# Squeak when turning steering wheel

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/squeak-when-turning-steering-wheel/10906>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** belts\
**Created:** [February 20, 2008, 12:18am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/squeak-when-turning-steering-wheel/10906 "2008-02-20T00:18:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![kaquin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9c0ed/32.png) [@kaquin](https://community.cartalk.com/u/kaquin)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 12:18am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/squeak-when-turning-steering-wheel/10906/1 "2008-02-20T00:18:32Z")

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I have a 1999 Ford Windstar and just recently I noticed that when I turn the wheel, especially to the left there is a squeak. Once the car is warm the squeak seems to go away

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**Author:** ![josh5746](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/db5fbb/32.png) [@josh5746](https://community.cartalk.com/u/josh5746)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 1:09am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/squeak-when-turning-steering-wheel/10906/2 "2008-02-20T01:09:58Z")

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dont hold me to it but my 98 taurus did the same thing. it turned out being lower ball joints

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**Author:** ![shortyoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@shortyoh](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shortyoh)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 7:24pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/squeak-when-turning-steering-wheel/10906/3 "2008-02-20T19:24:27Z")

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Can you tell where it is coming from? Far too many options…

It could just be a noisy steering wheel (my Camry squeaks like you wouldn’t believe) that you can just live with.

Or it could be any part of the steering/suspension that turns when you turn the wheel… ball joints, struts, mounts, tie rods…

I would wager that if it is from outside the passenger compartment, you probably have a tie rod end that is starting to dry out. Those on my Taurus and my Camry would squeak until they got warmed up before they needed replacement. Parts are cheap, labor isn’t too bad (easy replacement, but alignment will be needed afterwards)

But again, this all depends on where the noise is coming from. If it is from the outside and you can’t isolate and repair it yourself after an inspection, take it to a mechanic soon.

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**Author:** ![edb1961](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/edb1961/32/122_2.png) [@edb1961](https://community.cartalk.com/u/edb1961)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/squeak-when-turning-steering-wheel/10906/4 "2008-02-20T19:42:22Z")

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The tie rod ends on my 98 Windstar started making a groaning/squeaking noise at 57k. My mechanic was able to grease the tie rods using a needle(?) fitting. The tie rods were still holding up fine when the van was sold with 98k on the clock.

Ed B.