Carpokes Porsche Forum

07turbeaux wrote: Thu Feb 05, 2026 7:51 pm Today I went to the fine folks at Northwest Wheel and Tire in Bend OR and was set up with smaller wheels and tires. I asked them to address the clicking sound coming from the rear of the car. While idling in the air im first gear the clicking was clearly coming from the diff. IN FACT the diff was bouncing a little in sync with the clicking.
So is it possible that a half axle going bad could feedback into the diff? I rotated both wheels manually and the click and bounce was still there.
What is the definitive test to determine axle VS diff. Remove one axle at a time to see if it affects the noise?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Ralph

07turbeaux wrote: Sun Feb 08, 2026 12:51 pm while i have removed axles on P-cars and Beetles it was long ago. Will the axles just drop down if I only remove bolts on trans? Or do I need to remove all four sets of bolts

dr bob wrote: Mon Feb 09, 2026 11:53 am Hi Ralph --

One thing to look hard at is whether those inner CV joints are bolted securely to the drive flanges on the transaxle. More than a few cars have suffered from the CV joint loose on the drive flanges after a 'service' that left the bolts not tight enough. I don't have the 944 torque specs handy. For the stuck-up cousin 928, they are tightened progressively to 60 lbs/feet in an alternating pattern. A telltale of loose bolts there is grease on the outside of the CV housing, leaking past the gaskets.

I've decided that getting those tightened correctly includes a few extensions, enough to get the torque wrench out to the wheelhouse. I use impact-rated Allen drivers.

Reminders: The torque setting includes a reminder that the bolts and the drive flange are lickin' clean and dry. No grease on threads, and that demands that the holes through the inner joint are also perfectly clean. No debris or grease in the socketed drive end either, so the driver can go all the way in. A gun brush and some Brake Clean will help. Wear gloves and eye protection, then get it surgically clean. Inspect the bolts for any damage to the threads while you are there; bolts that have been driven while loose will have worn threads and possibly be bent if they got really loose. Replacement is the only good option, and they should be replaced in identical sets even if just one appears to be damaged. The 60 lbs/feet seems (and feels) like a whole lot for a 10mm bolt diameter with fine threads, but it is essential to keeping all those spinning bits together. Check the actual torque requirement for your car, of course.

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If you car is with you in HDR territory, I'll have room on the lift sometime in April when the cars here get "spring cleaning" done. Makes it a lot easier than crawling under the car a few dozen times to R&R drive flange bolts one or two at a time. I don't like to drive with dirty springs...