squeak squeak *UPDATE* More noises!

JeffM · Post by **JeffM** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 8:12 am

Alrighty ladies and gents,

This has been bugging me for the last couple of weeks now and I just can't figure it out. I seem to have acquired a squeak, or chirp, in my driver-side front wheel. It sounds like a really pissed off bird just chirping away as I go down the road. It gets faster with speed and only goes away if I apply the brakes (it sounds like I'm strangling a bird for a second and then stops) but then it immediately comes back when I take my foot off the brake.

I've taken off the wheel multiple times to investigate. The pads look brand new, the rotor looks awesome, there's a good amount of grease everywhere, there's no scarring on the back of the wheel. I replaced the caliper slides thinking that would help, and it did kind of. Now, instead of the chirp happening all the time, it only happens if I've been driving highway speeds (55-65mph) for some time and then slow to town speeds (35mph).

Also, I'm not sure if this helps at all but, the PO thought it'd be a neat idea to paint the front calipers with blue spray paint? However, it doesn't appear that they ever thought of masking anything off, including the piston housing.

I ended up scraping off some of the excess paint dust that had accumulated inside the piston and around the various boots just in case that was somehow a problem.

I'm baffled. The noise gets so loud sometimes that it echos off surrounding buildings and I can hear it over my exhaust and my radio - which is kind of embarrassing. Any help would be great. I don't have much time in my schedule anymore to continually take the wheel off to look at it, and I'm tired of poking in the dark.

Cliff Notes For Lazy People:
-Chirp in driver-side front wheel
-Sound correlates with car speed
-Only appears after driving highway speeds (55-65mph) and then slowing to town speeds (35mph)
-Momentarily goes away when applying brakes but comes back
-Caliper slides replaced, but did nothing
-Everything else brake-wise looks great

hansken_yo · Post by **hansken_yo** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 8:31 am

could it be the warning for worn brake pads?

JeffM · Post by **JeffM** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 9:19 am

I'd be surprised, since the pads look practically new, and I thought those were only suppose to sound when you apply the brakes?

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 9:31 am

Squealers could sound any time if the pads were bad enough. I'd imagine that's not the case here though. I'm not sure what the issue might be. I get mad squeaks in my brakes, but it's always my rears and I can never figure it out!

hansken_yo · Post by **hansken_yo** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 10:36 am

The next thing that comes to mind is a worn suspension item such as ball joints or bearings since they could cause play and an untrue status in the wheel causing it to rub on something.

ZeroChad · Post by **ZeroChad** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 11:44 am

Grab some of that antisqueek brake paste for $1 and try putting it on your caliper and pad contact points.

JeffM · Post by **JeffM** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 12:27 pm

ZeroChad wrote:Grab some of that antisqueek brake paste for $1 and try putting it on your caliper and pad contact points.

Already tried it.

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 12:51 pm

My first thought was your wheel is loose, but if you've taken them off a few times you'd have to be a total moron to not tighten them down enough each time.

Could it be that the brakes weren't broken in properly or something?

JeffM · Post by **JeffM** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 1:14 pm

Nah, the wheel is definitely on tight.

I can't guarantee they were worn in properly, but with a visual inpection, the pads have even wear (no stray marks or waves) and the rotors have a nice smooth surface (no grooves or scratches).

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 1:17 pm

Are you listening to your "irritating car sounds" CD again on accident?

JeffM · Post by **JeffM** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 1:26 pm

I wish! Ugh. It irritates me so much. It makes driving the most annoying experience ever, which defeats the purpose of this car.

r/tguy02 · Post by **r/tguy02** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 1:27 pm

could be crappy pads, i've seen some pads that are extra squeeky even new. what brand are these?

JeffM · Post by **JeffM** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 1:40 pm

Honestly, I have no clue. I tried looking for a brand on them when I was cleaning the caliper and couldn't find anything. Probably an Autozone special. They stop really well and there's no fade even after some really hard stops but the noise is driving me more insane than I already am.

JeffM · Post by **JeffM** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 2:03 pm

Alright, here's something else to throw into the mix. After looking over the wheel again I noticed this:

That's the inner park of one of the spokes, right where it'd pass by the outer part of the caliper. There are only three spokes that are scuffed and this is the worst one. The others look fine. So it appears the caliper IS (or was) contacting the wheel. I must have not noticed with the horrible lighting in my parent's garage.

The car was just aligned last month. My wheels unfortunately at the moment aren't road-force balanced, but I have to call the shop tomorrow to change that.

Would the caliper hitting the spokes cause this chirp? And if so, why does it only happen after a good amount of time driving around, and how would I go about fixing this?

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:14 am

What wheels/brakes do you have? Perhaps the offset isn't correct and a small spacer would help?

Post by **racer12306** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:17 am

I'm pretty sure he has stock SRT wheels.

This is strange. hmmmm

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:22 am

That's what I thought too, but short of the wheel being loose or the caliper not being installed properly, I can't think of any reason that would happen with stock wheels.

Post by **Canada** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 9:33 am

Squirrels f*cking in your backseat.

JeffM · Post by **JeffM** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 9:43 am

Canada wrote:Squirrels f*cking in your backseat.

Honestly, I'm not sure how the wheel got scarred like that. I don't know how that work cause the squeak though, since it only happens after slowing down to town speeds. Unless the caliper was taking steroids and swelling into the wheel.

I'm gonna try to take another look tonight if it doesn't snow too hard here. I'll check for play in wheel and such, but I'm not hopeful I'll find something.

gilly02le · Post by **gilly02le** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 11:50 am

wheel bearing developing some play maybe? Check your hub, maybe its warped or some sheez? just guessing here since i can't really imagine what else would let the rim get closer to the caliper while spinning.

JeffM · Post by **JeffM** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 7:24 pm

Update:

Alright, I'm stumped. I put the car up on stands, rotated the wheel to see if it was hitting the caliper (no), wiggled the wheel to see if the wheel bearing had some play (no), rotor is fine, pads look fine, caliper looks fine, bracket looks fine, bolts are tight, pads are greased to the max.

Still that damned squeak!!!!

I'm narrowing the symptoms more and more:
-Squeaks from drivers side wheel (front?)
-Squeaks from 5mph-45mph
-Squeaks louder when turning right, might be quieter when turning left?
-Squeak is speed variant (squeaks faster when going faster)
-When applying brakes lightly the squeak goes up in pitch
-When applying brakes hard the squeak disappears
-Squeak comes back after taking foot off of brakes.

I wish I could get a video of the squeak but my phone SUCKS at taking video. It's driving me insane.

r/tguy02 · Post by **r/tguy02** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 8:06 pm

grasping at straws but are the cv joints well greased?

try swapping the pads from the left caliper to the right and see if the squeek follows or goes away.

JeffM · Post by **JeffM** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 8:30 pm

r/tguy02 wrote:grasping at straws but are the cv joints well greased?

I'd imagine...The boots look fine and I would imagine the grease is still good.

r/tguy02 wrote:try swapping the pads from the left caliper to the right and see if the squeek follows or goes away.

Hmmmm....For some reason I didn't even think of doing that. I'll have to try that when I get the chance. Thanks

Dylan-00Blue · Post by **Dylan-00Blue** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 1:34 am

lca bushing? or balljoints and tie rods

Fuzzyneon · Post by **Fuzzyneon** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 8:07 am

Stop playing angry birds while your driving

JeffM · Post by **JeffM** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 9:09 am

Dylan-00Blue wrote:lca bushing? or balljoints and tie rods

But then why would the squeak either change pitch or magically disappear when the brakes are applied?

Fuzzy McFinkleshorts wrote:Stop playing angry birds while your driving

I don't play dumb games.

Post by **occasional demons** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 9:43 am

You could also try having the rotors turned enough to de glaze them. The caliper piston might not be sliding back well enough when the pressure is released. The o ring should pull it back ever so slightly. Not too sure it is something you see or not.

Since turning rotors is cheaper, I would give that a try if the other stuff doesn't work. The down side is you have to take them there, and it is usually a few hours before they get to them. If they can do it while you wait, it should't be more than 20 minutes tops to chuck them up, and take a cleanup pass or two off.

Dylan-00Blue · Post by **Dylan-00Blue** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 10:51 am

JeffM wrote:
Dylan-00Blue wrote:lca bushing? or balljoints and tie rods

But then why would the squeak either change pitch or magically disappear when the brakes are applied?

I'm not sure why, but thats what my old car did with bad balljoints and outer tie rods

Post by **occasional demons** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 12:31 pm

If it was a suspension squeak, the load from braking would change or stop the squeak. But if it is a consistent noise, regardless of terrain, then I wouldn't bank too much on suspension, unless a tire is out of balance enough to shake it.

INVUJerry · Post by **INVUJerry** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 7:16 pm

Your brakes have turned into birds.

Honestly, it could be the pads, mine used to do it. Did you replace them?

2GN.ORG

squeak squeak UPDATE More noises!

squeak squeak UPDATE More noises!