Forgive me if this is a topic previously discussed, I ran a search but found nothing similar. I'm experiencing something on my '04 S which hasn't ever occured in its 49,000 mile history. It only happens in the morning, and the mornings here in So Cal have not been cold, basically around 65 degrees.

When turning the steering wheel the right front strut top is squeaking and you can feel a grind vibration if you place your hand atop the strut tower (coming from right underneath the little plastic cap). The car is parked at the office all day (indoor parking so not particularly hot with sunshine) and when I leave for the day, no squeak/no grind.

Anyone experience anything like this? Find a cure? Is it just a matter of popping the cap off the strut housing and greasing something up? Perhaps even the mild warmth of the day makes it self lube and thus no noise except in the morning? Any insights most welcome!

 

Update, did some more snooping, pulled off the strut dust cap. Some of the ball bearings in the upper mount are well visible and exposed, seem lacking of grease. I packed some grease in there with a q-tip, will see if that makes any difference today. Seems a stretch to think this is all it might take to cure.....

 

Initially on the drive to work it still made noise. But, it lessened, unlike prior days, as I drove. The grease may have done the trick. Too soon to tell, but perhaps its working its way into the bearings. I'll try and post back to update just in case this may help anyone in the future (no one seems to be chiming in so maybe this is a one-off weird issue!)......

 

Buy some lithium grease in an aresol can and squirt it in there.

 

Thanks for that tip, I'll give that a try. The q-tip job I did doesn't seem to have cured things. It's a pretty tight space to get into, spray may do the trick, at least worth a try.....

 

The fix proposed by Bajanmini proved very effective! Spray lithium grease is my new best friend! I just got that nozzle down in the strut mount ball bearings and topped them off and, viola, no more grinding or squeaking. Thanks for the tip!

 

Crabtree, I seem to have the same noise. Did the lithium grease prove to be a permanent fix?