drraulduke

Bear with me on this description. I have an 86 944 N/A with 84,000 miles on it. About two months ago, I started hearing this strange metal noise that I first thought was a nail in the tire. But they quickly realized it couldn't be that. It sounded like metal clicking or clanging that was rhythmic and got faster with increased speed of the car. If I depressed the clutch it stopped, so as far as I could tell it only happened when the car was in gear. I took it to the shop when it first started happening, and of course while driving there it stopped. They kept it all day, drove it etc, and said they couldn't find anything. I haven't heard the thing for the past two months, and suddenly yesterday it re-appeared. Does anybody know what this could be? What would suddenly stop and then two months later start recurring again? I can pretty much locate the noise to the driver's side rear wheel area. Could it be the CV joint or axle? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I know nobody has responded, but I have an update. The noise is gone. It just spontaneously stopped. I was certain it was the driver's side CV joint because i could swear the clicking was coming from the left rear, but my wife was in the car and she thought it might be the right side, and then we both for a moment thought it was directly in the middle of the car. Anyway, the noise just stopped after a day of driving. Does that happen with CV joints? I thought once they go, they go. Please...if anybody has any ideas i'd like to hear them.

bmf944

Sounds like it is definetely the axle. If you hear it upon load and when there is more weight in the car you are surely hearing the axle. They are fairly cheap and can be replaced at a local shop, but i would always deal with a experienced Porsche mech or a Volkaswagen mech since the axles are relatively the same.

drraulduke

OK, thanks. I guess I should determine whether I should replace the joint or the axle as a whole. The labor in doing the joints may be more than the cost of an entire axle assembly. I've been reading a bunch of posts and most people think it's a pretty straight-forward job to do yourself.

emilysgranny

When you go to remove the axle , please do this to avoid breaking the screws and alot of grief. Take the star socket or allen socket and put it in the screw head and rap the back of the socket a shot . The shock will help seat the socket better and loosen the screw so it comes out easier before you twist it off and break the screw

drraulduke

Thanks for the advice. I'll be sure to do that.