FredR

Well I have been chasing down an annoying squeak on the front suspension for some time and as part of that quest I recently replaced the upper A arm bushes but this did not solve the squeal albeit a good thing to do given the state of the original bushes as the rubber was none too rubbery..

When I originally posted about this it was suggested that the roll bar might be causing this. I advised at the time that I had disconnected the roll bar and that the problem did not disappear when I did the opposite of the installation procedure by disconnecting one side. If this held true then the only other logic would be the lower A arm bushes have failed- equally possible- or so I thought. Before diving into the lower arms I figured it just might be prudent to recheck the roll bar so this time I decoupled the passenger side and then the driver side link to the Devek bar. Took a test drive over our onsite speed bumps and what do you know the thing was as quiet as a Church mouse.

Question now is why would the Devek bar be squealing like this when traversing speed bumps? As I understand with the Devek bar you have to set one side initially, let the car settle then connect the other side. When I tried to release the bolt that holds the rose joint to the bar with the car on the deck there was no tension on the passenger side. I could not undo the driver side bolt whilst the car was on the deck and had to lift it. I then got the driver side rose joint undone with the front driver side up in the air and the bolt felt as though it had a little tension on it but not much. I undid the upper and lower lock nuts on the adjuster so I could test that joint but it was not far out at all.

Question now is what should I do next? I seem to remember getting some advice to put some grease on the bushing but with hind sight maybe that as not such a good thing to do.

FredR

A follow up the first post in this thread. I expect to have the car up on jack stands over the next day or two to take a look at a power steering system leak that has just appeared. Whilst I have the thing on the jack stands I would like to do something about the squeak I have on the Devek roll bar that is seemingly caused when the bar moves back and forth through the bushes. I have had the bushes out not long ago and they looked fine- as I am aware they are the original bushes and nothing special as it were. I now intend to lubricate the bushes and wondered whether I need a specific lubricant for the painted metal surface moving within the rubber bush. Could not find anything specific in the WSM.

Speedtoys

Ya..the devek bar squeaks.

Try either sway bar specific grease, or CLEAN everything well and wrap in in teflon tape as the bushing.

Mrmerlin

DC111 is a good long life lubricant

FredR

Thanks for the inputs chaps. Good to know mine is not the only one that squeaks!

If all else fails I can certainly try the PTFE wrap approach. Just did a check and it seems there is a local agent for the DC111 product line about 10 minutes drive from my home. This squeak has annoyed the hell out of me for years - I only really notice it going over speed bumps but it sure irks the hell out of me as it makes the car feel like a crock..

I will report back if I can silence this phenomena.

Rgds

Fred

Mrmerlin

make sure the lower sway link bolts are tight,
slightly loose will cause a creaking noise thats hard to find

FredR

Funny you should mention that connection. When I first tried to chase this issue down about 3 years ago I recalled the fitting instructions saying that to correctly install one had to run the car with one of those bolts undone and then connect the adjustable drop link when the suspension is fully settled. Like a dork I undid one side fooling myself into believing this would isolate the squeak if it was due to the roll bar which needless to say it did not solve the issue. Getting those things undone was difficult as the original instructions were to loctite the threads- not sure I like that but if they do work loose at all [and I will check] then I will revert to using the stuff.

Ironically when specifying the bar, Devek used imperial sized fasteners- that one is something like a 3/8th inch fastener- I had to order a half inch drive impact bit for that job to get the thing undone. I torque them to 66lb ft but not sure if that is correct.

FredR

Managed to contact the local agents this moning- out of stock for the last 3 months- no idea when it will be available! The downside of life in this part of the world.

Mrmerlin

order from Amazon it will be delivered by drone in 30 mins

FredR

Jeff,
Could not track down any silicon grease so wrapped the bar where the bush seats with 4 passes of PTFE tape. I hen has an inspired moment and in my bottle shelf found some of that STP "son of a gun" or whatever it is called. I used to use this to quieten squealing belt syndrome if it happened but never used it on my dash panels. Read the instructions on the bottle and it said in bold type "do not use on cycle pedals as it is slippery". Slapped the stuff onto the bearing surface of the bush. Took the car for a test drive this afternoon- not a squeak. Going over the speed bumps near my home the creaking was gone and better still, on the highway the car felt transformed- very smooth and quiet. I suspect the thing must have been letting out some protest even when moving marginally as they do on a smooth surface and maybe it was creating a drone that I was simply not aware of. It literally feels like a new car- quite unbelievable really.

Definitely a happy teddy day today! That was until I was approaching home on the motorway and then some Tw*t of a taxi driver missed his turning, stopped, reversed and cut across my path. I hammered the brakes and swerved around the p*llock - I doubt there are many vehicles around today that can brake and change direction like that at 70+ mph!

andy-gts

you are also a very skilled driver.....

FredR

Well my favourite expression is "Chance favours the prepared mind". Yesterday I felt more lucky than prepared but....? One of the most positive things I have to say about our much loved 928's is that they always seems to have something in reserve when you need it most- I dare say plenty on this list feel the same way!

Worst one I have ever experienced was in Durban, South Africa many years ago. It was night time and I was on the main highway near Durban Airport. I was in the fast lane having just overtaken a slower vehicle and all of a sudden I saw a car stopped on my lane- now you really do not expect to see things like that. That was nearly 40 years ago when my reflexes were "cat like". I managed to avoid that but how remains a mystery.