mrcheeseman

[check that all the spark plugs are properly tighten and not broken. had the same happed to me and I was chasing the squeak for a month. So took to dealer , ends up being 2 loose and one broken sparkplug. Replaced and on the road...

My car (2000 Boxster S, 42,000 miles, 6-speed manual) has developed a chirp, or squeak, at startup, idle, and low RPM. It is rhythmic and varies with engine speed. It will happen in gear or out of gear, moving or not, but the engine must be running. I cannot replicate the noise by simply prying or shaking the engine. I cannot replicate the noise by pushing the car forward or backwards in gear with the engine off.

Here is a quick video that demonstrates the noise quite well.

Right click, save as

The noise appears to emanate from the left rear of the car. It is very loud in the driver's rear wheel well. Removing the wheel, it seems to be occuring near or above the head of the motor on the driver's side. I put a screwdriver blade on the valve cover with the handle end in my ear (cheap mechanic's stethoscope), and the squeak doesn't appear to be an internal engine part (good news).

I removed the front access panel and the noise doesn't appear to be coming from the belt area. Nonetheless I removed and checked the belt and it looks fine, and all the pulleys and tensioners spin freely and smoothly. It is unaffected by having the A/C on, and unaffected by me turning the steering wheel.

The interesting part is it appears to be much worse with the oil cap removed. I get moderate suction from the oil fill tube with the motor idling... not enough to suck my hand down painfully but there is a bit of suction there. I have a puddle of oil under the throttle body and there is oil in the AOS tube leading to the manifold past the throttle body. I get a bit of oil smoke on startup occasionally, but no CELs and no oil while driving. I have heard that the AOS failing can cause a squeak - does it sound like what is on my video?

Last bit of info - I changed out the driver's side spark plug tubes and o-rings last week. I cleaned that valve cover with solvent to get the old oil off of it. Is it possible this is related to that? I can't see how it would be, unless solvent got somewhere it shouldn't have.

Thanks for any help!

How about this. The V-lever is flat.

thanks. that's what i was afraid of. Mine did not break. Maybe I can heat them and straighten them out. Looks like they may me cast iron.

How about this. The V-lever is flat.

thanks. that's what i was afraid of. Mine did not break. Maybe I can heat them and straighten them out. Looks like they may me cast iron.

Can anyone give me a picture of the convertible tops transmission arm. This is the arm connected to the transmission with the two ball ends. I believe mine are bent. All pictures I have seen are from a top view of the arm on the transmission and I can not tell if they have a bend in them.. I need a side view. thanks