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!

 

Squeeks and rattles (and chirps) can be hard to track down, and I haven't seen this with the S, but our MX5 has been known to do the very same thing. With the Miata it goes away when I lubricate the hood hinges, latch, and rubber stops. I don't know which of those three causes the chirping, but it goes away when I lube everything.

Your car is getting old, and if it hasn't had a good lube lately (door, trunk, hood - locks, hinges, strikers, and rubber) that could be what you're hearing. Even if it doesn't make the chirp go away, the car will appreciate a good overall "lube job."

HOWEVER, since your car has been wrecked, your chirp could be something more serious, like a binding suspension component. The FIRST thing you need to do is get the car on an alignment rack and have the suspension inspected (for damage) and properly aligned. I wouldn't even try troubleshooting random noises until the car was checked over and aligned.

 

Point taken.

Thanks for the response.

Hopefully when I get it aligned the tech swill spot what the cause for the noise is.