kyle944

My '87 944 is making a clanking noise from the rear left wheel. The thing is, it only makes this sound under acceleration. The more gas I give it, the louder the sound gets. It kind of sounds like bulldozer tracks. I have no idea what could be causing it to make this sound. Any help?

jharding

Loose exhaust? You may also want to check if the bolts holding the CV shaft are still tight, check the top and bottom shock bolts.

Da Bears

Same exact thing happening here. Must be something related to exhaust because it's only under acceleration. That rules out the shock bolts, as suggested, in my opinion. Mine comes and goes ... mostly gone so very hard to diagnose ... but when it is present it is very annoying and embarrassing. Let me know if you find out exactly what needed to be done or tightened up or whatever ....

MAGK944

+1 on exhaust. Check the rear muffler or heat shield above it. When you accelerate the 944 does its rear squat dance and anything loose back there bangs together.

Arominus

Exhaust is hitting the sway bar

gkovakas

Bad CV joint

Gawernator

Check the heat shield and exhaust hangars

kyle944

Thanks guys. I'll try all of your suggestions. I hope to fix this as soon as possible so I can get some good driving in this summer!

kyle944

could it also be a bad wheel bearing?

God_Bot

Wheel bearings usually growl in my experience, kind of like excessive tire noise. Get the wheel off the ground and see if you can move it back and forth at all. The only movement a good bearing should make is rotational.


I felt like an idiot the first time I tried it because I didn't know what I was looking for when people talked about back and forth. So here's a video to clear up any confusion.




It's still possible for brakes to hold the assembly enough to pass that test with a bad bearing though so it's not foolproof. I have heard of loose strut bolts causing a constant clunk type noise during acceleration.

kyle944

Thanks! The video is very helpful. I am going to get the car off the ground tomorrow and test all these possibilities. Thankfully the problem doesn't sound too serious.

mytrplseven

Interesting video. Front wheel drive cars and "top to bottom". Was the video flipped 90 degrees? Does this procedure also apply to all wheel bearings?

KlineS147

Had the same prob, ended up being loose cv bolts, easy and cheap to check out!!!!

God_Bot

As far as I understand it, some newer cars can use multiple bearing where one can wear out but the other can still hold the wheel enough to hold it true. That's how it was explained to me anyhow. I'm more of a body guy then a mechanic but I would imagine that it would apply to the 944 series just fine. I've used it on pickups and SUVs and have found bad bearings.

chrisstring

Where are the cv bolts? Im having the same exact issue right now in the same location. Does the car need to be lifted off the rear left wheel to check the cv bolts?