rattle/clunk front end

my 2002 c4s has an annoying sound like something is loose. I've asked here before but haven't gotten much help so here goes again. I just replaced the sway bar links only to have the noise reappear. It does take some driving to get the noise to appear but then it doesn't go away till the next day. My local garage, Euromotorworks, in Indianapolis, checked out the entire front end and found nothing and couldn't get it to rattle. When I left the shop I took a spirited 30 minute drive when the sound came back. I can "feel" it in the brake pedal and somewhat in the steering wheel at low speeds. Anyone have any ideas where to start my search. Car drives and runs great. Don't notice the noise/feel of the rattling of something loose unless you're going slow enough to hear it. Please advise. thanks.

I got the same thing but I didn't look into it yet. I don't feel it in my brakes or steering wheel though!

Shot in the dark here,but have you checked to see if the brake pads are the source of your noise. Maybe the vibration dampners have become unglued from the pads or are missing all together?

Check your front upper strut mounts. When going out they will make a rattling noise and a clunking that can sound like your whole supension is falling apart.

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+1 I had my strut mounts replaced a few months ago and it took care of the issue. In my case, it was especially noticeable at slower speeds going over speed bumps or on bumpy roads.

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+2, i heard some clunking, when i had coilovers installed, the shop showed me my upper strut mounts and the rubber was almost cracked all they way through.

Drop links are easy to check too

Searched this out recently. For me, it started out with a clunk, and then turned into a 'creaking' sound... but only after 20 minutes of driving. I swapped out the upper strut mounts, but it came back. The other likely culprit is the lower control arm.

thanks all for the advice. I'll try to touch on everyones ideas. 1 sway bar links were just replaced and they were in bad shape but didn't fix the problem 2 my garage says the strut mounts and control arms look and fee fine 3 I am narrowing down the feeling to slow speed sounds and I can feel it with my left foot on the clutch pedal and I can feel it in the steering wheel as well. 4 I will take the wheels off and look at brakes and pads. I did take off left front to inspect and didn't notice anything with caliper but I will dig deaper into the brakes. I'll keep looking and I appreciate the suggestions. I am going to try and drive it hard one of these days then swing in and grab a mechanic so they can "hear" and feel it. Keep the suggestions coming please.

does it only creak on slow (crawl)? While slowly turning the wheel? the creaking is the strut bearing that sits on top of the struts.... its not well designed and it just sits on top.... after awhile the grease just runs out. This is only on c4, c4s.

seems like all c4s have the same problem, ive replaced my entire strut/spring/top plate/strut mount/droplink/swaybar bushings and still make the same noise when i turn... i think it might be my control arms, but not sure how to check them if they are good or not

redridge, you might have just hit it on the head. I was struggling with how to describe what i was feeling. My everyday car is a jeep wrangler and I have to greese the steering wheel bearing about every 6K miles and now that you say that it is a very similar feel. Is the bearing that you describe easily accessible for me to grease myself. I'll try to google it and see if I can find it but thought I'd ask first. I appreciate the suggestion.

unfortunately... its not well documented. The bearing sits on top of the strut assembly. When you turn the wheel, the geometry of the wheels changes a bit and Porsche stuck a bearing on top to help with the movement. You have to drop the fwd shaft in order to have access to the top... PM Dharn55, I believe he has done/seen this type of work. It would be great to document what you find with pics for the rest of us....

I will most likely document it best I can. I emailed my garage to ask for drawings or suggestions, so I'll keep this thread posted and if i find anything real "exciting" I'll start a new one. thanks.

Thanks for all the info. I have a clunking noise that drives me crazy at low speeds. I would be willing to bet it is the strut mounts. Incidentally, an out of adjustment hood latch can cause the hood to clunk at strange times... I still can't get mine adjusted properly. Any thoughts? I tried the hood adjustment procedure on Renntech.

Steering rack inner and outer tie rods. (2 on each side) they are famous for generating that "clunk"

This happened to my 03 C4S, steering felt tight, brakes felt good - but it made a sound when going slow over bumps. A clunking and hollow sounding rattle. The dealer replaced the following: 996.341.053.17 AS Wishbone 996.341.043.06 Trailing Arm 999.084.449.09 Nut 996.347.131.04 Tie Rod And the noise was gone.

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That's probably what I'll need.. How much was all that?

I'm a newbie. Just got my beautiful '99 996 3 weeks ago. I love it & really enjoy driving it, however I am experiencing the same problems. It takes some of the joy out of driving it. I am hearing slight clunking noises coming from the front end at slow speeds every time I hit a small bump in the road. I can can feel some vibration in the steering wheel when I hear the noises, but don't hear any more or less noises while turning the wheel. It sounds like we may have the same problem. I talked to a mechanic who said it could be the sway bar links. One thing I did notice that was contributing to the noise was the wheel center caps were loose & making noise when they moved. I fixed that which made them quieter, but of course didn't solve the problem. Any suggestions? Is this dangerous problem that could lead to a steering malfunction? I hope not. I'm not afraid to get under the front end & have a close look around, but I'm not sure what to do. Are the sway bar links hard to replace? Should I bite the bullet & spend the $$$ at the indie, or $$$$ at the dealer? I might have to.

I just wanted to say thanks to all the members of this board and a particular member in Bob for helping me with my rattle/clunk. Last weekend we replaced all four struts on the car and the sound is now gone and the car rides perfect. We believe it was the top strut mount bearing on the front left side but with 102K miles new struts all the way around gave assurances that the car would make it another 100K. It was not an easy task as the first strut on the front left took us about 5 hours to figure out but then the rest of the car only took another 2-3 hours to complete. Thanks again to all who gave advice. I'd give this one a 7/10 on difficulty but I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. Bob had the lift and the tools so the job went as smoothly as to non mechanics could hope it would go. thanks again.

Could this clunking noise also be in the rear? Every time I go over a bump in the road I get a clunking noise like the rear shock is loose. Can it be the strut mount bearing? In the rear? My car only has 58,000 miles, do strut mount bearings go in that amount of time? Any thoughts are appreciated.

Mine has been doing the same, unchanged, for about two years. I thought I would have corrected it with the installation of RoW M030 and new drop links this spring. It's a little better, but still there.

Call911s, I ended up finding some lightly used struts with springs and top mounts all assembled on ebay for $400 for all four corners. I bought a spring compressor for $60 and did the work myself with another member. I'm not a mechanic so the first corner proved difficult but then we figured out how to get the strut out of the fender well and everything else went smooth. my car had 102000 miles on the original struts so the car now feels new again. stiff right and no bouncing all while getting rid of the upper strut mount noise that was pretty bad by the end. Hope this helps. I don't have part number but i replaced the strut, spring, and top plate with OEM.

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i know this is an old one. But did you ever forgive this out? This is exactly my issue. Almost sounds like it's something in the trunk rubbing but I've taken everything out basically and narrowed things down with no luck

First step is to Jack the front end up and make sure everything is torqued to spec. Also, make sure you don't have adjustable drop links. If so, you need to check them for preloading. Lower control arms seem to be a frequent offender with higher mileage. I don't know any way to test other than swapping them out. If that doesn't work, shocks/top mounts come next. The springs themselves rarely have an issue. If you need any guidance on DIYing any of this don't hesitate to ask.

I have this same problem. My mechanic checked everything but didn’t find any problems. Like someone said previously, I seem to feel it in the steering wheel and even the clutch pedal for some reason.

I've got the same issue. Replaced sway bar links, struts, etc... I'm wondering about the steering rack tie rods that were mentioned. Is there an easy way to check ?

Have you tried the hood? I found out by accident after taking it to two different indies who couldn't find anything. I haven't fixed it, but I suspect it'll be some kind of rubber bushing or mount that needs to be replaced.

This was my solution, but who knows if my problem was the same as yours. A thousand different things can clunk, so it's hard to say who has what! https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...-arms-wow.html

Yup, I've preached this in the past, every suspension bushing needs to be replaced after 15 years. There's a reason these cars are found cheap, they need a lot of little things to get them back in shape!

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Yep, Start here and go from there.. https://www.ebay.com/itm/PORSCHE-911...53.m1438.l2649

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That's a great price! It's the things you can't see unless you take it off that'll bite you when you least expect it (just ask Slakker)�

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Yep, i just replaced those on mine, one of the most common causes of noise on 996/7 986/7. I just posted the kit for all those do can't or won't do the diagnostics or are chasing there tails, pulling their hair out trying to find the noise.

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has anyone actually ordered these from this eBay seller? They have lots of bad reviews on bimmerforums.

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99.2 positive feedback on ebay... http://vi.vipr.ebaydesc.com/ws/eBayI...1&secureDesc=0

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I haven't bought anything from them, i had just saved it in my watched list because it was such a complete set and very frugal price. This guy on Rennlist had good things to say about the price saving him 4k over Porsche price in a Cayenne drive shaft and suspension parts, and said the quality was good.YMMV https://www.renntech.org/forums/topi...shaft-failure/

I was really hoping to find a similar complete set of just the bushings. I have a 20 ton press, but haven’t seen bushing sets sold anywhere.

Check out Elephant Racing for bushings. https://www.elephantracing.com/porsc...sion-bushings/

I had the same issue with my 996tt. I replaced strut, link, bearing etc. when I was shaking the car I heard the rattle from the fuel sender top. Please check that. I bought a used one for $10 and opened it to find this. It appears the ball can get loose in the cage. Why such a heavy ball in the vent section in don't know. Can I run it without the ball?

Once put together properly, I don't see the ball going anywhere. It serves a purpose...

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I would imagine that ball will shut off the fuel from entering the tank vent and engine if the car flips upside down.Remember depending on a lot of variable, a fuel injected engine will run upside down for quit some time possibly. It's one of many safety devices.

Got it. That make sense. The ball fits into the cage and the cage fits into the cup. The cup fits into the base of the sender unit and the top is side on. I noticed there was a gap between the base/stalk of the unit and the upper cap. My guess is the weight of the ball coupled with vibrations wear at the three thin plastic pins that hold the entire unit together. When I reassembled the unit, only a very slight noise could be heard. Next I need to find a plastic fuel resistant glue.

Ok. I'm at my wits ends. Sway bar link, strut bearing, strut, strut bearing even the ball in the fuel sender(huge improvement) all changed and there is still a knocking noise from the front left over small bumps. Tie rod is tight ball joint tight. Car only has 35,000km. What else can it be?

Drop links? Wishbones/Tuning forks? There are lots of parts and almost all of them include either a rubber bushing or or some sort of rotating joint (i.e. ball joint). If you haven't replaced the "coffin arms" or "tuning forks" I'd start with them. Good luck

Tuning forks. Just replaced mine. On inspection the rubber was fine but when I moved it I could feel a clicking or catching. Fixed my clunking issue.

I have the same issue. I only notice it in the summer/hot months. I think I traced it to the tie rod ends. One side is rock solid. The other side has some play - BUT only if it�s hot outside and the tires need to be under load (lifted from the tires, not the jack points). I�m taking it to my mechanic next week. We�ll see if that fixes the problem. Really annoying.

Is your car a C2 or C4?

Mine is a 2002 Carrera 4S. My clunk is most noticeable on hot days driving slow on slightly bumpy pavement.

Have you inspected the drive axle?

I think the shop did. I’ve been under there and didn’t see anything obvious. But the noise doesn’t change regardless if the car is in gear or coasting in neutral. What should I look for?

It's worth checking to eliminate. The heat aspect makes me think the grease could be insufficient and/or thinning out at higher temps and you have excessive wear and play in the CV joints. Are there any tears in the boots? If you don't see any tears, then check the CV joint itself. Get the car up safely and slide the axle in and out to see if there's any strange friction, roughness and/or clicking. If you do, it's worn and needs to be replaced. If nothing seems out of sorts there, grab the axle near the inner boot and try to move it in around in an oblong fashion like you were stirring a mixing bowl. If there's play, it's bad. Do the same thing with the outer joint.

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Tuning forks fixed the rattle in the front end of my 996 C2.

Thanks for replies and info. My car is a 02-996TT. Next I'll try the tuning fork. The catalog calls it the control arm. Strangely, it's intermittent. I drove the it yesterday, the first 10mins were noisy as hell. Then nothing. Smooth and quiet. I also noticed the front end seems noticeably tighter after swapping the upper strut mount with the 997 unit. Btw, has anyone tried the upgraded poly urethane bushing? https://www.europeanpartssolution.com/cart It's the same price as an OEM part! I also did the cv boot on the right side. All I removed was the control arm/tuning fork at the coffin arm, coffin arm from the body and that was enough to swing the hub assembly forward enough to clear the driveshaft. Btw the 928 CV fits.

Rufrob, do the same CV joint test to eliminate that. If the first 10 mins of your drive yesterday were typical around town stuff--accel/decel, sharper steering angles, bumps--that could be a clue. Bad CV joints are usually noisest in those situations and then quiet down a bit at highway speeds when you're driving in a straight line. Why did you replace the inner boot in the first place? If it's not that, it sounds like you've checked/replaced everything but the two LCA connections (outer ball joint & inner bearing) and the two tension/"tuning fork" connecting points. After that the only other likely culprit would be the swaybar bushes.

The cv boot was done on the right side while the noise was coming from the left. No highway driving only city. It feels so much better after the 997 strut mount was installed. I actually enjoyed driving the car. Ordered the thrust/control arm. Next issue is a slight gas odor only with AC on at slow speeds.

Tuning fork test if the clunk/rattle goes away when you are braking, it�s the tuning forks if the noise persists under braking, it�s the upper strut mount or tie rod ends

I had both upper strut mounts replaced due to the creaking noise when turning slow. After about 6 months a small front end rattle on one side turned into a rally loud rattle. Turns out one of the nuts on top of the suspension had come loose!

Replaced diagonal control arm today. Same noise. The LCA bushing looked fine. I'm beginning to suspect the outer cv joint. I heard a slight popping cv noise for the first time. I have been hearing tensing noise from the rear axles too. I guess a cv grease repack won't hurt.

We finally figured out my issue. It was the steering rack.

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Rebuild or replace?

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Replaced.

Well the good news is your car probanly drives much better with new rubber in the suspension even though u spent a lot to find the issue.

What? Steering rack internals? Not mounts or rod ends? How long was your issue going on for?

Took it for a long drive yesterday and this morning. When the car heats up the noise reduces dramatically. Any suggestions?

Long drive yesterday. I realized the noise reduces dramatically the hotter he car gets. There is definitely some crash, clunk noises the can be heard outside.

Lower Control Arm. Changed it today and 90%of the noise is gone. The ball joint nut came off really easy. I wonder if it simply wasn't tightened properly. I'll check the right side too. I also cleaned inspected and re-greased the cv joint. The old grease was closer to water, It was so thin. I guess the rear axles could benefit from a clean and re-grease too.

Now I can hear the right side clunk and new left rear clunk. $$$$$. I honestly think garage queens cost more the track rats to maintain.

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The thing with garage queens is, like a well driven car rubber and plastic has still aged and needs updating...I hope you figure it out and do keep us posted. I am also chasing down some clunks and rattles w/127K miles on my roller. Rear right (Struts and top plates) Need updating. I noticed the PO's Mechanic noted front strut bars (what's that?) need replacing.

I usually only bought high mileage/cheap cars. This is the only time I spent big on a low mileage, like new car. I guess it's a matter of expectations and technology. I expected a low mileage car to be low maintenance, high tech to be more reliable. At least on this car, wrong on both counts. My 930 chewed through a couple of fuel pumps, starters and alternators and is notorious for oil leaks but no suspension issues, no evap system. Come to think of it my 944 and 951 were the most reliable Pcars I've ever had. Apart from super reliable Subaru, Toyota and Honda other make have their fair share of issues. But all in all I'd say I'm disappointed with my 996tt, having to deal with issues and having the coolant pipes lurking. That being said, 964, 993s had engine O ring oil leaks, the 930 had through bolts, 996 have well we know. Thank goodness I'm an a F or L car guy who pay dearly for transmissions and electrical work. Ok I changed my mind. My 996tt isn't that bad. Just got to deal with dry/old rubber.

Has a passenger front clunk at low speed over small bumps. Up on lift there was clearly play in drop link. New oem drop link eliminated the clunk. Felt darn good to solve a p car problem for less that $100!

Took her out for a proper shakedown today. Wow the handling and overall driving experience has been transformed. I actually enjoyed driving it!! There is still an occasional thunk from the left rear suspension and fuel smell at idle. For the first time since I've owned it depressurized when I opened the fuel cap. Guess the next issue is the evap valve.

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Yup, low mileage or not it's still close to 20 years old - no way around it. At least you know you're not going to have to do any body/paint work

Just did a complete refresh on all suspension parts except the springs - HIGHLY recommend you do the same. Those parts are so intertwined and VERY hard to determine exactly what's causing the problem. Any 18 year old car should have all the rubber replaced on suspension components, regardless of mileage. Not driving it can be just has hard as driving it every day.

The collective wisdom has been helpful. Now I have a thunk that is turning into a muted rattle at the left rear and the steering feels squiggly. So I'm guessing rear LCA. I guess I should drive another 996tt to see how noisy they are normally. I remember driving a new Skyline GTR and that car sounded like there was no sound insulation.

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Same noise on my 01 C4. Can I just replace the one making noise, just the 2 front struts or should all 4 struts be done? Thanks!

I would do both fronts. If one went the second is not far behind.

Old Mustang Mach 1 creaked in front suspension. Didn't waste time troubleshooting just replaced everything that had rubber including upper and lower control arms, ball joints , tie rods, sway bar rubber, spring mount pads, and shock absorbers. Problem solved on to next project. Porsche suspension more complicated and expensive than Mustang, but still planning same basic procedure for our 102k mile C2 cabriolet; replace every component front and rear that has rubber in it. Then done with suspension forever. Initially installed polyurethane bushings and under springs, these made the old 'Stang handle amazing but squeaked and rode real rough so swapped new rubber back in. When replacing Porsche suspension don't want "OEM like", want "OEM", except for struts Koni Special Active reds look superior.

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Note he said strut "mounts" (I'm thinking top mounts/hats) and not struts, two different parts. Replace both, I'm ready to do the same as soon as the parts arrive.

Now that the suspension is almost silent, only a slight metallic rattle over bumps from the front left, should I change the rear LCA? I bought new ones thinking they were at fault. Turns out it was loose sway bar links. I suppose the front LCA work much harder than the rears. Or should I just wait till they become noisy? I also want to regreaae the cv joints. Even though the boots were not broken the front left was clicking on tight right turns. I regreased it and they are now silent. I read somewhere that early 2000 original Lobro cv grease wasn't the best. So should I do preventative maintenance or leave well enough alone?

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I would focus on the front left rattle...

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I park on a old cobblestone alley and the low speed rattle is tough to hear every time i leave or come home. Thought I might have to refresh the whole suspension so it�s good to know there is an easier, intermediate step.