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Front End Squeak 96 Gr Caravan

I've been experiencing a high pitched metalic sounding, rythemic squeak, sort of cricket like if you will, for about a year now. The noise has been very difficult to track down as I can only hear it when driving along parked cars or a wall. My kids can hear it much better than me for some reason! It seems to make little difference turning one way or the other. It does seem to get briefly louder when driving through a small dip in the road.

The brakes looked fine, and I cleaned and lubed the guide pins. The noise remained so I suspected it was early stages of wheel bearing failure and it would become more obvious with a little more time.

In nearly a years time it has maybe gotten slightly louder if any at all. Took it to the dealer and they didn't find anything, couldn't hear the noise.

Recently I drove the van slowly and had someone walk along side listening. They were convinced the sound was not coming from a wheel but was more towards the center of the front end. They could hear it pretty equally from each side.

What I am wonder is do inner or outer CV joints ever squeek when going bad? I get no other vibrations or knocking sensations on bumps or turns. Would a bad bearing on a drive shaft output squeak like that but not leak any fluid? Should I just roll up the windows and not worry about it until something gets more obvious, hopefully not on our summer vacation in a couple of weeks?

Ron

Reply to
R Foos
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It's important to establish whether the squeak goes with the wheels or the engine. If the wheels, then it's probably the brakes. I've had similar squeaking from my brakes ('96 G. Caravan). Spray the front brakes with brake cleaner and make sure the guide rails (part of the steering knuckle) are properly lubed with brake grease.

Reply to
David Allen

Thanks for the comment.

I should have stated the squeak does cycle with the wheels turning, not the engine speed.

I have cleaned and lubed the caliper guide pins and the noise didn't seem to change any, but maybe I didn't do good enough job of it.

It is very difficult to track s> It's important to establish whether the squeak goes with the wheels or the

Reply to
R Foos

I have the same noise on my 96 Grand Voyager. The noise has existed for a couple of years now and probably 30,000 miles. Dealer said it was the brake pads initially, but that turned out to not be the case. They still don't know what it is, but the vehicle keeps running fine so I've quit worrying about it. Probably something in the CV joints, but nobody seems to be able to determine that for sure.

Matt

Reply to
Matt Whiting

Just an idea that may or may not not apply to the Caravan: I've personally experienced and read of others experiencing a silimar squeak that goes with wheel speed on LH vehicles - more noticeable at slower speeds. Turned out to be the brake shield between the control arm and the rotor rubbing the rotor and producing the squeel - chirping because it was only contacting the edge of the rotor during part of its rotation. It's supposed to sit spaced off the rotor maybe 1/8 to 1/4", but somehow can get bent so that it rubs against the rotor just enough to chirp.

Here are links to a couple of photos of it on my Concorde: This shows the knuckle off the car - the shield is attached at the bottom with the two screws.

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You can see it here on the car.
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If the Caravan does not have a similar shield, then ignore the above - probably just brake pad squeek.

Bill Putney (to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with "x")

Reply to
Bill Putney

Now this may or may not be the cause in your case but worth checking.

I had a similar squeak for over a year in front passenger wheel. during break job I replaced break pads and rotors and no change so that ruled them out. CV joint work and no change, guess that wasn't the cause. going down the road and hit a nasty bump and off went my wheel cover, now as angry as this made me (replacement was $35) it did cure the squeak from the front wheel. Only thing I can figure is that one of the retaining clips was bent/loose and allowing the wheel cover to shift with the centrifical force while driving, thereby causing the squeak. In any case, new wheel cover in place and no squeak.

.
Reply to
PC Medic

Reply to
R Foos

The wheels themselves can flex while in motion and under stress in turning, and the smallest flex could cause a squeak with the wheel cover retainer. Try popping the wheel cover and re-attaching, or maybe switching a couple from one wheel to another. First, however, pull one cover at a time and drive around for awhile. Perhaps you can find the squeak by elimination. My older Caravan was routinely loosing wheel covers, and I concluded that the wheels were flexing and letting the retainers go. (But not enough to let air out of the tires, which also flex.) Good luck. Bob

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Reply to
BeeP

I think Bob may be on the right track. I just traded in a 99 Grand Voyager with the same problem (not why I traded it in), it was driving me nuts for awhile. Didn't matter whether I was driving 10 mph or 60 mph. Obviously the frequency increased with spped, leading me to think it might be something in the brake assembly. Turned out to be the left front wheel cover making all the racket. Doesn't hurt to try removing the wheel covers as Bob says and driving around a bit without them, that's how I finally pinpointed mine.

Charlie

Reply to
Charlie

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