noise after maintenance

[porschpow]

After I got my oil change done, I lubed up the front end. It was nice for a few days,

Now going to work this morning (in this crappy rain/ice storm we're having), I have noticed every time I turn my steering wheel, or if the the suspension hits bumps in the road, I hear the groaning/squeaking in the front end.

I have heard, that the aeros have these problems, this true?

[porschpow]

None of my joints are greasable so i had to get a speaical needle fitting to grease in my boots (which are in pretty bad shape, so ised a lot of grease- as a barrier)

[IPreferDIY]

... I have heard, that the aeros have these problems, this true?

I doubt it, unless it has poly bushings. How many miles on it? And what all has been changed on it?

Here's what I recall happening when my 2000 MGM had lots of creaking around the driver's side lower ball joint at around 105,000 miles in 2013/2014:
1. changed the front ball joints, steering joints, and stabilizer bar links -- still had noise from a lower control arm bushing on the driver's side
2. changed the lower control arm bushings on the front end -- noticed that upper control arm bushings were done, probably still heard some noise in the front, also heard creaking in ass end and experienced lots of sway in high wind at red light
3. changed upper control arm bushings in the front and all control arms and Watts link in the rear -- still heard noise in the front
4. changed front and rear stabilizer bar bushings -- the front stabilizer bar was obviously worn and its bushings (the only poly bushings on my car) caused some creaking for a little while, but I guess they finally settled in since no more creaking

I never bothered with springs or shock. The front end is still fine, but I could use some shocks in the rear at this point.

[porschpow]

60k miles on it.97 lincoln town car just got the car this past november, so nothin really changed on it suspension wise. I did notice the boots are pretty torn up, that is why i put an abundant amount of grease in around the boot to create a seal.

I do suspect it might have (the creak) come from the idler arm, or stabilizer. I just find it weird that it does this AFTER I grease the ball joints!!

[DerekTheGreat]

60k miles on it.97 lincoln town car just got the car this past november, so nothin really changed on it suspension wise. I did notice the boots are pretty torn up, that is why i put an abundant amount of grease in around the boot to create a seal.

I do suspect it might have (the creak) come from the idler arm, or stabilizer. I just find it weird that it does this AFTER I grease the ball joints!!

I was getting a creaking sound going over bumps and stuff too, turned out to be sway bar links but I've got a box. Torn up boots sound no good, better replace all of that stuff and consider it done for the next ten years or so.

[porschpow]

I know , I need to set up a time to get them done, either that or have someone get it done (Scott or John, looking at you)

But when I get that done, I was going to do shocks, springs, upper and lower control arm sets (with bushings and joints included)

For now, I put a generous amount of grease to act as a barrier for the winter

[LithiumCobalt]

Mileage means nothing on these cars. It's all about the age. Consider a '97 is 18 years old. With all of these joints being "lubed for life" the grease has done dried out by now. Even with little mileage, they are in all likelihood rusted on the inside and binding. That's why you hear the squeaking when you turn the wheel or go over bumps. With no way to grease them properly, the only solution is replacement. My advice, get joints that are greaseable to prevent this going forward. Experienced this on both of my 96 Town Cars. One had 61k miles and one had 82k on it. Although both joints were still tight, they squeaked like a son of a bitch. I suspect the packed rust flakes in the joint is what made them appear to be serviceable still. Changed them out, no more squeak.

[porschpow]

UPDATE to creaking noise

I noticed it would stop doing it if you kept on turning the steering wheel back and forth and it would go away randomly.


When it started doing it again I did the bounce test on the front end. I didn't notice it much on the driver's side, BUT MAN did it do it a lot on the passenger side, which leads me to believe it could be the idler shaft.

Also it would be more pronounced when I turned the wheel at a standstill

[pantera77]

Mileage means nothing on these cars. It's all about the age. Consider a '97 is 18 years old. With all of these joints being "lubed for life" the grease has done dried out by now. Even with little mileage, they are in all likelihood rusted on the inside and binding. That's why you hear the squeaking when you turn the wheel or go over bumps. With no way to grease them properly, the only solution is replacement. My advice, get joints that are greaseable to prevent this going forward. Experienced this on both of my 96 Town Cars. One had 61k miles and one had 82k on it. Although both joints were still tight, they squeaked like a son of a bitch. I suspect the packed rust flakes in the joint is what made them appear to be serviceable still. Changed them out, no more squeak.

Yep, rust is a very poor lubricant, and a grease needle is not going to get the grease where it actually needs to be.

[porschpow]

I can't find lower control arms that have greasable joints, I was just going to buy the Moogs Part # RK80709 and RK80708 control arm kits and tap and drill a hole for a zerk fiting

The sounds it makes sounds like metal rubbing and rubber though (on the right side)

[gadget73]

Yep, rust is a very poor lubricant, and a grease needle is not going to get the grease where it actually needs to be.

this. The grease needs to come in from the bottom, not where the boot is.


The sealed joints aren't really that big of a problem. If you aren't cleaning off your fittings, greasing it likely does more harm than good anyway with all the dirt that gets shoved in there.

[IPreferDIY]

FWIW, when I did my prior post, I had forgotten that I had also done the rear stabilizer bar links and that the new link bushings are polys too.

Mileage means nothing on these cars. It's all about the age. Consider a '97 is 18 years old. With all of these joints being "lubed for life" the grease has done dried out by now. Even with little mileage, they are in all likelihood rusted on the inside and binding. That's why you hear the squeaking when you turn the wheel or go over bumps. With no way to grease them properly, the only solution is replacement. My advice, get joints that are greaseable to prevent this going forward. Experienced this on both of my 96 Town Cars. One had 61k miles and one had 82k on it. Although both joints were still tight, they squeaked like a son of a bitch. I suspect the packed rust flakes in the joint is what made them appear to be serviceable still. Changed them out, no more squeak.

My father had figured the rubber in the bushings would degrade over time regardless of mileage too. I don't know enough about rubber to express an opinion, but it makes sense.

Yep, rust is a very poor lubricant, and a grease needle is not going to get the grease where it actually needs to be.

For the lower ball joints, a possible temporary fix is to use one of those syringes that come with some inkjet refill kits and squirt a suitable oil in through a tiny hole in the boot. The oil would presumably seep down into the joint and soften up the grease. Here's a post with a pic:

http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/showthread.php?51153-Creaking-squealy-grating-sound-coming-from-front-underneath-car&p=729193&viewfull=1#post729193

[porschpow]

I will eventually change everything, but for now, that squeak has got to go.

I do notice that when I turn the steering wheel lock to lock a few times, it goes away.

I got home last night, sprayed the idler arm (around the bushings) with liquid wrench super silicone spray and what do you know, it went away.....only to come back again in the morning. A temporary fix I guess

As for the stabilizer links (which by the way look so much different then the box ones), I did grease them, but will be looking at changing them

I will consider using a syringe with a certain oil (something thin 5 W 20)
Yes I was thinking of th

[LithiumCobalt]

The sealed joints aren't really that big of a problem.

I'd respectfully disagree with that. Ball joints that are squealing at 60k miles is ridiculous. Were they greaseable, I doubt the rusting and squealing would have occurred at such a low mileage. It really contributes to premature wear. Now, granted, the manufacturer probably didn't build the car for those instances where the car would only rack up 40,000 miles in 15 years, but still. In the interest of being able to call it "maintenance free" they really did a disservice.

[porschpow]

i don't think its my ball joints squeeling, it sounds like its a metal on rubber noise.

When i sprayed silicone spray on the idler arm, it went away.

ON A SIDE NOTE - I really wish they had lower control arms with greasable joints!!