New ball joint?

[slowmoe]

After a lot of rain over the past few days, the front end of my 124 started squeaking like mad. I just finished removing the front left tire and inspecting the area.

As wifey turned the wheel while both front tires were off the ground, it sounded like the noise was comming from to ball joint. However, the ball joint looked great, ie. no cracks, rips or grease anywhere. So I sprayed the devil out of it with silicone hoping for a quick fix - no such luck!!

Does this make sense?
Is there an area for me to lube?
All other bushings look good too
Is this a DIY for a moderate home mechanic?
Would penetrating oil be better than silicone?

Thanks on advance.