My 2000 Honda CR-V has developed a creaking/squeaking from driver’s side wheel area. No wheel shimmy or pulling - drives normally. Can make creaking when in park by turning the wheel or pressing down on the left fender. It has all the makings of coming from the strut. When compression the hood, you really have to push down hard to make the noise, making me think this is more an annoyance than a safety issue, am I right about the?. If so, and to avoid a costly replacement, I’m thinking of using silicone spray to make the noise go away. I would appreciate any advice as to which products are best and any how to advice.
Have you inspected the suspension on the driver’s side without the wheel on? Put your CR-V up on a jack stand, take the wheel off, and give it a good look. Maybe you can see an issue. Let us know what you find.
Sooo… could be a dry, worn ball joint, tie rod end, bad strut or stabilizer bar link. If the joint has gotten to that point the part is getting ready to fail and the first 2 and maybe 3 could cause you to crash. That, of course, will harm (and maybe total) your car, or injure or kill you or someone else.
OR it could just be a squeaky bushing that silicone spray will quiet for a while.
My advice is to have a professional look it over rather than just try to ignore it by covering up with some sort of lube.
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Yeah, have a shop look at it, they can use ‘chassis ears’ microphones to quickly figure out what’s worn.
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If you use silicone, think of it as a diagnostic aid and not a repair: do it on one location, not all at once. Drive, push, wiggle, etc. If no change, move onto the next possible source. That will help you track down the source of the sound.
On my 1999 Civic, it was the upper control arm with ball joint that squeaked. I have replaced them twice in 207,000 miles. Struts and springs and strut mounts have not been changed.
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Yes, my good and independent mechanic took a look about a month ago and saw nothing, checked all suspension parts. This was about two weeks before creaking.
Thanks everyone. I’m going to take it back to my mechanic next week - as a problem could have developed since he last looked at it. my 2000 crv with 277,000 has not had the struts/springs replaced.
Surely the bushings must be worn out by now.
What was he searching for?
On a 23 year old car, I would simply be replacing everything. Struts, strut mount, ball joints, tie rod ends. Cheaper doing everything at one time.
Could be any of the parts mentioned above; but were I venturing a guess, I’d say the ball joint is the most likely culprit.
UPDATE. I brought my car to new mechanics (3) and all said ball joints and tie rods are fine, but needed new steering rack (steering was loose and the boots are completely gone -283,000 miles) so I replaced that and a rear passenger side wheel bearing (loud noise from the rear was my clue to have it looked at).
the noise igone. However the weird thing was, I left for Illinois in June and after the drive there from Florida the noise stopped. When I got back to Florida in mid September, the noise started (less loud and not so ofttrn). Could humidity and high temps cause rubber bushings or other parts to dry up and squeak? Just curious.