QuestionThanks, Doug. I'll give the good ol' process of elimination a try. I have a compressor--just needed a good excuse to by an impact wrench!
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Followup To
Question -
This is a follow-up to my question since it was a little vague. The squeak is not coming from the action of the strut or suspension over bumps. It happens when the car isn't moving and is sitting on flat ground. If I turn the wheel either direction, is when I get the sound...but only when the car is hot--not warmed up like its been running, but hot from sitting in the sun (it's black). Does that help be less vague?
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Answered Question
Subject 1998 Grand Caravan LE front suspension
Question I have a 1998 Grand Caravan LE with 132,000. We live in Georgia, and when the van is out in the sun for any period of time and heats up, I get a squeak that seems to come from the top of the driver's side strut tower. You can feel the squeak in through the steering wheel. No issues in handling or aligment. More of an annoyance than anything at this point. I had the struts replaced ~2 1/2 years ago. Could it be the strut mount bearings? Spring seat? Both?
Is this a farily straightforward DIY job for a fairly experienced DIYer?
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Answer Messing with the spring seats is kind of not a SAFE DIY job because of the spring pressures. It is possible that you've got some noise from the strut area but honestly... I'd put in a set of sway bar bushings before I didn't anything. They've been known to knock and "sqwauk" when going over speed bumps and slow speed dips.
They're also cheaper, easier to replace than ANYTHING related to the struts and definitely a DIY job with a small amount of cussing and bleeding involved.
Doug
Vague questions get Vague answers.
Answer -
I'm sorry about the "vague questions" part at the end of my last response, it's a signature (about to be removed) added to every response which is NOT seperated in any manor from the bulk of my post. I'm going to remove it after I'm done here and I did NOT mean for it to be directed at you.
The noise you descibed sounds more like the steering gear itself. Maybe a creaking noise would better describe what I've heard in the past. Most of the time it did not require alot of movement in the steering at all. I want to say the noise is actually coming from the inner tie-rod end which the dealer never sells.
One other thing to check for would be the sway bar end links. They've got ball joints and when the wheel is turned, the end link is attatched to the mcphearson strut. So... wheel turns, strut turns, so does the end link with it's ball joint. You could isolate this by disconnecting the end links at the strut or sway bar and then go back to turning the wheel. But... getting these links loose is not fun because of the design and air tools are a must.
Doug
p.s. again, sorry about the Vague comments, not directed at you.
AnswerI'll save you some wasted time and money. You'll need a 3/8 impact gun with a bit of beef to it, about 6 inches of extensions and an impact swivel socket... 18mm I think in order to get the end links off.
Some links had flat spots on them where you could get a small pair of aligator vise grips between the sway bar and the link while loosening the nut on the other side of the sway bar. Other times... it's no fun.
Good luck
D
