Squeeky / Creaking noise from suspension?

Hi, Just received a 996 2000 model. Owner only drove it 2000 miles since last service in the last year and had been standing garaged for many months. I hear this very annoying squeaky creaky noiseses i think from the suspension, the dealer tells me its due to the car being stood for a long time, the bushes may have dried etc...the porsch report was done last year and it stated that all is well. The noise is like rubber rubbing against plastic or metal or squeaky floor boards in the house - very annoying, and occurs on uneven road surface. Im thinking i get below the car and WD40 where i see all the bushes and suspension. Is that a good idea? Any ideas/ help would be appreciated to solve the problem. The car has been looked after very well with full porsch service history so im sure its nothing major. Thanks

Wouldn't bother with the WD40. You will find you have certain suspension parts that have failed. Had the same problem with my 2000 when I bought it. Not hard to get it fixed and not too expensive either.

I had an intermittent rattle on mine that seemed to be coming from the suspension. Turned out to be a trailing arm, fitted for £270 from you local friendly independant garage (in this case PARR). In my case there was no fear of a catastrophic failure, just that as the bushes got more worn it would rattle more. I understand that replacing the bushes is the devils own job and for this reason it is accepted practice that it is cheaper to just replace the whole trailing arm unit. Stephen.

TimS: Thanks for your input , what did you do to get it fixed? and what exactly was the fault by that i mean do you remember what parts had failed? Do you mind telling me how much it cost for you to fix? Iniar I dont think it is a trailing part, its not a rattling noise its more like two parts rubbing together i.e. squeeky type of noise Many thanks inded

Likely to be front lower control arms This quite common All your bushings need looking at by a good honest indie The rear arms may need attention too Circa £1000

another possible is the anti roll bars or it's bushes, bar may have cracked, which can happen you need to get the car up on a ramp to have a lookie

Wouldn't want to prevent you looking for everything possible but I had what sounds to be the exact same problem on my 997 a month ago. Had a local mechanic look at it, good friend but not Porsche specialist. Diagnosed dry damper piston seals which he lubricated and problem solved £85 + vat.

Go out & take it for a decent drive. They don't like standing around & a good long run may even sort the problem out

Go for the WD 40 works for me every time!!! Or check your drop links!!! Cheap easy fix.

Certainly the WD40 is worth a try, if its more serious then it will return quickly. If not then your can rest happy. The rest of the advice is sound. I must say I have a lot of noises and squeaks from my suspension, but thats more painful, as its hips and knees uh: ! Big Bob :bye:

i had the same thing on my 2004 C4s, a quick looking at and with the aid of a heavy friend moving the car up and down I identified the track control arm was the issue and possibly its ball joint. I found that Hartec do an recon unit by way of exchange for £120 +VAT each. So I changed them all on Friday. It took about an hour a corner for me to change them on the drive. You will need a 16, 18, 19 & 21mm spanner and a 5mm parallel punch or similar to remove the brake bias valve plate. Or you can expect to pay an hour a corner for an indie to do it. Note that you must tighten the bushed bolts up with the full weight of the car on them and you will likely need your tracking adjusted once the job is complete. I've yet to do that bit. http://www.hartech.org/parts.html

Hi, The creaking noise has not been professionaly diagnosed as yet, and I have not made any attempts as yet to fix it. I have another problem now which could possibly be related. The steering pulls both sides when i go over uneven surfaces, especially road marking. Could this problem stem from the Controll arms? or is it more severe? Many thanks

Here is my 10 pence worth: The 986 (Boxster) & 996 suffer greatly as said with creaky, squeaky front suspension espeacially cars with less use. The 100% cure is a full strip down of both front legs, re-grease, replace if needed all the rubber / moving parts, reassemble and go for a geo-setup. This of course you are looking at £500 upwards (Geo alone will be £350) so considering the fact the Geo is pricey and will include rear set-up you may aswel do the whole car. BUT.... no one ever wants to through money at a car so we need to get to the area of fault. My guess is top mounts (the rubber bits at the top of the front springs) To diagnose, simply spray WD40 quite liberally over the top mounts then go for a drive. If it is these the squelching noise will actually get far worse and louder for an hour (or until it wears off) - replace top mounts, grease where needed and reassemble. Geo won't be altered from this job. Then if a geo is out the way cash wise for a while get the tracking checked. If tram-lining has been going on for a while the tread will have been worn on the insides therefore new tyres required.