I have a 2005 Jeep Liberty. It recently started making a noise that I think is most accurately described as a groan/squeal. It only happens at low speed, < 20MPH, and happens more often the lower the speed. It also seems more likely to happen when the vehicle is turning. I haven’t noticed any other problems with the car. The brakes and serpentine belt were recently replaced. The brakes were replaced because they were starting to get old, looked corroded, and were starting to squeal when braking. The serpentine belt was replaced because it had a crack in it and was under warranty after being replaced for the same reason only 10 months ago. I don’t believe that the noise is related to the brakes as the noise has occurred many times when the brakes were not being applied and it does not appear to occur any more or less frequently when they are applied. Any insight into what the problem might be would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to ask questions and I’ll do my best to answer.
I am going to assume that this vehicle has AWD, even though you didn’t mention it.
With that feature in mind, I have to ask if the tires are all the same brand, same size, have the same amount of tread, and have been consistently rotated at the specified odometer mileage.
I ask that question because when many/most AWD vehicles are run with “mismatched” tires for more than a very brief period of time, that situation leads to excess wear of the center viscous coupler, and what you described is characteristic of problems with the center viscous coupler, or–possibly–with the differential, as a result of mismatched tires.
VDCdriver, thanks for the reply! The vehicle is not AWD. The tires are all the same brand. I’ll have to wait until I get off work to actually check the tread similarity on the tires. The pressure sensors in the tires have gone out and while I do check the pressure regularly and reinflate as needed, I’m sure that a few of them have probably been under inflated for a few days here and there and could definitely have worn them unevenly. I’m at the tail end of my tire rotation schedule, just crossed 6,500mi last week couldn’t hurt to rotate them and see if it fixes the noise.
Since your Jeep doesn’t have AWD, then you can ignore the information about the importance of having matched tires.
VDC, I believe you still have to have them matched left and right on the drive wheels.
Some Liberty’s are 4x4 & some are 2x4 , it might help to know which this one is .
OP says vehicle is not all wheel drive.
Try this experiment. With the car parked and engine off, push down on each corner, a quick downward push, right on the bumper, one corner at a time. Do you hear this sound at any of the corners? If so, suspect a problematic suspension component. Besides the various bushing- connections and ball joints, the suspension springs and the shock absorber elements can make a sound like that. When you turn the effective weight of the car changes from equal right left to more on one side than the other. This causes one side to move down and the other to move up, with the associated movement in the suspension parts.
My 05 isn’t AWD either but it’s 4x4 .
Some Liberty's are 4x4 & some are 2x4...
Or even 4x2…
;-]
@insightful
LOL , Thanks
I had to grin, because I thought, “Well, maybe a Jeep is as tough as a piece of lumber…”