'86 3.2 Carrera sevaral questions: steering column, unknown object, ground strap?

[thisisgoodnews]

Hello. Appreciate your advice in several areas.

A while back, car developed a clacking noise coming from under the steering wheel, when driving over uneven surfaces, i.e. stone paved street. Turning of the steering wheel does not provoke any noises.
Initial searches pointed towards column bushing, which I bought and replaced. Steering wheel was firm in place and had no movement, to any direction, and I found out, that disintegrated bushing was already serviced by PO, by putting a brass bushing over the steering shaft, hence, there was no movement.
So now, when the bushing is replaced, but the noises are still coming, where should I look next. Could not detect any play, X joint in the smugglers box also looks fine...

Second question is about a possible ?ground strap? After owning the car for 6 years, I decided to put on another engine lid without the whale tail. When replacing it, I found this strap. On the lid with the whale tail, it is bolted to the metal surface, but on he one without, it is bolted to plastic grill, so it lost it's function if it was a ground strap of some sort... It did not affect the engine compartment light, it works fine. Does it serve any function? It is located besides the engine lid hinge on the passenger side.



And lastly, I found a small part, in the engine compartment, drivers side, near the valve cover, closer to the cylinder #1. It looks like, that it has already been JB-welded to something but has come of. I did not notice any additional noises or malfunction, of missing pieces or something missing this piece, so I left puzzled.
Cant find the piece at the moment of posting, but it is about of the dimensions of the double Wago connector.












Appreciate your comments.

BONU pics: first picture I took after putting the clean lid. Really like how it looks, just how original designer intended, and adds some lights as a bonus.

[dg567]

That ground strap was used for radio/cdi interference

"The straps ‘ground’ the deck lid to prevent Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) from the high-energy (and high frequency) Capacitive Discharge Ignition (CDI) system interfering with neighboring electronic devices.
In ‘earlier days’, your radio would pick up the rpm of a close-by car with an improperly shielded or malfunctioning ignition.

Very important today with all of our electronic devices.
If you have an unshielded ignition (engine) and a malfunction (spark plug wire off, for example), your cell may show “no signal” due to the overwhelming effect of the RFI.

Best,
Grady
"

The black plastic piece looks like a broken t-bolt that secures the rear decklid grill to the decklid.

[GH85Carrera]

I agree on the stock engine lid. Whale tails are perfect for wide bodies, but look "off" to me on a narrow body.

My 85 does not have a ground strap on the engine lid lik in your photo.

I would guess that the JB welded piece is from the cruise control cable near the throttle. The clips do break off, and can cause a stuck throttle. I have two black zip ties in a crisscross pattern to hold mine in place. Cheap and pretty much invisible.

[fintstone]

I would remove the cover that protects brake /steering rack master cylinder/front fuel system area and see if I could see anything that is loose in there as it is only 4 fasteners remove (two large hex/allen (size 8) and a 2 short 13mm bolts. A disintegrated/missing sway bar bushing might cause this noise...or a missing bolt/fastener on the master cylinder. Maybe even a poorly routed hard brake line on the MC slapping something.

I found a socket rolling around (in that cover) on my first Porsche ('74 911) when I took that cover off the first time. It might just be that 10mm socket everyone is missing from their toolbox. It might have been there for 30 years. I also found a nice vintage Snap-On 10mm in my Lexus engine compartment when I replaced the battery....so who know what one might find?

[GH85Carrera]

This is something I recommend for any G body with cruise. If that cable pops out of the bracket, it can cause a wide open throttle situation. A few cents of zip ties is just belts and suspenders, safety.

[thisisgoodnews]

Thank you everybody for your input, have some ideaswhere to look further, but also providing some additional details

Originally Posted by dg567

That ground strap was used for radio/cdi interference

Thanks. At least I have the knowledge now, and If I experience the symptoms you mentioned, I will find where to bolt it to actually work, not to the plastic grill.

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

I would guess that the JB welded piece is from the cruise control cable near the throttle.

I actually have the CC cable revisited and replaced the cable. Also, the rectangular piece, surrounded by JB-weld is metal, attracted to magnet.

Originally Posted by fintstone

I would remove the cover that protects brake /steering rack master cylinder/front fuel system area and see if I could see anything that is loose in there as it is only 4 fasteners remove (two large hex/allen (size 8) and a 2 short 13mm bolts. A disintegrated/missing sway bar bushing might cause this noise...or a missing bolt/fastener on the master cylinder. Maybe even a poorly routed hard brake line on the MC slapping something.

Good idea. Will have a look under that cover, maybe will find something there. It really looks like that the clacking noise is coming from right behind the steering wheel, from the turn/wiper switch assembly, but I could find anything loose there either. Will look deeper, in the frunk side.

Will also try to capture the noise in video.

[thisisgoodnews]

I went to the garage over the weekend with the idea to dig deeper into the clacking noise issue.

I was able to replicate the noise with car standing still, moving the steering wheel side to side. I am with 99% certainty sure, that the noise is coming from the steering wheel lock-up mechanism. Here's a video, how the sound is there with the wheel unlocked, then I take out the key, lock the wheel and there's no sound, and then again, put back in the key, unlock the wheel and sound has come back.



So now, knowing the most likely culprit, what's the best plan of attack? I realize, that it is already a PITA just to take the ignition lock assembly out of it's place, but is it even serviceable? Or I just have already to set aside a $1K for a new one if I want the noise gone..?