Hi guys,
So i own a 2009 Scion tC, has about 70k miles on the car. I am experiencing a squeaky noise when turning the steering wheel left or right, as well as accelerate and braking. A friend and I jacked up the car, listen to the noise while the engine was running. We were able to duplicate the noise and it seems like its coming from the tie rod area, inner tie rod that is connected to the rack and pinion. Do you guys think it needs to be greased? keep in mind that for my car, i will have to replace the whole tie rod, can’t grease it because it doesn’t have a Zerk fitting. Also, when i push down on the passenger side fender, the squeaky noise reappear. noise is coming from passenger side.
Any suggestions or comments will help. This has been going on for about 2 months now.
Tough to say. Id like to think your car is too young to need replacement suspension/steering components, unless you hit some mega pot holes or road debris. Outside of that, try spraying the areas in question with some silicone spray.
+1 to Fender’s post.
"when i push down on the passenger side fender, the squeaky noise reappear"
This statement suggests a worn strut to me. Worst case, maybe a ball joint, since turning also causes squeaking. But it might also be a tie rod on the end of the sway bar. That would IMHO be a very likely source.
Before you start replacing expensive and hard to replace parts, get a professional opinion. It might be t he best $100 you ever spent. Remember that when you jack up the car, you suspend the wheels from the suspension components, and that changes the relationships of all the parts and can be highly misleading as to the source of the squeak. What squeaks when the wheels are hanging may not be what squeaks when the wheels are fully loaded. A pro with a lift will be much better able to tell you what’s squeaking.