1996 SL2 front wheel squeak

Discussion in 'Saturn S-series' started by Doug Miller, Dec 28, 2008.

  1. Doug Miller

    Doug Miller Guest

    1996 SL2 with traction control and ABS has recently developed an obnoxious
    squeak, apparently from the RF wheel. The squeak begins at about 10 mph, and
    changes in frequency in accordance with vehicle speed. Ordinarily, I'd be
    thinking brakes, except that applying the brakes makes no difference whatever
    in the squeak -- and the pads and rotors were new this spring, and have less
    than 8K miles.

    Any ideas?
     
    Doug Miller, Dec 28, 2008
    #1
  2. Doug Miller

    Jon Jon Guest

    front struts or motor mounts.
     
    Jon Jon, Dec 28, 2008
    #2
  3. Doug Miller

    Doug Miller Guest

    Thanks for the suggestion -- but I doubt very much that either the front
    struts or the motor mounts would produce a squeak that varies directly with
    the vehicle speed. That doesn't make sense.
     
    Doug Miller, Dec 28, 2008
    #3
  4. Doug Miller

    Bob Shuman Guest

    Based on your description and if the disc brake pads are in good shape, then
    I'd suspect this was caused by a bad wheel bearing. At 190K miles, both
    fronts will likely need doing. Good luck.

    Bob
     
    Bob Shuman, Dec 28, 2008
    #4
  5. Doug Miller

    Doug Miller Guest

    Wow, that's one I wouldn't have guessed. In my experience, failing front wheel
    bearings don't squeak, they whine, then clunk, then bang Bang BANG BANG.

    OTOH, this SL2 is the first FWD car I've ever owned. Aside from one 4WD truck,
    everything else I had before was RWD, and the structure of the front hub and
    bearing assembly is just a little bit different. :)

    Thanks for the suggestions. I'll pull the brake and inspect, then have a look
    at the bearings -- and I'll follow up with my findings.
     
    Doug Miller, Dec 28, 2008
    #5
  6. Doug Miller

    hubops Guest


    Not sure if your 96 SL2 is the same, or not -
    my 02 SL1 had a squeaky RF axel "hanger bearing"
    for lack of a better term.
    The dealer originally said it was a $ 700 fix
    replacing axel / CV / etc
    Then after "double checking" a $ 60. rebuild kit
    and 1.5 hours labour did the trick.
    jt
     
    hubops, Dec 29, 2008
    #6
  7. Doug Miller

    navaidstech Guest

    I had both bearings go at 330k miles on my 92 Saturn. They produced
    this very low frequency whining noise that resembled a fully loaded
    747 taking off and it would start at around 30 mph.
    Initially I thought it was the tires making the noise but upon closer
    inspection I found that it was the bearings.
     
    navaidstech, Dec 29, 2008
    #7
  8. Doug Miller

    p_vouers Guest

    it's the front stuts, probably the strut nounts. You should be able to
    duplicate the squeak by pushing down quite vgorously on the front of
    the car. If the mounts get debree in them such as sand or mud they
    will fail quite quickly. Becaus you need to romve the strut to remove
    the mount I would just replace struts and mounts. Total is about $116
    if you do the work
     
    p_vouers, Dec 30, 2008
    #8
  9. Doug Miller

    navaidstech Guest

    Actually, it was the bearings. Replaced both and now the car rides as
    good as new. However,
    I will take a look at the struts too as they are still original parts,
     
    navaidstech, Dec 30, 2008
    #9
  10. Doug Miller

    Doug Miller Guest

    Perhaps you should consider reading a bit more carefully before posting...

    If you were responding to the post quoted above, you clearly missed the part
    where he said that he'd already found the problem to be bearings -- not to
    mention which there is *no way* that a strut problem could produce the noise
    he described. And if you were responding to *my* original post in this thread,
    well, bad struts *can* produce a squeak, but you evidently missed the part
    where I said the squeak varies with the vehicle speed, which means it's
    clearly coming from some rotating part.
     
    Doug Miller, Dec 30, 2008
    #10
  11. Doug Miller

    p_vouers Guest

    excuse me!! just relating to a squeak problem my son acquired after he
    drove over a sandy road ( with brand new mounts ) sand go into them
    and they would squeak with any slight movement (up and down) of the
    vehicle. Replaced them and all has been fine, thank God they were
    warranty items from Advance Auto Parts.
     
    p_vouers, Dec 31, 2008
    #11
  12. Doug Miller

    Doug Miller Guest

    That's what mine turned out to be. Alas, no rebuild kit for the 96. :-(
     
    Doug Miller, Jan 1, 2009
    #12
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