[jimmywhisker]

I have a problem that is affecting my enjoyment of my car.

When the car is warm, there is a crunching/griding noise from the drivers side front end (RHD car). This is more a low speed issue and is particularly annoying over speed bumps, driveways and in tight manouvering. Repeat, this only happens woce the car is warm.

I took it down to my Porsche expert who put it up on the hoist and couldn't see anything obvious. Whilst he suspects a ball joint, he can see no obvious problems and there is not any serious play in the wheel. He is concerned that, if he replaces the ball joint or installs a kit, he cannot guarantee that it will fix the problem. The noise does not seem to be from the shocks as these have been checked also.

Any ideas on what to focus on? Could it be a loose brake pad moving around in the calliper. Brake pads are OK, dics need doing in the next 5000kms.

This is not my area of expertise, so any assistance would be helfull.

Thanks,

Peter

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[Johannvb]

Hmmm..If your mechanic had a look I'm sure he would haver checked the A-arm bushes. They tend to wear out prematurely on all Porsches and can cause a clunking sound when going over rough terain at low speeds. I had this on my 964 and 951 and a new set of A-arms sorted it out.

The other posibility could be a wheel bearing, but I think this will be noticeable when the car is cold or warm. The bushes on the A-arm gets worse the warmer the bush gets.

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[jimmywhisker]

<!--quoteo(post=70479:date=Apr 17 2009, 12:32 AM:name=Johannvb)-->QUOTE (Johannvb @ Apr 17 2009, 12:32 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Hmmm..If your mechanic had a look I'm sure he would haver checked the A-arm bushes. They tend to wear out prematurely on all Porsches and can cause a clunking sound when going over rough terain at low speeds. I had this on my 964 and 951 and a new set of A-arms sorted it out.

The other posibility could be a wheel bearing, but I think this will be noticeable when the car is cold or warm. The bushes on the A-arm gets worse the warmer the bush gets.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

That sounds like it. My mechanic felt that this was the most likely problem however, was a little preplexed about the fact that it seemed to only happen when warm. Wheel bearnings have just been adjusted as part of my purchase. I (or my mechanic) didn't pick up on this noise as I didn't drive it long enough except at higher speeds checking things like pinion bearing noise etc.

Thanks for yur post.

Peter

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[xrad]

wheel bearings? is it worse on flat turns?

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[jimmywhisker]

<!--quoteo(post=70537:date=Apr 18 2009, 05:28 AM:name=xrad)-->QUOTE (xrad @ Apr 18 2009, 05:28 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->wheel bearings? is it worse on flat turns?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
NO, that doens't make any difference. Low speed bumpy roads bring on the noise.

Peter

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[flash]

check the strut tower bearing on that side

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[jimmywhisker]

<!--quoteo(post=70479:date=Apr 17 2009, 12:32 AM:name=Johannvb)-->QUOTE (Johannvb @ Apr 17 2009, 12:32 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Hmmm..If your mechanic had a look I'm sure he would haver checked the A-arm bushes. They tend to wear out prematurely on all Porsches and can cause a clunking sound when going over rough terain at low speeds. I had this on my 964 and 951 and a new set of A-arms sorted it out.

The other posibility could be a wheel bearing, but I think this will be noticeable when the car is cold or warm. The bushes on the A-arm gets worse the warmer the bush gets.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->


This finally got the better of me and I went to my porsche man armed with the good advice I had been getting. He said a couple of things that were interesting:-

1. He also felt that it was the A-Arm bushes however, as there was no slop at all, he was not entirelly sure. He also considered the other possibilities described in the forum.
2. He re-adjusted the front weheel bearing again.
3. Then he injected with a syringe some lubricant through the seal into the bush. He then sealed up the hole with some silicon. He was only happy to do this as there was no play and to help in the diagnosis. Not recommened if there is any play.

The goal was to identify the problem however, he has completely eliminated the noise and the car is a joy to drive again. Clearly the A-Arm bushes are on the way out and will need replacing when the noise returns.

He also strongly recommended the after market motorsport bushes (brass I think) for replacement. A few extra dollars but well worth it. He got sick of relpacing with the nylon/silicon bushes and having clients come back at him.

Whilst I was there, he was replacing doing some work on a Careera GT - the only one in Australia. That is one horny car. Starting up the engine is like a sympony. I went home and picked up me 10Yr old son to show him. You should have seen his grin when the car fired up!!

Thanks for all the advice.

Peter

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[rxter]

<!--quoteo(post=72418:date=May 23 2009, 01:24 AM:name=jimmywhisker)-->QUOTE (jimmywhisker @ May 23 2009, 01:24 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->3. Then he injected with a syringe some lubricant through the seal into the bush. He then sealed up the hole with some silicon. He was only happy to do this as there was no play and to help in the diagnosis. Not recommened if there is any play.

The goal was to identify the problem however, he has completely eliminated the noise and the car is a joy to drive again. Clearly the A-Arm bushes are on the way out and will need replacing when the noise returns.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Sounds like a cortisone shot in the knee. Works for a while...

thanks for the update - I'll keep this one in the mental inventory.

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[Johannvb]

I'm sorry to hear that your A-arm bushes are going, but I am glad I could help diagnose your problem. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img]

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