I need some help. I have this annoying chirp-like squeak in my car. It happens on both smooth and bumpy roads, and driving speeds don't matter either. I think its coming from the passenger side, but the girlfriend says its coming from the middle. Either way, Here is a video from my drive this morning, and hopefully it can help diagnosing this thing...

I already checked the glovebox, and clock...

 

That would annoy the heck out of me.

Is the seat belt down at the bottom rubbing against the seat or console?
What about the defrost vents near the windshield?

Maybe you could also take the center stack out and see if the noise is coming from behind there?

 

Is the fan for your dash vents on or off?

Have you ever cleaned out your in-cabin filter? Sometimes leaves and crap get up in there.

Does it occur only with the car running, or can you push up and down on the front fenders and recreate it?

I sympathize. Man, I hate mystery noises.

 

Your car is haunted, by a ghost that hates bumps...
In all serious, that sucks dude... There is a "suede" like material in between the windshield and dash, and sometimes it rubs... Was your windshield replaced recently??

 

The noise happens weather the vents are on or off, and pointed in any position. I did have the center vents off this year when I did the LED replacement in the HVAC and whatnot.

Also, it only happens when the car is running (as far as I know) but I haven't "tested" when it has been off. But with the amount of moving around in the car when its parked i haven't heard anything.

The windshield has never been replaced. And this noise is new (only started a few months ago) Ill check out the vents and the area at the base of the windshield.

I will check the seat belt. It happens whether I have passengers or not, so I don't think it would be the belt (clip)

 

Hey, look at the bright side, I posted a video instead of trying to describe the noise

 

try using a stethoscope or similar to pinpoint the area its coming from. just a thought

 

Very hard when it only does it while driving...

 

get a friend to help you...

 

+1 on using a video...that was helpful

If you took the center vents out then do that and drive with them out to see if the noise disappears.

 

check the tsb on the noises from the glove box i forget the name but it involved adding foam strips around the edges of the glove box when it gets closed.

to me that noise is something from movement from bumps. so its a rubbing of some kind.

does it happen with the glove box open?

I had a very similar squeak only when driving and it ended up being a plastic female tab in the fender for the headlights, it was missing and the headlight was actually creating the squeak. check that too.

 

Sounds like metal on metal contact to me...very high pitched chirp.

 

I had a noise just like that and I thought it was coming from inside the cabin. But one day I was putting stuff in my trunk and realized the noise was actually two things: my jack had wiggled itself loose, and the insert piece where the license plate mounts on the trunk was loose. They both made the same noise in your video if I went over the slightest bump.

After tightening a bolt in the trunk behind the license plate, and widening the jack a little bit so it had no room to move, the noise stopped. I could've sworn the entire time it was coming from inside the cabin, but sound just travels funny like that sometimes.

 

+1......Also, I've heard similar noises result from worn or poorly seated wiper blades. Air slips under areas of the blade that are loose and
Cause a whistling. Run the car and acquire the sound, spray your windshield and turn on wipers, see of changes or goes away.

 

Dude i just fixed somebodys car that had this problem. Exactly the same it took months to figure out the headlight was the squeak

OP that noise is insane start with your hvac but honestly i believe if you remove your glovebox assembly it'll stop then figure out the contact point

 

Sounds to me like your blower motor is dying. Was your air conditioning on? Mine made a similar noise and it got progressively worse. Luckily, if it IS the blower motor it's very easy to swap out and you can get a cheap one on eBay.

 

Oh yeah, mine used to chirp more over bumps and stuff because the bearings are wearing out and bumps cause the shaft to move around more - hence more squeaking.

 

It might not be that hard - if you remove everything from stethoscope except ear pieces and tubes and then bundle both together and put them both into single tube of bigger diameter with another end left open it will allow you to drastically reduce the area your ears are receiving sound from as it will allow mostly the sounds from the open end of the tube to reach them. Driving with one hand and 'scanning' cabin with the open end of the tube with another should let you pinpoint sound source much easier. I used this method to look for sound source in the engine bay with engine idling. It was dangerous due to moving pulleys but also very efficient.

 

So I did some tests..

Drove with the glove box open - Still chirped

Still chirps with the blower motor off and on.

Checked the jack - Tight

Checked the wipers - still chirps no matter the position

Drove with the center vents and clock off - still chirped...

Still going to check the vents by the windshield, and everything else around there.

 

He's got a girlfriend...let her drive while he uses the stethoscope to find the sound.

 

you still haven't checked the headlight mounting point at the fender.

if you remove the headlight there's a mounting point in the fender it should have a plastic female piece, if that's missing there's a good chance this is the noise.

 

Ill do that over the weekend. Ill have a co-worker with me tomorrow, so they'll help try to find the sound... We should be able to check a bunch of stuff with our 1-hour long drive each way

 

My sound, which I just fixed, sounded just like yours but not as loud:



http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...ml#post8587324

 

I notice there's an aftermarket radio installed. The aftermarket dash kit brackets I've seen are usually made from plastic, such as this one from Scosche.

http://www.installer.com/item/displa...php?it=NN1648B

When they get hot such as in the summer, they get softer, thereby letting the whole radio assembly move a lot more. I actually had one of these brackets break on me earlier this year as the plastic is just too weak to hold the weight long term. Anyway, as you're driving down the road, place your hand on the radio and hold it there to see if the squeak stops.

 

I had this same noise for months I searched for the issue and it turned out to be my right front swaybar link. $15 part and 2 bolts later the obnoxious squeak was gone. I just pushed on my car and it made the noise. So I layed under the car and had someone push on it.

Heres a link for what the part looks like

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/par..._396358_10695_

 

Since you say both of you are thinking its coming from the other side I was thinking it was overhead or perhaps in the console between you. Hope this helps.

 

No sunroof, and Ill double check the overhead items. We are starting to think its where the dash/windshield/a-pillar meet...

Im planning on removing the glove box and blower motor and going for a drive. If they are not in the car they cannot squeak, and if it still squeaks it will give me a better idea of whats going on

 

did u ever check your head light?, a quick but not perfect check would be pushing on the headlight and see if it has any sorta movement in it's fixed position. I could slightly push my head light and create the noise(which I didn't know at the time was the interior noise). I noticed it when washing the car.

 

I think you might have a little birdy in there somewhere chirpin away. LoL

 

My amigo, I got the same f*cking noise in my car and it annoys me a lot.

In my car I have found at least 2 sources for that noise

The spare tire and the jack do the same noise if they are loose, for the tire just tight the nut that holds it and put something between the tire and the car. This will fix it. Do the same for the jack.

Also I still got that squeak noise in my car, I'll try with the other suggestions.

 

So I think I found my issue. I noticed that the noise was occurring A LOT less when the fan was off, than when it was on. I decided to purchase a new blower motor, and then replaced it. When i pulled the old one out, I was playing with it and I heard it emit the same noise (but very quietly). So I put the new one in. too bad I cant drive the car right now to test, but I am pretty sure its all fixed!

 

so I FINALLY found the cause of the noise. I doubt anybody cares but this may help somebody in the future. The noise was being caused by the hood latch assembly behind the grill. Today when my girlfriend closed the passenger door i heard a chirp (i was in front of the car). I had her open and close the door a few more times, and always got the chirp. Got home, sprayed some lubricant on the latch assembly, and NO MORE NOISE

 

nice update thanks!!

 

That would explain why changing the round rubber bushings for the hood also stopped a similar noise. Holds the latch tight I guess. You can spin them out to adjust a bit. I probably just needed to spray the latch lol.