so I'm driving the 914 around today...

Plano does NOT have the smoothest roads, there's tons of bumps that are expansion joints where the roads were repaired, etc...

every bump is causing a squeak in my car... sounds like it's coming very near my driver's side door, or a little behind. hi-pitched, short squeak.

any ideas?

also, my driver's side door decided to lock me out for a bit I had locked it when I went into work, and when I came out the key wouldn't turn in the unlock direction... turns fine in the lock direction...

so I climbed in from the pass. side, the door still wouldn't open... so I gave up started the car... try once more... opens right up...

anyone ever seen this before?

have you lubricated the front upper suspension bushings recently?

no, but it sounds to be coming from the rear... I'll check that today tho.

Targa top

Hopefully not a crack in the long, but might be wise to inspect for them to be sure. Seems I recall the area around the ebrake handle recess being a spot that cracks happen.

......shocks..??

check everything above!! ..and beyond
BTW.....congrats Gearge!

targa top could be the ticket... I took it off the other day, and it wasn't squeaking, but today(top back on) it was...

I also thought it could be the shocks, I have Bilstiens in the rear with shorter 100lb springs...

longs are rust free I've been through the car over the years on a rust search and destroy mission, and was pretty please with the lack of bad rust.

Mine does the same thing. It's the targa top. And McKinney streets are just as bad as Plano.

Just to clarify, the long cracking Rand was referring to is not rust related!
It's a stress crack at the lower portion of the hand-brake recess in the long.

It's always a good idea to inspect that area from time to time. I have seen many 914s crack there ...
Andy

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=68367

I suggest you turn up the radio...fixes alot

Rich

I don't think early chassis' crack there. The redesign to accomodate the altered parking brake handle created a stress riser that the factory engineers never counted on. not sure exactly when the change occurred.

Top on, squeek, top off no squeek. My money is on the targa top rear seal. This was th purpose of the " fuzzy " on the seal. For the most part it's not an issue, but if it really bothers you, I can sent you some fuzzy to glue on. It's kind of a pain, and is hard to glue on and keep straght, but it it's the problem it will take care of it.

Just PM me with your address and I'll send out Friday.

I don't think it's likely to be a chassis crack, it just came to mind and I figured I would mention it because it's a remote possibility and worth inspecting occasionally anyway. A good thing for all of us to be aware of.

If it doesn't squeak with the top off, mystery solved.

it was 80 here today, so I was able to test on the way home... it was the top

Or was the wind drowning out the squeak

My guess at the squeak......refried beans.

no, that would have worried me about backfire

Two cures I've used for squeaky tops:

1. A drop of glyscerin on the surface that sit into the rear targa bar. Most pharmacies carry small bottles of Glyscerin.

2. Cut short strips of rubber from an old bike innertube and set them into the targa bar area where the top pieces sit ( rear left and right ). Felt works too.

ok, it WANT the top... I took the top off the other day, no squeak, top-off today... squeak... but not as loud... I maybe didn't notice it the other day because of my 2k idle, that I fixed today...

I'll check the front torsion bars when I do the 5 lug in a week or 2