mchristyuk
Junior Member
- Messages
- 668
... well hopefully a fix, even if temporary until my new parts turn up. But hopefully this will be of some use to others with a squeaky suspension!
My 3200 hadn't been used very much in the past 12 months when I bought it and I knew the suspension would be dried out a bit, so wasn't unduly concerned with some squeaking here and there. Having owned an Alfa 156 I know all about the quality of Fiat bushings...
I spent time going round lubricating all the bushes and joints and got a pretty quiet ride, apart from the rear right suspension.
They symptoms were a good creak and squeak over bumps and just general road undulations, but only below about 10 miles per hour. It would also get worse as the car warmed up, so I guessed it was a bushing somewhere near the exhaust path. Also when hot and parked up I could make it squeak by bouncing the suspension.. and then also make it stop if I kept bouncing the rear of the car.. very odd.
I've been tearing my hair out over it as I didn't want to start replacing expensive parts if there's nothing wrong with what's there and it's been utterly elusive to me as no amount of lubrication anywhere has had any effect!
That was until I started grabbing things in frustration underneath the car and pulling on them with all my might. Grabbing the right rear drop link I got a good "errrk" out of it. Hmm.. went round to the left side, perfectly free and smooth to move about.. back to the right hand side, couldn't shift it at all.. stuck fast.
Looked closer and the rubber boot at the bottom of the drop link had split.. therefore I guess the inside of the ball joint in the drop link was all rusted up.
Therefore I filled the drop link with WD40 for half an hour, and then packed it back out with grease. Whilst not as free as the left hand side I can at least move it now!
Gone for a drive.. and... bliss!... so far anyway... fingers crossed that's done it. Will obviously be replacing with a new drop link when they turn up in the post. But for now I can enjoy some squeak free motoring!
Cheers
Mark
My 3200 hadn't been used very much in the past 12 months when I bought it and I knew the suspension would be dried out a bit, so wasn't unduly concerned with some squeaking here and there. Having owned an Alfa 156 I know all about the quality of Fiat bushings...
I spent time going round lubricating all the bushes and joints and got a pretty quiet ride, apart from the rear right suspension.
They symptoms were a good creak and squeak over bumps and just general road undulations, but only below about 10 miles per hour. It would also get worse as the car warmed up, so I guessed it was a bushing somewhere near the exhaust path. Also when hot and parked up I could make it squeak by bouncing the suspension.. and then also make it stop if I kept bouncing the rear of the car.. very odd.
I've been tearing my hair out over it as I didn't want to start replacing expensive parts if there's nothing wrong with what's there and it's been utterly elusive to me as no amount of lubrication anywhere has had any effect!
That was until I started grabbing things in frustration underneath the car and pulling on them with all my might. Grabbing the right rear drop link I got a good "errrk" out of it. Hmm.. went round to the left side, perfectly free and smooth to move about.. back to the right hand side, couldn't shift it at all.. stuck fast.
Looked closer and the rubber boot at the bottom of the drop link had split.. therefore I guess the inside of the ball joint in the drop link was all rusted up.
Therefore I filled the drop link with WD40 for half an hour, and then packed it back out with grease. Whilst not as free as the left hand side I can at least move it now!
Gone for a drive.. and... bliss!... so far anyway... fingers crossed that's done it. Will obviously be replacing with a new drop link when they turn up in the post. But for now I can enjoy some squeak free motoring!
Cheers
Mark
