Creaking noise when steering

mickger844posts

A week ago i started to hear a creaking noise when steering. It only happens when turning a corner at very low speeds.
I noticed in the morning you can barely hear the sound but as the day gets warmers it becomes louder.
I brought it to a well known garage chain to get it checked and they couldn't find anything wrong with it.
I've driven around the last week or so with no issues just the noise.Its annoying and putting me off driving long distances in case its serious.
Any ideas to what the problem might be or where to start checking??
The car is a Peugeot 307 05.

Cheers

corks finest

mickger844posts wrote: »

A week ago i started to hear a creaking noise when steering. It only happens when turning a corner at very low speeds.
I noticed in the morning you can barely hear the sound but as the day gets warmers it becomes louder.
I brought it to a well known garage chain to get it checked and they couldn't find anything wrong with it.
I've driven around the last week or so with no issues just the noise.Its annoying and putting me off driving long distances in case its serious.
Any ideas to what the problem might be or where to start checking??
The car is a Peugeot 307 05.

Cheers

Something needs a bit of spray

mickger844posts

corks finest wrote: »

Something needs a bit of spray

Seems that way alright but where to spray and what to spray it with is the question.
Yesterday by the end of the day it was very noticeable when turning left or right at slow speeds.
Seems in the heat of the day and general use of the car the affected area heats up and expands causing the noise to gets louder.

biko

Try other garages.
Did the first one hear the noise but still not find the source?
It could be anything, my guess is to change the power steering fluid.

air

I've noticed exactly the same issue on a Fiat Doblo, I suspect it may be the steering rack mounts.
It is also only present when temperatures are warm.
It has been there for over a year and has been through the CVRT with no issues reported.

mickger844posts

biko wrote: »

Try other garages.
Did the first on hear the noise but still not find the source?
It could be anything, my guess is to change the power steering fluid.

I suspect they didn’t hear the noise as it was early in the morning and not very noticeable. They said they checked anything it might be and all looked ok. Also I had the car serviced in April and passed the NCT.

Thanks Air for the info about you’re Fiat.

Going forward if it gets worse I will wait until the sound is bad and then bring it to a local mechanic and get him to check it.

Thanks for the helpful replies

Three More Big Sleeps

mickger844posts wrote: »

A week ago i started to hear a creaking noise when steering. It only happens when turning a corner at very low speeds.
I noticed in the morning you can barely hear the sound but as the day gets warmers it becomes louder.

I had very similar symptoms on a Rover many moons ago. (Navigating ramps in a multi-storey car park was an embarrassing nightmare.)

Advice at the time suggested I replace the anti-roll-bar rubber bushes (factory and mostly perished) with new PU bushes. Whilst I was doing that, I discovered that one bushing end of the nearside ARB drop link had sheared. As far as I can recall, this shearing was not apparent on initial visual inspection.

Perhaps another thing to consider?

BrianD3

Does it do it when you turn the wheel when stationary or when moving at slow speeds or both. Depending on the answer I would be looking at strut top mount or CV joint. I've had cars pass the NCT with sounds emanating from both. Also the fact that a well known chain can't find anything wrong is not necessarily indicative of anything.

If it is making the noise while stationary, get someone to turn the wheel while you hold the spring under the wheel arch. At some point in the movement you may feel a kind of shudder from the spring corresponding to your creaking noise. That could indicate a bad top mount or broken coil spring.

mickger844posts

BrianD3 wrote: »

Does it do it when you turn the wheel when stationary or when moving at slow speeds or both. Depending on the answer I would be looking at strut top mount or CV joint. I've had cars pass the NCT with sounds emanating from both. Also the fact that a well known chain can't find anything wrong is not necessarily indicative of anything.

If it is making the noise while stationary, get someone to turn the wheel while you hold the spring under the wheel arch. At some point in the movement you may feel a kind of shudder from the spring corresponding to your creaking noise. That could indicate a bad top mount or broken coil spring.

Does it both stationary and moving at slow speeds.
Thanks for the advice. I will try what you suggested.
I know a local mechanic who was on holidays last week who would have more time to troubleshoot the problem than the chain garages.
I brought it for a spin this afternoon and could barely hear the creaking at all. Today has been cooler than of late with no sun so maybe that’s the reason why.
Anyway I will check it out again tomorrow in warmer conditions hopefully.

BrianD3

mickger844posts wrote: »

Does it both stationary and moving at slow speeds.
Thanks for the advice. I will try what you suggested.
I know a local mechanic who was on holidays last week who would have more time to troubleshoot the problem than the chain garages.
I brought it for a spin this afternoon and could barely hear the creaking at all. Today has been cooler than of late with no sun so maybe that’s the reason why.
Anyway I will check it out again tomorrow in warmer conditions hopefully.

As it makes the noise when stationary it probably isn't the CV joint.

You could get a hairdryer and warm the the top of the strut slightly and then do as I advised above. It may be that there is just enough wear in the mounting that when the rubber softens with heat, it makes the noise.

mickger844posts

BrianD3 wrote: »

As it makes the noise when stationary it probably isn't the CV joint.

You could get a hairdryer and warm the the top of the strut slightly and then do as I advised above. It may be that there is just enough wear in the mounting that when the rubber softens with heat, it makes the noise.

That’s a great idea. Will try that. In you’re opinion is there anything dangerous about driving the car with a problem like this??

Sam Quentin

Sounds like a bushing to me,. doesn't necessarily need replacing!? Spray grease on all the front suspension bushings/rubber mounts(you'll see them)grease not WD40....

biko

When you say grease you mean something like Lithium yeah?


OP, it looks like this

mickger844posts

Sam Quentin wrote: »

Sounds like a bushing to me,. doesn't necessarily need replacing!? Spray grease on all the front suspension bushings/rubber mounts(you'll see them)grease not WD40....

Brought it to another mechanic a few days ago and he said more or less the same. He said the very dry and warm weather probably a contributing factor.
I did spray WD40 but obviously useless in the scenario.
Is the above Lithium grease spray what I need??
Cheers

biko

Yes, lithium grease is great for anything metal to metal but also for bushings.

mickger844posts

biko wrote: »

Yes, lithium grease is great for anything metal to metal but also for bushings.

Cheers, will give that a try

mickger844posts

biko wrote: »

Yes, lithium grease is great for anything metal to metal but also for bushings.

Would I need to steer lock in order to get at the bushings?? Is where I need to spray below the coil spring??? Got the spray by the way

mickger844posts

mickger844posts wrote: »

Would I need to steer lock in order to get at the bushings?? Is where I need to spray below the coil spring??? Got the spray by the way

I did steer lock in order to get in behind the wheel and spray any joints there. Sprayed some on the coil spring also but no change. Still the same creaking sound.
Somewhere in the steering/suspension mechanism a joint is creaking but finding it remains the problem. Very frustrating trying to find out where it is.

biko

Yeah, it's frustrating alright but just keep at it and hopefully you'll catch it.
Without actually being there to listen there isn't much else we can do for you.

mickger844posts

biko wrote: »

Yeah, it's frustrating alright but just keep at it and hopefully you'll catch it.
Without actually being there to listen there isn't much else we can do for you.

I’ll keep at it and appreciate the help the forum has provided thus far.

mickger844posts

Just an update in case anyone else has a similar problem. Brought it to a different garage and it turned out the Top Shock Mount on the drivers side was worn and needed replacing.
Job done and all good now.