Rubbing sound during heavy cornering

[chris71]

Hi,

The front right corner of my 924 Lux makes a sort of graunching/rubbing sound going round left hand bends. It only starts to do so when you're cornering relatively hard (you can turn the wheel as much as you like at slow speeds without problems...) and the car is generally fairly well behaved the rest of the time (there's no obvious sign of wandering or anything). Can anyone suggest what might be the problem?

I've done a few checks and so far nothing has really come up.

* There are no signs of rubbing on the inner wheel arch or the tyre
* The ride heights are more or less the same on both sides and it doesn't look out of proportion front-to-back
* It's got the standard wheel and tyre sizes
* There's no obvious sign of leaking shock absorbers or broken springs
* The wheel bearings have been changed recently so they're okay
* Visually, the sway bar bushes seem to be okay (they're not perished or anything)

Things I have noticed:
* Under certain circumstances, there is a very, very slight clunk if you bounce the front end of the car up and down - I can't tell if it's one side or both
* The sway bar maybe sticks fractionally further out of the bush on the left hand control arm than it does on the right (dunno if that's relevant at all - we're talking less than 1/4"...)
* This is my first regular 924 and it rolls a lot more than the 924S's and 944s I've driven previously. Again, I don't know if that's normal or not.

Thanks,

Chris

[mytrplseven]

Sounds like the engine and not the suspension. Check the motor for being loose on the mounts and evidence of the front belts rubbing on something. Also look at the inside of the fender wells with the wheels off, including the lip on fender opening.

[gtroth]

If it were a Carrera, that might very likely be low power steering fluid. Maybe the 944s racks do that too? Easy enough to rule out.

[chris71]

Fortunately there's no power steering to worry about on this one.

Engine mounts are a very good point. I'll take a closer look for signs of any belts rubbing etc.

Is it an easy job to change the mounts on these?

[mytrplseven]

The engine mounts require either raising the motor a few inches or dropping the cross-member with the engine supported from above with a transverse support bar to get enough separation between the engine and the motor mount support so the old one can be removed. For motor mounts only, it's probably easier to lift the motor with a hoist but do your research here before you proceed to verify the procedure so you don't damage something else that might need to be disconnected in the procedure. Also check to see how to verify if it is indeed the mounts so you don't do unnecessary repairs.

When I replaced my oil pan gasket it was necessary to drop the cross-member and steering system. I bought a transverse engine support bar from Harbor Freight for $60 to support the motor while I was doing repairs underneath. I also replaced the motor mounts, suspension rubber boots, steering boots, connecting rod bearings and external belts.

[Rasta Monsta]

Were both front and rear wheel bearings replaced? My money is on the rear.

[gtroth]

Originally Posted by chris71

Fortunately there's no power steering to worry about on this one.

That's good. Is that a Lux thing - no ps?

[chris71]

Originally Posted by Rasta Monsta

Were both front and rear wheel bearings replaced? My money is on the rear.

Yep, both fronts were done. It definitely sounds like it's coming from the front right corner. The noise is a bit like when you first touch the brakes with slightly rusty rotors if the car has been left out in the rain for a while - kind of a gravelly scraping sound.

Originally Posted by gtroth

That's good. Is that a Lux thing - no ps?

It's a European thing, I think. Over here, only the 924S came with power steering. The unassisted rack on the standard car is a bit slow (you'd need to whirl your arms around pretty quick if you ever got it seriously out of shape...) but the steering feel is fantastic.