I'm getting a rubber squishing squeak type of noise. The mods were done in the summer and there wasn't any noise then. I'm getting the noise now in colder weather. My local garage looked at the car and can not find anything obviously wrong with the front suspension. The Hotchkis sway bars are still well greased. The tech did spray a lube (wd40 I think) on many parts of the front suspension, focusing on bushings. And the noise did go away for about a day, and over the last two weeks the noise has returned but to less of a degree. But I want to totally eliminate it.

I had an appt booked at the dealership as per my garage's recommendation but I decided not to go. I am paranoid about them taking a long time to diagnose and taking the complete front end apart. I was hoping to get some ideas off this board first. I would be willing to replace some parts in a trial and error type of situation to see how it goes. Replace with after market parts - might as well get some better performance while I'm at it. From all the searching I've done, I'm thinking of replacing the endlinks and the compression bushing. Does that sound like a good plan?

 

If it went away briefly when lubricated with WD40 and then returned, than it seems you may have a lubrication issue. It tends to become more prominent in colder weather. However, bushings on your car should not be lubricated with WD40 as it's not really designed for that and as you now know will quickly dissipate and the squeak will come back.

If you have silicone or urethane bushings, use silicone based grease. It doesn't wash away easily and doesn't dissipate like a spray type lube. My money is on the sway bar bushings that you said are well greased. Did you check them for yourself? How sure are you that they are well greased? They are very easy to lubricate if you used the grease zerks that come with them. Pump the silicone grease in until it starts to squeeze out. Then take it for a test drive and see if your noise is still there. Even if it is, it wasn't difficult and doesn't take long to do. And you've completely eliminated that as the problem. If you have done this already, disregard my rant and check the area where the upper strut mount touches the chassis.

 

I have not checked the grease on the sway bar personally. I'll take it back to my garage and tell them I want it done regardless of what they think. I'll have them check the upper strut mount too while its in the garage. What exactly should I tell them to look for in that regard?

 

Put some synthetic mobil 1 grease on the sway bar bushing...odds are its that because the aftermarket sway bar bushings are poly urethane and have a tendency to squeak in colder temps...

PS: wd-40 will only work temporarily until it wears off. you need good grease like mobil 1 synthetic grease OR:

http://www.spohn.net/shop/1982-1992-...FYqZ4AodfVYASw

thats what i use

 

Whether you lowered it with springs or coilovers, there is a gasket that goes between the upper strut mount and the body. It's very thin and easy to lose or break. It looks unimportant. However if it is missing there it can sometimes (not always) cause suspension noise. It looks exactly like this:



I just found that photo in a Google search, the part number on it may not be the right part number for your application, I think that's from a 240 I think. But it looks exactly like the one pictured.

 

Excuse my newby-ness, but is it easy to look for the existence of the gasket? Can I see it without it being on a hoist? And without taking anything apart?

 

The only way to tell is to raise the car, loosen all 3 nuts on top of the strut mount as much as you can without taking them off of the studs (don't remove them all the way), pull down on the strut assembly so that it lowers a bit, then go back up top to look and see if the gasket is in place. If so, you'll see it. It looks exactly like the on I posted the photo of. It sits atop the upper strut mount and goes around the 3 studs that you loosened the nuts from.

 

BB, i recall you mention a particular type of grease for the sways. I'm still using some Amsoil synth but would like to give that a try. Mind repeating which one it was you used? Was it the one from HF?

Thanks.