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What’s up with TSB’s?

My wifes 99 Alero is developing a fairly irritating squeak in the front end. It kind of resembles the sound you would get when the speed or tach cable needed to be oiled. Just a faint, have to turn off the radio to hear squeak as you go down the road. The noise if definately in the front driver side of the car and is very noticable (over the radio) when you go over a speed bump or through a storm drain a little fast.

I scheduled an appointment with a dealership for Monday and he said it?ll be $102.50/hr for as long as it takes to find the squeak. While I pray they find it in the first hour my luck is such that they will call me in two days and ask if they should keep looking.

I went by the library this morning and found the following TSB?s;

01-03-08-002 99-03-08-004 01-03-08-003(A)

they each address front end noises on her car.

While I would like to make them known to the dealership I don?t wan?t to create a hostile environment then leave my car. How should I mention the TSB?s? Are work from TSB?s free or discounted? Can I ask them to look at the TSB stuff first then call me if that doesn?t fix the problem? You guys that work for dealerships, how would you like this presented to you?

Reply to
LeBuick
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TSB's arn't the same as campaigns, they are just a procedure for fixing a common problem.

Reply to
Paradox

Try greasing the front strut mounts. Our 2002 was dry and making a lot of noise. A little lube fixed that right up.

Jason

Reply to
Jason Hazelton
99 Alero developing irritating squeak in the front end. Noise resembles that of dry tach cable. Faint sound, must to turn off the radio to hear squeak. Noise if definitely in the front driver side of the car. ___________________________________________

Could be brake pad jingling against slightly warped rotor. This can happen with good brake pads.

FIX: Take out pads and apply noise-damping compound to their metal faces, then reinstall. Replace the pads if they are worn.

Good luck.

Wendy & John. __________________________________________

Reply to
Wendy & John
Reply to
LeBuick

___________________________________________

99 Alero developing irritating squeak in the front end. Noise resembles that of dry tach cable. Faint sound, must to turn off the radio to hear squeak. Noise if definitely in the front driver side of the car.

LeBuick ___________________________________________

Could be brake pad jingling against slightly warped rotor. This can happen with good brake pads.

FIX: Take out pads and apply noise-damping compound to their metal faces, then reinstall. Replace the pads if they are worn. Good luck.

Wendy & John. __________________________________________

How do I tell if this is the case?

LeBuick _____________________________________________

To check if noise is from brakes:

If your car is FWD, jack up front end onto jackstands, put car in gear and spin wheels at different RPMs while listening for noise from brakes and/or other areas.

If your car is RWD, jack up each front wheel and spin it up somehow; maybe with the friction from a rotating wire brush chucked in a drill motor; maybe by taking off one lug nut and cranking the wheel with a plastic pipe slipped over the lug stud; maybe by (ran out of ideas).

Good luck.

Wendy & John. ______________________________________________

Reply to
Wendy & John
99 Alero developing irritating squeak in the front end. Noise resembles that of dry tach cable. Faint sound, must to turn off the radio to hear squeak. Noise if definitely in the front driver side of the car.

LeBuick ___________________________________________

Could be brake pad jingling against slightly warped rotor. This can happen with good brake pads.

FIX: Take out pads and apply noise-damping compound to their metal faces, then reinstall. Replace the pads if they are worn. Good luck.

Wendy & John. __________________________________________

How do I tell if this is the case?

LeBuick _____________________________________________

To check if noise is from brakes:

If your car is FWD, jack up front end onto jackstands, put car in gear and spin wheels at different RPMs while listening for noise from brakes and/or other areas.

If your car is RWD, jack up each front wheel and spin it up somehow; maybe with the friction from a rotating wire brush chucked in a drill motor; maybe by taking off one lug nut and cranking the wheel with a plastic pipe slipped over the lug stud; maybe by (ran out of ideas).

Wendy & John. ______________________________________________

Forgot to mention: When the noise appears while driving, gently apply the brakes. If the noise stops, it was being made by jingling brake shoes.

Wendy & John. ______________________________________________

Reply to
Wendy & John

Do I use a grease gun to do this? Are there zerts? By mounts do you mean what ever the strut attaches to at either end?

Reply to
LeBuick

LeBuick wrote in alt.autos

A Technical Service Bulletin is a memo sent from the manufacturer to the dealers to inform the service department of something. Could be anything from how to submit warranty claims to how to repair some problem, or even on how a problem is not warranty related. The mechanic will already have read the TSB, most likely. And he is the one who is most qualified to diagnose the problem. If the problem is not solved, then you politely mention that you saw that there were some TSB's on the noise, and did he refer to those? It is never a good idea to tell a mechanic how to do his job. He is likely to do exactly what you tell him to do, rather than fix the problem.

Reply to
Dick C

I was thinking this way also. I?m sure that it is not the breaks then. I climbed underneath the car today and put grease everwhere I thought it wouldn?t hurt anything and the squeak is still there. I guess I?ll just show the copies of the TSB?s and ask what do they think and go from there...

Reply to
LeBuick
Reply to
LeBuick

LeBuick wrote in alt.autos.gm

Just tell them that you don't have alot of money to spend on this. Usually they will do their best to keep costs down. Talk to them about it. And, the more information you can give them, the easier it will be to track down the noise.

Reply to
Dick C

"Dick C" wrote: > LeBuick wrote in alt.autos.gm > >  > > The mechanic will already have read the TSB, most > likely. And he is >  > > the one who is most qualified to diagnose the > problem. If the > > problem >  > > is not solved, then you politely mention that you > saw that there > > were >  > > some TSB?s on the noise, and did he refer to those? >  > > >  > > It is never a good idea to tell a mechanic how to do > his job. He is > > >  > > likely to do exactly what you tell him to do, rather > than fix the >  > > problem. >  > > > > I agree, I did consumer electronics in the past and that is > why I was > > wondering the best way to approach it. Do you suggest I give > them a > > time limit up front? Like say after two hours ($203) give me > a call > > and we can go from there? I?m just trying to avoid > surprises. > > Just tell them that you don?t have alot of money to spend on > this. > Usually they will do their best to keep costs down. Talk to > them > about it. And, the more information you can give them, the > easier > it will be to track down the noise. > > -- > Dick #1349 > "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little > temporary > safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." > ~Benjamin Franklin > > Home Page: dickcr.iwarp.com > email: snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net

Well, they diagnosed it as being a plastic plate that couples the strut to the body. I think he said strut plate. They want $700 to replace them on both side. Does this sound about right, $700 to replace these plates? I asked about having the struts replaced at the same time and that another $600.

Reply to
LeBuick

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