I am hearing a loud creaking noise coming from the right front of my '88 951 during turns and braking. I can also cause the noise to appear by pushing down on the right front.

The noise can disappear completely for a week at a time then suddenly come back and vanish again without a trace.

The car drives fine with no noticeable handling problems.

Could someone please tell me what part of the suspension would be the suspect cause and a solution?

Thank you.

Michael Haffner
'88 Black 951 (RIP)
'87 Red 951 (RIP)
'87 Black 944na (RIP)
'88 Black 951 (doing great)

 

More than likely a strut, though it sould be the A-arm bushings or the sway bar bushings. Might check the strut tube for excess oil (or, bone dry isn't so good either)... also check the A-arm and Sway bar bushings for wear/tear/dry-rot.

Good Luck!

 

Michael, I don't know that much about cars yet, but when I talked to the mechanic who did the buyer's check on my 88 944 about two months ago he told me that the only problem with the car was that the front right strut was wet. He said I shouldn't worry about for a while but when it start to make a whiny sound while cornering that it is time to replace the front struts. This is what sounds like is happening to you. Hope I could help you and good luck.
PS-If you replace the front struts I would like to know how long it took and how much money.

 

Hey Black, how did you kill so many 944s?

Just curious,
Dave

PS- my vote is struts

 

Thanks for the replies. I suspected it was the struts and will begin to locate replacement procedures and the parts. I am going to try to do the work myself, depending on how complicated it looks.

As far as the dead 944's, that is a VERY long story (as you can imagine) and I will post it here later today or this week.

Thanks for the help.

Michael

 

Michael, I'll see if I can help on the parts stuff. If you were going to consider Koni Sport struts, you will have a hard(read impossible) time finding them, as Koni is not producing them for our cars anymore. If you feel like waiting, in November, the new Koni option will be availible. It will be a Koni sport insert, and will require simple fabrication to make it work in you sealed strut housing. These will be cheap as well(~$150/insert). If you cannot wait, there are always Boge/Sachs OEM stuff, or better yet, Bilstens. The procedure is very easy if you have a few tools(spring compressor). You WILL need an alignment afterwards.

Also, welcome to the board. We are glad to have you.

For a great parts source with unbeatable service and pricing, try Jason at Paragon Products
www.paragon-products.com

Good luck,
Dave(happy with his decision to purchase Koni Sports months ago)

 

Black951,
I pretty much agree with the strut prognosis. Had similar problem a few months back. Turns out that when I hit a dip in the road really fast my coil actually got knocked a little bit out of the spring perch on the bottem. I didn't have a lift available at the time and the car would still drive ok but I had the creaking sounds. Later It started interfereing with my steering. Thats when I got serious and dismantled the whole thing. My advice fix it right away. Hope this helps.

 

Skip/seanpkend,

You mention wetness on the strut. I assume this is oil from inside the strut. Where would this be leaking from and what is the cause of the leaking? Can this be repaired or is it a complete failure of the strut?

This sounds like the problem I'm having on my 108k mi. '92 968. It began as a creaking and has progressed to a clunking. I've already checked all the bushings and ball joints and they seem to be ok.

chris

 

As a further followup, we have had a good bit of mouisture down here in the last week and I have had no noise from that strut. I have noticed some vibration in my steering wheel but I believe that is from my left rear tire being fifteen pounds low. I need to that fix that today.

 

The seal at the top of the strut is compromised over time with rubber hardening AND particulate intrusion. The seal will allow the internal fluid to escape, causing the dampening characteristics of the strut to dissipate. The strut will creak and then clunk... as you suggest. I actually have a Boge in the garage that blew a chunk out of the seal and now can be forced to clunk by hand.

If you've ruled out all other possibilities (bearings, ball-joints, tie-rods... inner and outer, steering knuckle, upper strut bearing/mount) then you're right on track with the strut being bad.

If this is a Koni strut, it can be repaired/rebuilt by Koni. Otherwise, you'll need new ones. Also, if those are the original struts... prolly time for a change.

Good Luck!