The Bentley manual seems to say that you can undo the center mounts for the sway bar and then slide the bar over to get one side out of the A-arms.

I'm changing to the thru - body type too and will need to do this pretty soon.

thanks for any suggestions

[rusnak]

I would remove the struts, a-arms, and Al crossmember as a unit. You could probably leave the struts in, but you might have to hammer out at least one wedge pin if you can't thread the swaybar out. It'll make more sense when you get into the job. I remove everything as a unit in order to have an easier time with it, but I also have the tie rod tool that makes this possible.

[szyzygy]

it's been a week and no more squeak!