Q – My 2002 Boxster has a squealing noise in the rear end. I take pride in maintaining my car in top condition and I am also an engineer. Things like this really annoy me. My wife is also an engineer. I have spent a lot of money on this car and I want to keep it. If I cannot get this problem solved, she wants me to sell the car and buy a Toyota. When I had the car in for other work, they could not find it. Then I took it to another shop, squealing all the way, but when I arrived, the noise was GONE! I was astounded and took a ride…no noise! I do not want to replace my Boxster with a Toyota! I want to take my wife on a ride with me and not worry that the car may fall apart. Larry
A – Subtle symptoms are tough. And when they are intermittent…Good Luck! I have tried to experience problems with thousands of cars that refused to cooperate. This is a serious problem that can cause people to sell their cars!
Inside the car while driving, wind noise, engine sounds and traffic make it very difficult to discern the nature of the noise and location. Test drives exceeding a hundred miles are not unheard of. With the price of gas and the value of time, you have to consider “outside the box” methods. Solid state video cameras and recorders are cheap and can be suction cupped or attached to cars to make cool videos or…capture intermittent events! By strategically placing recording devices on your car, the problem might be isolated. By posting the sound or video on a tech site, you might even find that your problem is not that uncommon in the world of the web. The engineers who designed your car had it wired for sound in hundreds of places. But you knew that…you are an engineer. So take heart, the problem will be found. MC