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

 

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.

 

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 since you either need someone riding with
you sticking their head out the window or you need to be driving along a
wall or parked cars. If I never drove with the windows down I'd have no
idea there was even a squeak.

 

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

 

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.
http://public.fotki.com/peva/concorde-1/concorde/1282806_img.html

You can see it here on the car.
http://public.fotki.com/peva/concorde-1/concorde/1212152_img.html

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")

 

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.




..

 

Thanks, that's an intersting possibility. I'll have to see if the
Caravan has a similar shield.

Ron

 

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

 

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