Hi all,

Once again I find myself coming to my fellew s2ki-ers for help. I cannot say how much this community has helped me, but what I can say is that I greatly appreciate the effort and level of care the members show by helping me out. Thanks guys; and girls of course.

I apologize for the long explanation in advance.

Well here's the story:

Some basic facts:
MY'00
Stock everything
80k miles (I bought it with 75k miles on it)

I have a chirping noise coming from the front driver's side. The sound it makes is exactly that, a chirp, like a cricket chirping (Chirp, chirp chirp...you get the idea.) It does not sound like a screeching (I suspect it is not the brake pads being too worn.)

When I drive the car with weight transferred to the rear it chirps less (under acceleration) and it cirps at a constant speed as well as deceleration. I've done braking tests and I find that when I pump the brakes it chirps louder and when I release the brake the chirp wil end. (This is not a continuous chirp, just a single loud chirp.)

When I am turning it stops chirping unless the car goes over a bumpy surface.

When I turn the steering wheel while driving at highway speed (30-50 MPH) it chirps at the intial move of the steering wheel.

It chirps when I turn the steering wheel while stationary.

I've tried to push on the car at the strut towers to try and bounce the car up and down but could not produce a chirp.

Sometimes when I push the tire (driver's side) with my foot it chirps, sometimes it doesn't.

I can't figure out what is making this chirping sound and it is driving my crazy.

Note: I have crashed the car once but the impact was frontal and only the bumper was damaged. The tires and wheels did not make contact with the guardrail. In fact the crash was at an angle (read: my car slid sideways and the front bumper grazed the gaurdrail)

Also the alignment is off a bit. The steering wheel is turned slighty clockwise (right) when I am driving straight. So when I let go of the steering wheel the car veers left but only very gradually.

I cannot confirm whether the alignment was off before the crash or not because I crashed it on my second day after I bought the car.

I am positive that the car did not chirp (squeek) before the accident.

I have heard a few random guesses from people who I have described this noise to:
Driveshaft
Control arm(s)
Steering rack
Sway bar
End links

My guess is that there is a nut or bolt missing and that a metal bar is rubbing against another metal bar, causing this chirping sound, which sounds a lot like metal to metal contact.

Any educated guesses would be very much appreciated and please include some reasoning to your responses if possible.

Thanks so much guys!

 

Upper mount or lower control arm would be my guess, but I would definitely say it's suspension related so you can probably eliminate the steering rack and drive shaft. Chances are it's not a bolt missing, but a joint that is worn out (think an old creaky door hinge) and needs to be replaced.

 

Its probably in your brakes... I had the same thign happen in the rear... Either your pads are low or they are not pressing properly. check ur brakes, its around there.

 

Thanks Assassin, I will have a more mechanically inclined friend take a look at the the upper mount and lower control arms.

Joe, I will check my brakes again, in any case it wouldnt hurt for me to change brake pads.

THank you for the responses

 

You might try jacking up the front and spinning the wheel. If it doesn

 

I'm pretty sure that brakes aren't the problem. but thanks for confirming my initial guess.

 

I tightened the upper mounts and the sound went away for a little while but on the way home from work it came back again

Is it possible that the nuts on the upper mounts got loose again? I don't know. I'll check in the morning.

Somehow I don't think that this is the problem though...which is even worse because I still haven't figured out what it could be

 

s2k_dreams,
I am going through basically the same thing. Car has never been in an accident but has had the chirp since I purchased it with 3,500 miles (now at 13,000). Initially it was audible only after the car had warmed up, but now (with several auto-x events and additional mileage) is present over rough surfaces and torsional stress. It is definitely torsional as I can hear it as I turn into my uphill driveway. Knowing this, I started looking for things that span the width of the car that would be affected by the chassis twisting. I started with hood hinges, which were about 20% under spec, then I crawled underneath. The engine mount stiffener and subframe bolts were all approx. 20% under torque spec. Engine mounts, top and bottom bolts, were tight but I did spray down the mounts with some lube in case the squeak is just the mounts doing their flexing. All this was Friday night and I haven't driven it again. I will have to see how this week treats it but if you have the time and inclination you might want to start here.



Note the rearmost subframe bolts are 43 lbf-ft and not 85 lbf-ft like the front 2 on each side. Hood hinges are only 7.2 lbf-ft. Engine mounts 40 lbf-ft. Good luck.

 

clag,

engine mounts could be loose? so you're saying my engine can drop out on the freeway?


But on a serious note, thanks for the response, I will definitely look into that as well.

Let me know if lubing things up fixed that problem on your car.

 

Well, we went for a drive yesterday evening (after posting here) and even after bringing the subframe bolts up to spec, squeak was still there. At least the bolts are tight now. On a good note I think I finally fixed it. I greased the hood latch (both the D-hook and the mechanism) and backed the 4 rubber stops off about 1/2 turn, making them longer. The hood has to be dropped from a couple of inches higher to latch, so things are definitely more snug. I put 100 miles on it today, not a sound. Solid as can be. This is easy and quick so maybe give it a try before you lay under the car for an hour. YMMV but I hope you work it out.