Hello everyone,

I bought a 2005 X-Type 3.0 AWD a couple months ago, and recently noticed a squeaking noise coming from what I believe is the front driver side (US) wheel.
Now comes the weird part:
- It can get pretty loud outside with reverb, but windows closed I cannot hear anything.
- It DOESN'T seem to be speed sensitive, it's a recurrent "squeakyyyy-squeak";
- It happens every 3-5 seconds, even when slightly turning the wheel;
- I checked the inner side of the brake rotor and it's smooth as a baby's ****;
- It's not doing it when revving in neutral;
- When I bought the car I got it inspected and they said the bearings where fine;

Now I'm a student -and a foreign one on top of that- so I'm kind of on a budget and don't have a lot of tools available to work on it. That being said, I'd like to identify the issue before taking it to a shop to avoid spending hundreds just to find out what it is.

Any ideas about what it might be ?

Thank you!

 

Partre, first off, welcome to JF. I think you will find this place very useful and also very friendly. Please stop by the New Member section and say hi and give the intro over there. That is the place that you will need those that make this place what it is.

As for your problem, there is a few things we can do for you to help isolate down where this noise is coming from. The first thing I would try is getting out on the highway where there is a large concrete divider to the driver's side of the car. This will allow you to hear the squeak (unless you can hear it without the need of this wall). Now, get up to speed and get the noise to occur. Odds are, the motor is going to be around 1500-2000 RPM. What I want you to do now is shift the J-gate out of D and into 4th gear to allow the engine RPMs to come up some. If you are in an area where you are not driving say 55 mph, you may need to shift to 3. What we are after is getting the engine RPMs up to say 3000-4000 range. Does the periodicity of the squeak happen more often or does the pitch change at the faster RPMs? If yes, then odds are we are looking at a engine related thing. If it remains at the same constant rate, then odds are it is in the suspension. Either way, shift the car back to D.

If you are thinking the engine, based on where you think the noise is coming from, it would most likely be from the water pump (to the left of the battery). It could be the idler pulley starting to go or the belt getting old and starting to slip under load.

If you are thinking it is coming from the suspension, find a road where you are the only one on it (or atleast people are no where near you for say 10 seconds). What you are going to do is while maintaining a constant speed, very gently apply the brakes (just enough that you can feel the car wanting to slow down). Drag the brakes for say 10 seconds or so. Did the noise stop? If yes, then odds are you are dealing with a brake pad that is loose and is occassionally rubbing up against the rotor and causing the squeak.

Beyond this, not sure what to tell you. You would have to next put the car up on jack stands to get all 4 wheels off the ground and then spin the tires to see if you can recreate the noise with the car stationary. But, from the sounds of things, you would need a friend that has some basic tools for working on cars.

 

Hello Thermo and thank you for the very welcoming message. I will definitely go and say hi in the New members section.

It appears to be coming from the wheel but it's definitely not related to the wheel speed, so my guess would be the engine. However it's only doing it when driving, not when stopped or revving in neutral.

I'll definitely try all that you mentioned and let you know the results!

Thanks a lot for the help, it is much appreciated!

 

Partre, if the sound is related to the wheels, it should change how often it squeaks with how fast you drive. Granted, normally squeaks like this happen 2-3 times a seconds, not once every 3-5 seconds. Kinda like engine noises are more often than every 3-5 seconds.

Not to ask a silly question, but do you have any loose body trim on the car? This could possibly explain the slow rate of the squeak. This can be the trim on the door, the chrome on the bumper, the wheel well liner plastic, etc. This is where you may want to have a friend drive next to you in their car and see if they can see anything moving on the exterior of the car as you drive down the road.

 

If this noise is not (engine) speed sensitive, then I'm thinking suspension - say a bad lower control arm ball joint, tie rod end or upper strut mount.

 

Okay I did some testing yesterday.

- It's not related to the RPMs, shifting to 4th and 3rd gear didn't change anything in the periodicity or pitch of the squeaking.
- Braking doesn't make it stop.
- The periodicity DID however and for the time change yesterday for a moment, it was almost a continuous squeaking. Then it came back to normal. The weird thing is I was driving in town at relatively slow speeds and stopping at lights, turning, so I cannot seem to see a correlation between the driving condition and the sound.

There are not visible loose pieces of body trim, but even though the title was clean I'm pretty sure the car has been involved in a front left minor crash because the plastic trims are a bit cracked. I'll thoroughly inspect if I see anything loose, and find somebody to drive along. I think I have a gopro laying around, I might strap it somewhere under the car to see if something moves.

@swingwing Agree, but would it be a periodic noise like this?

Anyways I'll keep looking and update you if I find anything. Thank you all for the help, hopefully I'll figure this out! It's starting to drive me crazy!

 

I'd put the front end up on stands, pull the wheels off and have a look at the suspension pieces to see if I could find anything loose or worn. It'd also be a good time to check front brake condition. Picture shows the major pieces with brake rotor removed.

 

This thing is driving me crazy. I did put it on stands and looked at everything, couldn't find anything loose or worn.

But I cannot figure WHAT can make this noise:
It starts at 10mph, then squeaks steadily no matter the wheel or engine speed.
It doesn't stop when applying brake, except when the speed drops below 10mph.
I can rev to 5k rpms it wont make any sound, but as soon as I'm driving it starts squeaking steadily, whether I'm going 15, 50, in 2nd at 4,000rpms or 5th at 1,500rpms.

WHAT KIND OF SORCERY IS THAT

 

Could it be from the back of the car? Is the squeaking pretty look, almost like an old bed spring? Could be your lower rear control arms and/or rear springs. Do the rear tires kind of cant in at the top toward the center of the car like this: / \. If so, your noise could be at the rear of the car.

 

I would try lubricating all the rubber bushings with a correct bushing lubricant.
If the sound is only when moving, remember sound travels in weird ways and it may not be coming from the wheel area.
If its continual and rythmical then unlikely the strut mount or strut bearing.
Spray a lubricant on all the pulleys (where the bearings are)
My bet is something somewhere is dry and needs lube. Annoying but not disasterous.
I wish i could hear it.. Lol

 

Im thinking with it being rythmical and not speed sensitive it must be coming from something than turns/spins which doesn't change speed... What components do that??

 

@alfadude It's definitely coming from the left side but the left rear might be possible I guess. It does kinda sound like an old bed spring, but higher pitched. I'll check the rear tires but I never noticed anything weird. Thanks!

@iownme That's what I would like to know haha. I cannot think of any component like that. I'll try that lubricating all the pulleys. Do you have a lube to recommend for that?
I'm waiting another week to try and identify the issue and then I'll be off to a Jaguar mech. It's probably not disastrous but it's bugging the hell out of me.

Haha I actually tried to record it, but the noise from the wind was too loud, I'll try again.

 

I have a feeling i know what it is, and how to make it temporarlly go away (for a week or so at a time)
It will require lube to b sprayed in a weird place, i'll need to take a pic as its hard to describe.
I have a similar squeak and i eventually figured out where it was coming from.
I'll add a pic in a few hours

 

"It will require lube to b sprayed in a weird place".........Uh.....I don't even know what to say to that...............

 

I'm afraid too but at this point I'm willing to try anything haha.

I'm attaching a recording of the sound. The background noise is still there but you can kinda hear what kind of squeaking it is.

 

I had no luck hearing the squeak on your recording. Not to worry though - since it's not speed sensitive it has to be something in the suspension. Question: Do you notice any change when you turn the steering wheel?

 

Forgot to get that pic today.. Will do it tomorrow

 

I sprayed pb blaster very generously inside where u see the red plastic pipe. I placed that pipe to point to where i sprayed, thats all.
I sprayed all the way around in there and the noise went away after driving a few feet.
I dont know whats in there to cause the noise, all i know is its gone .... It did come back, but i re-sprayed and it went away again
Hope that helps

 

Thanks a lot iownme for taking the time to show that! I'll get a can of PB and try it asap. I'll let you know if the noise was coming from here!

 

Believe me... It took a loooong time to find that squeek squeek