Springtime has been welcomed in my home. I enjoy not freezing my tail off, but it has also brought some not so nice things. One of which is a creaking and groaning noise from the front suspension of my '95 854. It is definitely tied to steering, not compression/rebound of the suspension. Think power steering sound, only mechanical rather than hydraulic. A quick inspection of the suspension revealed nothing out of the ordinary (ball joints, tie-rods and sway bar links all tight).

It appears to only exhibit this phenomenon when the car (and ambient temperature) is good and warm. For example, it didn't do it this morning (40deg and cold car) but did it for the trip to the grocery store tonight (63deg and warm car). It's only been doing it for a couple days, so maybe time will show that the temperature thing is bogus.

So what is it? I figure the answer will be strut mounts, but would like some backup here. The noise does not sound to me like the "crunchy" bearing sound I'm used to, but I suppose it could be very different for a worn bearing under this loading. Which brings me to another question. What sort of bearing is the strut mount? Plain old ball, tapered roller, angular contact?

Thanks,
Will
--
850 / Mini

I give a vote for the top strut spring seats. Those beasts clunk like mad when the rubber begins separating from the metal sleeve. A bit of cold might contract the whole deal just enough to not clunk. After rebuilding my entire front suspension, I realized what a weak link those guys are.

Best of luck....it could always be various other steering components as well...

Nate
--
1997 850, 1979 242GT, 1990 740GL

Will,
i'm sorry for you that it was 40deg this morning, It's Spring for cryin out loud

Coincidentally, my 850 has been exhibiting similar symptoms. I had just replaced
a driver's-side control-arm and a passenger-side outer tie-rod end, but the noises
which had been there for a while were if anything getting worse. As you said, no
noises until car was good and warmed up.

I've determined that it is the driver's-side inner tie-rod: The ball-joint seems
to be nearly seized, and this causes creaking/tinging/clicking on small steering
adjustments, braking, or acceleration. The noises transmit through the foot-well
and steering wheel. I've ordered a new inner tie-rod.

grant..

Grant, please let me know if that resolves the noise. For my problem, I'm still skeptical that any tierod problem would cause the noise.

I do have some noise from the steering shaft/u-joint, but I'm not sure if that's the only noise, as I believe it is not new. I sprayed it down with some lube in a probably vain attempt to quiet it. We'll see if that helps.

-Will
--
850 / Mini

The part hasn't arrived yet, but I am certain the inner tie-rod is the problem.
I was able to feel the creaking with my hand on the tie-rod as someone else
pushed down on the hood. There was no play (in fact, the ball-joint is likely
nearly seized). Pulling the boot to inspect the ball-joint is enough of a
hassle that I want to have the new part ready to install, so I'm waiting on its
arrival.

Hmm, I thought I noticed just a bit of play in the passenger side inner tie-rod...

Nice to hear some validation of my thoughts on temperature dependence.

Thanks,
Will
--
850 / Mini

Replaced the inner tie-rod over the weekend, and it WAS the problem. The car
is creak-free now (though my Rad just started leaking, so I've got that to look
forward to). The ball-joint didn't seem to be rough, but was very tight, and
no grease. I had a torn boot after an alignment a year ago, and it got flooded
with water, so perhaps that ruined the tie-rod.

In any case, very simple to replace, and no alignment required (just measured
the distance from mount-face to end with calipers and ensured that it had the
same length after replacement).