pl

i did this early this year.
left front lower control arm. part is $300 (from local p-car dealer), labor (.5 hour) $50.
never have noise since. and the handling improved a little. the front-end used to be "wondoning" a bit.

Melchior

I got rid of my creaking for now at least. I popped the cap on my front struts (covers the strut bearing) and sprayed WD-40 all over it. Also, tightened the three bolts that hold the top of the strut to the chassis and sprayed WD-40 all over the spring, shock body, and any part of the exposed strut without having to put the car on a lift or remove the wheels.

NNH

Hopefully that will work. For me, it only cured the problem for a few days, so keep a close eye on it.

discoganya

Is there some reason why you used WD40 instead of a conventional adhesive lubricant? I read this on Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WD-40 ), and so I ended up ordering Wurth HHS 2000 from Amazon:

"While its uses are many and varied, WD-40 should not be used as a general-purpose lubricant, as it dries very quickly and collects dust. This can result in serious damage to machinery and equipment designed for use with heavy oils when they are lubricated with lightweight WD-40."

Anyway, I'm not an expert ...

Melchior

Actually I used one of those new hybrid silicon-based lubricants that I bought at Home Depot. I forgot what it was called so I just said WD-40. I used up the rest of the can and thru it away but it came in a blue can and sort of smells like coconut sun tan lotion; it dries instantly and is supposed to stay put longer.

Melchior

Here it is:

http://www.amazon.com/DuPont-Multi-U...8&s=automotive

discoganya

I thought I should resurrect this thread once again:

I had the same symptoms as above -- creaking front suspension noise when car is warmed up. I sprayed Wurth HHS 2000 on almost all bushings and joints I could find up there ... but that did not help. I took it to the dealer this morning and he calls me back saying that both the front "ball joints" are bad. He says it will need a special order from Germany. $400 for each side, + Labor + re-alignment = $1,600 total. Ouch! My car is out of warranty, so this will be out of pocket.

What do you guys think? I'm a little suspicious of the dealers advice -- could he be faking the problems for more work? Moreover, if I don't fix the problem for a few thousand miles, will there be additional damage to the car?

I'm also losing faith in my 996 being a reliable daily driver.

TIA

NNH

Sounds odd - I'd expect grinding instead of creaking from bad ball joints. I'm sure it's worth getting a second opinion. As for daily driving the Pcar, I got some good advice from a different board (Flyertalk) that Pcars are reliable, just not cheap to maintain. I try really hard to keep that sense of perspective...

discoganya

I had a good discussion with the Tech and he basically convinced me that he knew what he was talking about. We went under the car and he showed me the exact cause of the problem.

Could someone tell me the part number for item 17 below? It seems the ball joint at the red circle has lost it's grease and is the source of the creaking. The tech said that parts will have to be specially ordered from Germany. I just want to call around and make sure that is the case ... so if you know the part number, please let me know.

TIA

gps-marc

I think you guys are on the right track. I'd say you have a noisy ball joint, just dried out and noisy from age. Replacing the control arm replaces the ball joint and the noise goes away. You can always upgrade and go to GT3 arms for additional camber, but I think that's quite a bit more dough.

pl

exact my problem.
call suncoast porsche tell them you need "lower control arm"
it's a common part.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsc...QQcmdZViewItem

discoganya

Thanks for your comments ... are you sure that "Replacing the control arm replaces the ball joint and the noise goes away" ...? My dealer tells me he does have control arms but repair parts for this work will have to be specially ordered from Germany. Any thoughts?

(He actually refered to item #18 as the control arm.)

Ubermensch

Item 17 is the lower control arm.

fw2001c4

had same prob - it was the control arm - shortly after my 01 c4 purchase in may. took it to dealer and it was actually not covered by cpo but the selling dealer(stoddard, 400mi away) stepped up and paid for it. i was with tech when we test drove and he got out of car to bounce the front end. it made the groaning noise and he at that point determined it was the control arm.

and yes, replacing the control arms also neccessitated an alignment. stoddard paid for the whole thing. phew...so you might wanna try the bounce test... if you get groan, it's prob the same prob as me. i have 35k on the clock. been groan free since.

hope this helps.

Melchior

My car is creaking again but it sounds/feels like it is coming from the middle-front of the car which would agree with the posts I have seen before mentioning the swaybar bushings needing replacement. I inspected them before and they looked fine but I have gone ahead and ordered 2 new ones and will be replacing them soon.

Question: Is there a simple way to replace these or do I have to put the whole bar off the car like on my 944?