dr_smith

I want to thank Loren and kamran66. I had the repetitive squeak coming from behind the driver's side of the engine (Boxster 986 2002). Sounded so much like a bearing BUT...turned out to be a loose spark plug in the middle cylinder. I had trouble believing it as have owned the car for over a year now and the squeak developed only a couple months ago. The car ran well, not rough, and there is no noticeable smoke coming from the exhaust. However here's the story. Hopefully will save others lots of time and money troubleshooting this elusive problem. Before reading any forums I removed the rear panel and figured it was coming from either the A/C compressor or the power steering pump. I chose to replace the power steering pump ($200+) which was a mini nightmare in itself. Still the squeak was present. I researched the A/C compressor and learned you can't just purchase the A/C clutch separately and the compressor is around $600 or $300 for after market, rebuilt, but removed the A/C clutch anyway and the bearing seemed smooth and not an issue. I then replaced the top idler roller ($100+), even though it turned by hand smoothly but had just a slight noise that the other two rollers didn't. Still the squeak. I finally researched by googling, "Squeaky noise from engine compartment Porsche boxster 2002" and read this and other forums on the subject. One forum had the link to Youtube with the exact sound so I knew I was closing in on it. In one forum, it was suggested to eliminate all the items driven by the serpentine belt simply by removing the belt and running the car for a minute. If the sound persists, it's NOT the items turned by the belt (A/C, Power Steering pump, Water pump, Alternator, Idler rollers/tensioner). What a useful hint! I tried this and the sound persisted so I focused on the engine. Please NOTE: in Park the sound was not there. I had to load the engine slightly by placing in Drive or Reverse; e-brake on of course. However, back to the forums, besides mentioning loose spark plugs, the forums had many members writing that it must be the AOS (air oil separator). Not being a mechanic or even Porsche mechanic for that matter, I had to locate the AOS and could see it was opposite where the sound came from. Also, no smoke was coming out so really doubted the AOS. I decided to change the plugs and hopefully get lucky if one is loose and BINGO, the second plug I removed could be turned out by hand only. I could scarcely believe it. Replaced it and tightened to 22 ft-lbs and sound gone! Turns out, 4 of 6 plugs were loose and only one was torqued to over 40-50 ft-lbs!! Wondering who worked on the car before?? Or is this something that just happens with Boxster 986's?