Technical The dreaded rear end squeak....

[Scudmonkey]

so last couple of days i've noticed a squeaking noise coming from the back end....given the number of potholes and sleeping policeman round here i'm surprised it has happened sooner TBH.
Checked the most obvious one (rear exhaust mount)...still ok although it is starting to perish a little (new one ordered)....liberally sprayed around rear bushes with Liquid Grease and left it to penetrate......came back after a while and still making the noise.
I'm leaning towards it being knackered shocks, although i'm not 100% sure exactly what to look for with them other then the obvious things like signs of leaks (no sign of leaks i could see).
Tried bouncing the back of the car up & down by standing on the boot lip with the tailgate open(which helped narrow squeak down to drivers side somewhere) but can't really tell if shocks are ok or not this way, also opened bonnet and tried to push the front down in a similar way for comparison. Only thing i can really say is it seems a lot easier to move the back of the car up & down then it does if you try moving the front of the car, front suspension seems much stiffer and more resistant to being moved.
any thoughts would be appreciated

 

[Scudmonkey]

quick update....
Squeak is gone...well it's changed to more of a groaning type noise. I noticed it seems to do it a little when the Handbrake is put on, also if i press the brake pedal when the car is stationary it does it a little.
Pretty sure the shocks are OK as driving the car round today it seems to handle ok and after one pretty rough road didnt notice anything amiss with the suspension (other than getting the groaning noise).
Also the noise doesnt seem to be consistent with the number of bumps i'm going over, more like its doing it when the back of the car moves up or down slightly (such as when it lifts under braking or dips under acceleration).
I'm wondering if it may be due to the Handbrake cable or rear brake mechanism that i'm getting this noise. Anyone got any ideas ?

 

[jimboy]

How long is a piece of string. In all honesty, the wee Puntos are getting on a bit now, & as you have pointed out you've checked the most obvious culprits. Whether it's perished rubber somewhere or tired suspension parts.

If you're really that bothered & seriously wanting to keep the car, I'd set a weekend free, good weather permitting, & strip down/ investigate the rear suspension working s & take it from there. You just never know what you may find......

 

[Ziggy122]

Squeak - usually Handbrake cables rubbing in the mounts - clean and grease them up
Winter wash's them out and fills with crap
Dries out it squeaks

The Rear axle bushings - often culprit, hardly fail tbh though
Give a check - dont lube them though no point really

---

Groaning could forwell be the handbrake shoes as they move
A possible sign that the backplate has corrosion on the friction spots, causing a resistive movement

Ziggy

 

[minifiat]

Check the handbrake cable!

I had an annoying squeak coming from the boot area (whilst driving slowly it sounded like I had an aviary in the back!). Mine turned out to be the handbrake cable coming out of the brackets. I pushed them back in and greased them up and the noise was gone (for a few days).

The noise come back, I looked and the cable had come out of the bracket again (they were quite corroded) so this time I used a cable tie to hold the handbrake cable in the bracket. That was about 6 months ago, and the noise hasn't come back.

If it is that, just be careful not to tighten the cable tie too much, as that can cause premature ageing of the cable apparently.

 

[Scudmonkey]

will be sticking the car up on axle stands at the weekend and having a good look at everything, i did managed to stick it on the stands long enough to rule out the rear bushes as the culprit, lubricated them liberally with liquid grease anyway but every thing seemed tight nothing moved, plus car seems to handle ok no odd movements in any direction, it goes where its steered and stays perfectly straight when it's supposed to.
Decided whilst i got it up on the stands to most likely replace the rear shoes whilst i'm at it, can't hurt anyway (apart from the odd banged knuckle)
Will also (hopefully) be replacing the rear exhaust mount rubber...as long as it arrives before then.
Gonna get to the bottom of this sooner or later..only about 4 things it can be LOL, and i'm pretty sure that isnt Shocks or bushes as the car drives and handles perfectly well

 

[Scudmonkey]

Haha! sussed it.
Driving round today squeak disappeared....to be replaced by a rattle and clunking instead, sounded similar to exhaust clunking i had on a previous Punto.
Quick investigation under the back revealed that the rear exhaust mount which looked Intact the other day has actually split now.
Also had to go up a fairly steep and bumpy hill today, no squeak rattle or any other noise i guess due to the engine being under load
The really good news...the New rubber mount i ordered arrived in the post today

 

[jimboy]

Aye, perished rubber, thought it be that sort of thing somewhere. Glad you got it sussed.

 

[Scudmonkey]

Exhaust rubber replaced, nice quick and easy job that one.....
so decided to check brake shoes while it was up on axle stands....hmmm what a fun job that turned into.
Wheel bolts undone, no issue...remove wheel....wouldnt budge until i clouted it several times from behind with a rubber mallet enough to be able to wobble it and then get it off.....
Brake drum, eventually came off with a horrible black mass of dust (now sitting in a pile on the driveway under the car).
Shoes need doing and rear passenger side trailing shoe has got a crack right across the middle of the brake surface.
Drums are OK tho.
So tomorrow morning its of to fast parts for some shoes...
Guess whilst i'm at it i might get some new front discs as well, last MOT it was an advisory that they were starting to wear, and MOT is due again in next couple of months
the good news, after reassembly quick roadtest and car is a whole lot quieter at the back end now

 

[Scudmonkey]

nice productive morning.....
got new rear brake shoes and new front discs...less then i expected it to cost at £47 total....
Decided while i was at it to go get the rear wheel balancing checked, been getting vibration at the back when the car did between 60-70mph for couple of months now and been putting it off, trip to local Kwik Fit and after being told how much it would cost said go ahead....
20 odd mins later all done, got told No Charge as wheel balance was fine.....
good thing is before they put the wheel on the machine they pulled all the weights off....then checked the balance and put new ones on. Vibration cured and no cost
now IF it will just stop raining i can go do the brakes

 

[flisko]

so squeak noise from the back was cuz of unbalanced tires?

 

[jimboy]

By the sounds of things, there were a number of issues. As I said earlier, when you actually start taking things apart, you really don't know what you may find. Your braking system & suspension should be look at/checked over by ones self at least yearly. On older cars when I'm changing/fixing something, I tend to go that bit more & look at other things while I'm at it. Sounds obvious but I come across so called "busy" people who don't have the time.

 

[Scudmonkey]

The squeak was down to one single thing, rear exhaust rubber. replaced and problem sorted.
The other things were things that needed doing and 1 that i put off as apart from being annoying i could live with it.
Incidentally it stopped raining and jobs all done now.
summary....
1 Squeak - Perished rear exhaust mount, finally split and squeak turned into a clunk as exhaust banged suspension. New rubber mount fitted problem fixed.
2 Wheel Balance - caused vibration between 60-70 mph...Thank you to Kwik Fit for the freebie fix . This was the Item that was liveable with...i either kept the car at 60 or below...or belted it up past 70 as didnt get the issue below or above those speeds.
3 Front Brake Discs - advisory on MOT last year, MOT is in about 2 months so decided to do that one now.
4 Rear shoes - was due for check, just happened to check them while i had car on stands and as it happened they needed replacing.
whilst i was doing the brakes today i also tightened the metal loops holding handbrake cable to the rear suspension.
All jobs done, road tested...all good

 

[Scudmonkey]

so squeak noise from the back was cuz of unbalanced tires?

nope, Rear exhaust mount

 

[jimboy]

Glad you manged to sort things out on your car, please don't think that my observations are directly aimed at yourself SM. I tend to generalize & ramble on a bit when I'm discussing all things associated with motors....

Always glad to hear a happy ending.

 

[Scudmonkey]

well you were quite right...you go to fix 1 thing and of course while your there you check other things too......
always some little job to be done...next one is to repair a hole in the rear bumper from last year, job for another day (hence it isnt fixed yet LOL)

 

[Scudmonkey]

Not completely Happy Ending, but close.
Developed a new noise, a rattle going over speed bumps and potholes (Plenty of both round here) plus what sounds like a creaky spring.....so quick read thru the forum...
https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-cla...change-your-rear-dampers-shock-absorbers.html
...and a quick trip to the car parts place.
Job for the weekend now, going to replace both rear springs and both shocks...was actually surprised that the parts cost a lot less than i was expecting.
AND before someone says this would be a good time to lower the car, some of the roads I have to drive on for my Job require all the ground clearance i can get ! so Lowering it isn't an option

 

[Scudmonkey]

And now i get the Happy ending. 2 New shock Absorbers and 2 new rear springs fitted. I'm Glad i decided to get new springs and replace them at same time as Shocks...turned out the Drivers side spring was broken , but the break wasn't visible until the spring was removed (see attached Photo with the new spring alongside for comparison)...also Shocks were well and truly Knacked, lower one in the photo with the White on it is Drivers side.
New parts make a hell of a difference, either that or they've put a lot more bumps in the road
Good part is no more noise going over the bumpiest road i know of locally ( It has potholes, speed bumps and is generally not a great road surface LOL)

 

[flisko]

no wonder you had that squak, spring is broken

 

[Scudmonkey]

And for the icing on the cake.....
Car went for MOT today.........straight thru not even 1 advisory