mja
Site Supporter
I want to see if others have had this squealing issue, don't have a ton of time to dig around the car right now. The same sound from another Sonic on youtube, mine has a little more squeal to it than just metal grind in the vid. The grind sounds like metal + plastic, not just metal grinding, ugh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32juUE-pwFw
A loud intermittent metallic/grinding-squeal. My first thought was trans after I noticed gear oil leaking at the front case cover. But it's hard to tell since my engine mount is crapping out and I'm getting motor shake now and then. The sound is unrelated to motor shake.
It's hard to pinpoint - sound only occurs when car has just started and most noticeable when driving slow. Only happens when car is in forward motion, reverse doesn't recreate
In neutral when coasting over 7 mph I can still get the sound. After warming up and driving around 30mph+ sound will lessen and then go away, hard to reproduce. When I let the motor cool a few hours and start her up, squeal-grind comes back.
Oder of checking so far:
1) Tested crankcase vac by opening up dipstick, sound is exactly the same, probably not crank pulley/damper seal. PCV at intake manifold looks good, no indication of cam cover leak. No oil leaks or milky gook in PCV lines or charge pipes. Engine function is 100%.
2) Put car on jack stands, pulled off wheels and inner fender liners/underbody cover. Started and kept in 1st gear to let trans warm up 30 min. Couldn't pinpoint the trans case cover leak or reproduce sound.
3) Bouncing suspension and erratic steering at low speeds doesn't recreate sound, but turning wheel to the left at full lock sometimes makes the squeal-grind faster. That led me to believe it might be power steering pulley, but after the car is warm, full-lock doesn't grind-squeal. Seems like it's not worn suspension or brakes, but noise comes from passenger wheel area. Stock plastic end links, suspension bushings, and brakes look fine from visual inspection.
4) All fluids are full and look clean, engine oil, power steering, brake, etc. Small amount of coolant is disappearing but that has happened since new. No external leaks at all from coolant hoses or water pump area.
5) On jack stands, there's no play in the front wheels, so no indication of worn wheel bearing or tie rods. Just replaced pass. side axle/wheel bearing 6k miles ago.
6) Noticed an A/C compressor issue when the weather warmed up a few weeks ago and I used A/C for 1st time in months. A faint clicking sound. A/C compressor has been fine since then. Turning compressor on/off when the squeal-grind is occurring doesn't change the sound.
Narrowed it down to A/C compressor, water pump, or alternator. Or a pulley/bearing. Could still be transmission related coming through the engine mounts since my trans is crappy, but I doubt it.
Will put it on jack stands again next weekend to take a closer look at the front accessories. I don't want to bolt on new accessories if not needed.
The only thing that makes any sense here is once the car warms up the sound goes away, as if the thermostat is opening moving more coolant...we don't have a temp gauge to check coolant temps :blankface: I suppose its possible turning at full lock when the noise occurs is stressing the water pump without coolant flow through radiator and making the intermittent sound become faster. Alternator doesn't make sense for reasons listed above but I suppose it's also stressed more when the car first starts.
Any thoughts? Anyone else had this happen?opcorn:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32juUE-pwFw
A loud intermittent metallic/grinding-squeal. My first thought was trans after I noticed gear oil leaking at the front case cover. But it's hard to tell since my engine mount is crapping out and I'm getting motor shake now and then. The sound is unrelated to motor shake.
It's hard to pinpoint - sound only occurs when car has just started and most noticeable when driving slow. Only happens when car is in forward motion, reverse doesn't recreate
In neutral when coasting over 7 mph I can still get the sound. After warming up and driving around 30mph+ sound will lessen and then go away, hard to reproduce. When I let the motor cool a few hours and start her up, squeal-grind comes back.Oder of checking so far:
1) Tested crankcase vac by opening up dipstick, sound is exactly the same, probably not crank pulley/damper seal. PCV at intake manifold looks good, no indication of cam cover leak. No oil leaks or milky gook in PCV lines or charge pipes. Engine function is 100%.
2) Put car on jack stands, pulled off wheels and inner fender liners/underbody cover. Started and kept in 1st gear to let trans warm up 30 min. Couldn't pinpoint the trans case cover leak or reproduce sound.
3) Bouncing suspension and erratic steering at low speeds doesn't recreate sound, but turning wheel to the left at full lock sometimes makes the squeal-grind faster. That led me to believe it might be power steering pulley, but after the car is warm, full-lock doesn't grind-squeal. Seems like it's not worn suspension or brakes, but noise comes from passenger wheel area. Stock plastic end links, suspension bushings, and brakes look fine from visual inspection.
4) All fluids are full and look clean, engine oil, power steering, brake, etc. Small amount of coolant is disappearing but that has happened since new. No external leaks at all from coolant hoses or water pump area.
5) On jack stands, there's no play in the front wheels, so no indication of worn wheel bearing or tie rods. Just replaced pass. side axle/wheel bearing 6k miles ago.
6) Noticed an A/C compressor issue when the weather warmed up a few weeks ago and I used A/C for 1st time in months. A faint clicking sound. A/C compressor has been fine since then. Turning compressor on/off when the squeal-grind is occurring doesn't change the sound.
Narrowed it down to A/C compressor, water pump, or alternator. Or a pulley/bearing. Could still be transmission related coming through the engine mounts since my trans is crappy, but I doubt it.
Will put it on jack stands again next weekend to take a closer look at the front accessories. I don't want to bolt on new accessories if not needed.
The only thing that makes any sense here is once the car warms up the sound goes away, as if the thermostat is opening moving more coolant...we don't have a temp gauge to check coolant temps :blankface: I suppose its possible turning at full lock when the noise occurs is stressing the water pump without coolant flow through radiator and making the intermittent sound become faster. Alternator doesn't make sense for reasons listed above but I suppose it's also stressed more when the car first starts.
Any thoughts? Anyone else had this happen?
opcorn:
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