ausmini :: View topic - Mouse in my car (squeak squeak)

Its sure to be the nylonn cups the knuckle joints sit in. PIA to change but makes the car so much quieter.

Just for the sake of it - give the whole car a grease - dry joints also squeak. The grease nipples positions are in the manuals.

update: I have greased the car and it helped for a while, so this made me think it might be the knuckle cups like Mike suggested and that greasing the upper suspension arm had lubricated them to help stop the squeaking.

So I made a rubber cone compressor and got the trumpet + ball joint out, and I'm stuck trying to get the old knuckle cup out. Is there a trick to this? so far i have pulled out about 6 pieces of the old cup but haven't managed to get it all out yet. I don't think it is worn through either, but I will replace it anyway when i get it out.

Would poking a hole in it help? if the cavity underneath is filled with grease then it may be sticking in the grease and letting air in should help.

Contrary to popular belief, there is NO lube provided for that knuckle joint nylon cup.
The top arm nipple doesn't grease it.
All the cup gets is the 1 or 2ml of grease the joint came with.
But....
There is a way to grease them without disassembly.
I bought a grease needle from Toolworks. Basically it's a hollow needle with a sharp point cut at an angle, and a grease nipple in the other end.
You pierce the boot with the needle then give it 1 or 2 shots (no more) from the grease gun.

Also useful for regreasing sealed joints on modern cars that have no nipple.

Author:	richarde [ Fri Dec 29, 2006 6:35 pm ]
Post subject:	Mouse in my car (squeak squeak)
My Mini has developed an annoying squeak from the front left suspension The noise sounds like it is from rubber rubbing on something. the noise usually occurs when i am travelling pretty slow (around 30km/h or so) and nearly always occurs when i am slowing down for a corner or cornering. if i am just travelling along at slow speeds it squeaks too. the noise is continuous and sometimes it seems to be in related to the rotation of the tyre, kind of like there is something stuck in the tread, but there isn't. The noise also seems to occur more when i am turning left (so there is less load on the left suspension which seems to be making the noise). I took that wheel off and had a poke around and most of the rubber boots and bushes and whatever seem to be in ok condition. The rubber bush where the lower suspension arm joins the chassis is in bad condition though and the tie rod squeaks when i wobble it. I put WD40 on these two parts and it helped a bit (or maybe that was just my imagination ) Does anyone have any other ideas on what it could be? I would have thought that if it was the rubber bush on the suspension arm then it would squeak more everytime i go over a bump, but this doesn't seem to be the case. my car has drum brakes as well, and it makes the noise regardless of whether i am braking or not.

Author:	Lillee [ Fri Dec 29, 2006 6:43 pm ]
Post subject:
Does it do that at idle? Try this, turn engine on, and push down or brace the top right engine steady...

Author:	richarde [ Fri Dec 29, 2006 6:57 pm ]
Post subject:
nope. it only does it while i am moving. i will check out the engine steady though, because it doesn't do it much when i am accelerating

Author:	Lillee [ Fri Dec 29, 2006 6:59 pm ]
Post subject:
It may be that it only does it when the engine is vibrating. Mine did this for ages, and I could not figure it out until I changed the top left steady and hey presto! mouse gone!

Author:	Mini Mad [ Fri Dec 29, 2006 7:09 pm ]
Post subject:
Possibly the knuckle joint is worn..

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Author:	richarde [ Fri Dec 29, 2006 7:17 pm ]
Post subject:
i thought it might be the knuckle joints, but i would have thought that would make a different noise and not be so frequent? I might try replacing some of the engine steady rubbers tomorrow if i can get some new ones from coventrys (the mini shop i usually go to is closed at the moment). These rubbers aren't looking that great either

Author:	Mike_Byron [ Fri Dec 29, 2006 7:34 pm ]
Post subject:
Its sure to be the nylonn cups the knuckle joints sit in. PIA to change but makes the car so much quieter. Just for the sake of it - give the whole car a grease - dry joints also squeak. The grease nipples positions are in the manuals.

Author:	richarde [ Fri Dec 29, 2006 8:03 pm ]
Post subject:
Mike_Byron wrote: Its sure to be the nylonn cups the knuckle joints sit in. PIA to change but makes the car so much quieter. Just for the sake of it - give the whole car a grease - dry joints also squeak. The grease nipples positions are in the manuals. I was planning on greasing up the car too, but hadn't got round to it yet I am buying a grease gun and grease tomorrow, so then i can sort that out. I wouldn't have thought that the knuckle joints would squeak as much as mine is squeaking - it squeaks almost all the time when i am travelling slowly. it might be doing it when i am travelling fast too, just i can't hear it. I have some nylon cups around, and was planning on replacing them, but i need to make a rubber spring compressor first. i might have to do that tomorrow too.

Author:	Mini Mike [ Fri Dec 29, 2006 8:38 pm ]
Post subject:
maybe its a mouse? just a thought

Author:	richarde [ Mon Jan 15, 2007 5:00 pm ]
Post subject:
update: I have greased the car and it helped for a while, so this made me think it might be the knuckle cups like Mike suggested and that greasing the upper suspension arm had lubricated them to help stop the squeaking. So I made a rubber cone compressor and got the trumpet + ball joint out, and I'm stuck trying to get the old knuckle cup out. Is there a trick to this? so far i have pulled out about 6 pieces of the old cup but haven't managed to get it all out yet. I don't think it is worn through either, but I will replace it anyway when i get it out. Would poking a hole in it help? if the cavity underneath is filled with grease then it may be sticking in the grease and letting air in should help.

Author:	AEG163job [ Mon Jan 15, 2007 5:10 pm ]
Post subject:
try some subtle heat on the u/c arm with a propane jet. The plastic cup should collapse/fold in on itself. Wipe off any oil/grease first.

Author:	richarde [ Mon Jan 15, 2007 5:21 pm ]
Post subject:
I don't have a propane jet I may be able to borrow one though. I guess i could use a lighter, but it will probably take all day

Author:	drmini in aust [ Mon Jan 15, 2007 8:06 pm ]
Post subject:
richarde wrote: update: I have greased the car and it helped for a while, so this made me think it might be the knuckle cups like Mike suggested and that greasing the upper suspension arm had lubricated them to help stop the squeaking. So I made a rubber cone compressor and got the trumpet + ball joint out, and I'm stuck trying to get the old knuckle cup out. Is there a trick to this? so far i have pulled out about 6 pieces of the old cup but haven't managed to get it all out yet. I don't think it is worn through either, but I will replace it anyway when i get it out. Would poking a hole in it help? if the cavity underneath is filled with grease then it may be sticking in the grease and letting air in should help. Contrary to popular belief, there is NO lube provided for that knuckle joint nylon cup. The top arm nipple doesn't grease it. All the cup gets is the 1 or 2ml of grease the joint came with. But.... There is a way to grease them without disassembly. I bought a grease needle from Toolworks. Basically it's a hollow needle with a sharp point cut at an angle, and a grease nipple in the other end. You pierce the boot with the needle then give it 1 or 2 shots (no more) from the grease gun. Also useful for regreasing sealed joints on modern cars that have no nipple.

Author:	richarde [ Tue Jan 16, 2007 10:54 am ]
Post subject:
drmini in aust wrote: Contrary to popular belief, there is NO lube provided for that knuckle joint nylon cup. The top arm nipple doesn't grease it. All the cup gets is the 1 or 2ml of grease the joint came with. But.... There is a way to grease them without disassembly. I bought a grease needle from Toolworks. Basically it's a hollow needle with a sharp point cut at an angle, and a grease nipple in the other end. You pierce the boot with the needle then give it 1 or 2 shots (no more) from the grease gun. Also useful for regreasing sealed joints on modern cars that have no nipple. Thanks for setting me straight doc. I found that out when i got the knuckle cup out I got the knuckle cup out by spraying deodorant into it and lighting it on fire . Then I levered it and jabbed it with a screwdriver until i deformed it enough to get it out. It definitely isn't worn through, so now i think the squeak is from the connection between the lower control arm and the subframe because the rubbers look pretty bad on that connection. So that is my next fun job - getting the lower control arm off the bolt that connects it to the subframe.

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Author:	richarde [ Tue Jan 16, 2007 8:30 pm ]
Post subject:
now i got the lower control arm out. The bushes weren't too trashed, but one of them definitely needs replacing, and i may as well do both just for good measure. The pivot for where the lower control arm joins the subframe is worn a bit as well, but i don't know if it is bad enough that it needs replacing. Here are some pics: http://img403.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 002xo3.jpg http://img100.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 005hx5.jpg What does everyone think - does it need replacing, or can i get away with putting it back together as-is?