Mystery noise (audio)

[alexandre]

A little update on this:

Went under the car tonight. Replaced sway bar bushings (the rubber ones, not endlinks). Supported front subframe and replaced all 4 bolts on there, torqued to 110Nm spec.

Where things get more complicated is that the last bolt of the reinforcement brace snapped in the frame. I decided to not waste any time on it, buttoned up everything except the brace and will drop the car off at the shop first thing tomorrow.

The good thing is that over the 2 miles I drove without the brace, the car was dead smooth and no pirate ship noise. Pending removal of the broken bolt and reinstallation of the brace I'm confident this will be the final resolution.

[mLuMaN83]

Nice!

[slater]

So I've been reading about this and most people with this mystery sound traced it to the front subframe or the chassis reinforcement plate. Turns out the latter's 8 bolts are single use. I must have removed and reinstalled them 3-4 times since I've been driving this car...

wow, those are stretch bolts, huh? hmmm. it makes sense that a subframe bolt would be, but not the brace. oh well. ya, i've removed mine a few times, too...

A little update on this:

Went under the car tonight. Replaced sway bar bushings (the rubber ones, not endlinks). Supported front subframe and replaced all 4 bolts on there, torqued to 110Nm spec.

Where things get more complicated is that the last bolt of the reinforcement brace snapped in the frame. I decided to not waste any time on it, buttoned up everything except the brace and will drop the car off at the shop first thing tomorrow.

The good thing is that over the 2 miles I drove without the brace, the car was dead smooth and no pirate ship noise. Pending removal of the broken bolt and reinstallation of the brace I'm confident this will be the final resolution.

nice. so do you think it was the subframe bolts (seems unlikely) or the reinforcement brace bolts that had stretched too much? i can't imagine they would creak if torqued properly, even if they are stretch bolts... but, then again, stranger things have happened.

peter

[UdubBadger]

nice was gonna say i had a similar noise, turned out to be loose strut that needed to be tightened down

[alexandre]

nice. so do you think it was the subframe bolts (seems unlikely) or the reinforcement brace bolts that had stretched too much? i can't imagine they would creak if torqued properly, even if they are stretch bolts... but, then again, stranger things have happened.

peter

There were 3 that were finger tight. That's probably where the creaking is coming from. They were a mess of rust though, so I'm not regretting replacing them.

At the shop right now to get that stud outta there.

[alexandre]

Bolt was drilled out and replaced. Everything put back together, reinforcement plates torqued to spec. Problem is finally solved - car rides smooth as butter now. Been looking forward to this day forever!

[NorCalZman]

wo ho. glad it was fixed! Hopefully neither of us will have to retighten the subframe bolts again in our ownership!

[slater]

There were 3 that were finger tight. That's probably where the creaking is coming from. They were a mess of rust though, so I'm not regretting replacing them.

At the shop right now to get that stud outta there.

which 3 were finger tight - on the subframe or the reinforcement plate?

glad you got it sorted!

peter

[alexandre]

On the plate. While I think Zman's loose ones were on the subframe.