Squeak January 15, 2009, 09:24:19 am Yahoo Message Number: 98579I have an odd sound from my 2003 E-450 that began on our most recent trip. When starting out cold in the morning there is a repetitive, fairly loud squeak coming from the chassis. I hear it a bit from inside the cab but quite clearly from an open driver's window. It seems to be timed to wheel or perhaps driveshaft rotation. Braking has no effect. It becomes audible at about 15 mph and is less noticeable above 30 or so.I can't tell what part of the chassis it is emanating from but if I had to guess I'd say the front half. It eventually disappears entirely as things "warm up" and doesn't seem to recur until the next cold start, usually the next morning.This was unchanged by yesterday's 60K service which included a chassis lube, repacking the front wheel bearing and new grease seals, removing and reinstalling all wheels. And the rear brake job discussed in another post.I'm thinking something in the suspension or perhaps the driveshaft, but have no idea what. Do you have any ideas?Thanks.Terry2003 26.5' RB Gardnerville, NV
Re: Squeak Reply #1 – January 15, 2009, 10:37:34 am Yahoo Message Number: 98582QuoteI have an odd sound from my 2003 E-450 that began on our most recent trip. When starting out cold in the morning there is a repetitive, fairly loud squeak coming from the chassis. I hear it a bit from inside the cab but quite clearly from an open driver's window. It seems to be timed to wheel or perhaps driveshaft rotation. Braking has no effect. It becomes audible at about 15 mph and is less noticeable above 30 or so. My bet is, it is the front wheel covers. There is a little flex in the rims and the wheel covers develop a fairly loud squeek, which at driving speeds is not noticeable. The test is, remove the covers and slowly drive with your window open. I have tried to eliminate the noise, but it always seems to recur.Chris Hunter
Re: Squeak Reply #2 – January 15, 2009, 10:49:01 am Yahoo Message Number: 98583I have an odd sound from my 2003 E-450 that began on our most recent trip.Terry: I had similar noise on my 2003 MB that started at about 32,000 miles that I searched for about a year. I raised the vehicle off the ground and found the noise coming from the center support bearing on the driveshaft, which I replaced and the noise is gone. While in there be sure to re-grease the slip joint splines with Fords XG-8 PTFE grease. Also 60,000 miles is the inspection point on the u-joints.Lon in No-Cal 2003 MB
Re: Squeak Reply #3 – January 15, 2009, 11:31:00 am Yahoo Message Number: 98584We have had the fairly common squeak from the exhaust shield on our 04MB. That could be excited by pavement expansion joints. Just drive a ways on I80
Re: Squeak Reply #4 – January 15, 2009, 12:16:25 pm Yahoo Message Number: 98587Quote We have had the fairly common squeak from the exhaust shield on our 04MB. We had the same problem on our '04. Ford tracked it to the cat. shield. They re-crimped it but the rattle/squeak persisted. Our noise was RPM sensitive (1500 to 2000 range). I suspect we have an internal cat. baffle loose and since a replacement is prohibitively expensive I just modified the exhaust system hangers to change the harmonics and the rattle/squeak has been all but eliminated.John
Re: Squeak Reply #5 – January 15, 2009, 12:40:29 pm Yahoo Message Number: 98588Jack, Just got back from the Bay Area (new granddaughter!!). You're right, I-80 is the pits. Every time I go over there it's a wonderment that they manage to let their roads get so bad. Then I go there again and they made 'em even worse. I spent some time on my road bicycle for exercise while there. Some of the residential streets are even worse. I can't see how they can turn their downhill slide around without some major changes in the way they do business.Hope the rest of the country doesn't get that bad or worse.bumper Yonder Minden, NV
Re: Squeak Reply #6 – January 15, 2009, 01:24:35 pm Yahoo Message Number: 98590wrote: I can't see how they can turn their downhill slide around without some major changes in the way they do business. --- Can we please borrow $42 billion from Nevada? ;-)Joan
Re: Squeak Reply #7 – January 15, 2009, 01:37:50 pm Yahoo Message Number: 98591tlburnes wrote:I have an odd sound from my 2003 E-450 that began on our most recent trip. When starting out cold in the morning there is a repetitive, fairly loud squeak coming from the chassis. I hear it a bit from inside the cab but quite clearly from an open driver's window. It seems to be timed to wheel or perhaps driveshaft rotation. Braking has no effect. It becomes audible at about 15 mph and is less noticeable above 30 or so. --- Terry, if you find the cause of this "ska-REEK, ska-REEK, ska-REEK" noise in your rig, PLEASE POST! My 2003 has had what appears to be *exactly* the same noise for quite a while, and nobody, not Ford guys, not Henderson's, not the alignment shop, NOBODY, has been able to diagnose what is causing it. (And, no, it's not the wheel covers; I took them off and drove around and the noise was still there.)Lon's post about the center drive shaft bearing being the culprit seems like a great place to start to diagnose the noise; thanks, Lon! (BTW, I already had the U-joints inspected, and they were fine.)Please post when/if you get a diagnosis and "fix"; thanks!Joan
Re: Squeak Reply #8 – January 15, 2009, 03:21:52 pm Yahoo Message Number: 98592Quote From: jctaylor1941 To: lifewithalazydazerv@yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2009 11:24 AM Subject: [LD] Re: Squeakwrote: I can't see how they can turn their downhill slide around without some major changes in the way they do business. --- Can we please borrow $42 billion from Nevada? ;-)JoanJoan, Sure, no problem. Oh, whoops, hold on a sec', I forgot. Californian Indian gaming sucked all the easy money out of Nevada, so we're in the hole too (though our hole's a dinky divot compared to yours). If you guys would please declare war on and shut down those casinoes (what are now fleecing the suckers in CA), we'll see what we can do to help ya'll - - honest. Seriously, we are all in some serious trouble, a failing road infrastructure is a small symptom, and I don't see our elected officials conjuring up the will power to fix things right. Borrowing sure ain't it. Off topic (sorry Andy) but I heard a stat on TV the other day saying the average family spent 120% of their income during the past decade. That compares to about 95% during the decade previous. Clearly the problem is also with the average citizen, not just with our greedy financial institutions. We have somehow lost the financial wisdom, discipline, and restraint of our forefathers.bumper (a non-gambler, btw) Yonder Minden, NV
Re: Squeak Reply #9 – January 15, 2009, 03:26:49 pm Yahoo Message Number: 98593Quotedriveshaft rotation. Braking has no effect. It becomes audible at about 15 mph and is less noticeable above 30 or so. At a speed of 15 mph, a noise occurring at a rate of about 2.75 times a second would be from wheel or tire. If the frequency is about 3.5 to 4 times that rate, it would be the driveshaft. This assumes a tire about 30" diameter, which would cover a revolution in about 95 inches of roadway or about 8', and at 15 mph you cover about 22' per second. Final drive ratio is usually 3.50 to 4.11.Steve
Re: Squeak Reply #10 – January 15, 2009, 04:04:39 pm Yahoo Message Number: 98594Quote tlburnes wrote:I have an odd sound from my 2003 E-450 that began on our most recent trip. When starting out cold in the morning there is a repetitive, fairly loud squeak coming from the chassis. I hear it a bit from inside the cab but quite clearly from an open driver's window. It seems to be timed to wheel or perhaps driveshaft rotation. Braking has no effect. It becomes audible at about 15 mph and is less noticeable above 30 or so. --- Terry, if you find the cause of this "ska-REEK, ska-REEK, ska-REEK" noise in your rig, PLEASE POST! My 2003 has had what appears to be *exactly* the same noise for quite a while, and nobody, not Ford guys, not Henderson's, not the alignment shop, NOBODY, has been able to diagnose what is causing it. (And, no, it's not the wheel covers; I took them off and drove around and the noise was still there.)Lon's post about the center drive shaft bearing being the culprit seems like a great place to start to diagnose the noise; thanks, Lon! (BTW, I already had the U-joints inspected, and they were fine.)Please post when/if you get a diagnosis and "fix"; thanks!Joan I have a F350 Super Duty that developed this noise at about 70k. It was the center bearing on the driveshaft. If this is the problem when replacing be sure to specify one with a grease fitting. That will end the problem.
Re: Squeak Reply #11 – January 15, 2009, 06:57:44 pm Yahoo Message Number: 98595Quote I have an odd sound from my 2003 E-450 that began on our most recent trip. When starting out cold in the morning there is a repetitive, fairly loud squeak coming from the chassis. I hear it a bit from inside the cab but quite clearly from an open driver's window. It seems to be timed to wheel or perhaps driveshaft rotation. Braking has no effect. It becomes audible at about 15 mph and is less noticeable above 30 or so. My bet is, it is the front wheel covers. There is a little flex in the rims and the wheel covers develop a fairly loud squeek, which at driving speeds is not noticeable. The test is, remove the covers and slowly drive with your window open. I have tried to eliminate the noise, but it always seems to recur. Somewhere on our long trip last summer we had a very worrisome noise suddenly appear that sounded like the one Terry described. To my great relief, it turned out to be the wheelcover. It is a simple thing to test.Art
Re: Squeak Reply #12 – January 15, 2009, 07:06:22 pm Yahoo Message Number: 98597I had a squeak I only heard when driving slowly on on uneven CG roads. It was the rubber bushing at the top of the front shock. I sprayed a little silicone on there and it went away.Tim Sordelet
Squeak solved! Reply #13 – January 15, 2009, 07:15:41 pm Yahoo Message Number: 98600Thanks for all the tips. Especially helpful was Steve's advice about different frequencies of the squeak
Re: Squeak solved! Reply #14 – January 15, 2009, 10:21:56 pm Yahoo Message Number: 98606tlburnes wrote: Sprayed them all with WD-40 and went for a drive. No squeak! --- Glad you found the origin of *your* "squeak"; I'll keep looking for the source of mine. I don't have levelers, it's not the wheel covers, everything, including the shock bushings, is lubed, so I'll look next at the driveshaft bearing. Hope I can find it; the noise is very annoying!Joan
Re: Squeak Reply #15 – January 15, 2009, 10:46:34 pm Yahoo Message Number: 98609When I read the first post my money was on the drive shaft.
Squeak is back! Reply #16 – January 16, 2009, 02:32:51 pm Yahoo Message Number: 98622Well, I was wrong about the levelers. The squeak returned. I think its disappearance yesterday after I lubed the jack pads was coincidence, because the squeak does MOL go away after several miles of driving and I had gotten to that point driving around trying to trouble shoot it.I think Joan and I may have the same noise. It sounds like she's had a lot of people try to track it down without success. I've examined the chassis thoroughly and tried a few things now with no luck.Joan, does your squeak go away with some driving? Is it worse when cold? Mine does/is.It also seems to have a constant frequency. That is, the "speed" of the squeak doesn't seem to change with speed of the vehicle. Not affected by braking or turning, speeding up or slowing down. It seems to start about 10-15 mph and is hard to hear, if at all, above about 30 mph. It's there with the transmission engaged or
Re: Squeak is back! Reply #17 – January 16, 2009, 03:15:45 pm Yahoo Message Number: 98623Quote...It also seems to have a constant frequency. That is, the "speed" of the squeak doesn't seem to change with speed of the vehicle... Terry, your squeak wouldn't happen to be something as simple as the coach swaying back and forth, would it? Have you tried rocking it while it's stationary?Rick Devoy
Squeak is back! Reply #18 – January 16, 2009, 03:23:27 pm Yahoo Message Number: 98624"Well, I was wrong about the levelers. The squeak returned. I think its disappearance yesterday after I lubed the jack pads was coincidence, because the squeak does MOL go away after several miles of driving and I had gotten to that point driving around trying to trouble shoot it." Just a thought, I know a lot of squeaks sounds as though they are outside. The same type of squeak occurred with our 30' IB. After exhaustive searching outside looking for the source (I swear that annoying squeak came from the outside), we moved our search inside and discovered that it was the entry door! The squeak would occur more often in the early morning or colder weather.Again, it is just a thought!!Paul...[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: Squeak is back! Reply #19 – January 16, 2009, 03:25:49 pm Yahoo Message Number: 98625tlburnes wrote: Joan, does your squeak go away with some driving? Is it worse when cold? Mine does/is. --- *My* "squeaks" never go away , but it seems like the noise lessens or goes away after a bit of driving. My hearing is very good, and I've tried to drive with my head out the window in order to hear the noise, but at even slow "road speeds", any squeak is very hard to hear! So, I can't say positively that the noise is gone; it may well be that it's still there and I can pick it out through all the other noises!And, yes, the rythmic "skreek" is *much* louder at start-up or any time the chassis is "cold"!It also seems to have a constant frequency. That is, the "speed" of the squeak doesn't seem to change with speed of the vehicle. --- Yes.Not affected by braking or turning, speeding up or slowing down. It seems to start about 10-15 mph and is hard to hear, if at all, above about 30 mph. It's there with the transmission engaged or in neutral. Revving the engine in neutral while coasting has no effect on it, nor does turning the AC on or off. When running along beside the passing motorhome it clearly seems to be coming from under the chassis, MOL in the center. --- Yes; all of the above, except that I haven't run alongside the rig!Given these symptoms it is hard to imagine what it is associated with. The drive shaft seems unlikely because it turns much faster than the frequency of this squeak and the squeak doesn't change with speed. --- I'm still going to have the mechanic look at the drive shaft bearing.The frequency of the squeak seems more similar to the speed of a wheel turning but it doesn't change with speed, as a turning wheel does. Vehicle must be in motion so the engine seems unlikely. --- Yes.On the other hand, there doesn't seem to be any problem wit the operation of the vehicle. In all other respects it works perfectly. I may have to just wait for it to go away or get worse. --- Well, I can tell you that the squeak doesn't go away; however, neither does it seem like it's any *worse* than it has been for the last several thousand miles. It sure sounds like we have the SAME "ska-REEK, ska-REEK, ska-REEK", and I can't think that it isn't more common than has been reported so far. Please let me know if you diagnose the noise's origin, and I will do the same. Thanks.Joan
Re: Squeak is back! Reply #20 – January 16, 2009, 03:42:13 pm Yahoo Message Number: 98626Finding a squeak can drive you crazy, some people require even less input. One sure-fire way to eliminate most *any* squeak is by detonating a few pounds of C-4 under the coach about mid-ship. The coach should, of course, be unoccupied for this proceedure. It is also wise to remove the hubcaps prior to squeak elimination, as they can be difficult to locate after this fix.bumper And to think Oakland PD actually sent me to the FBI bomb school.[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: Squeak Reply #21 – January 16, 2009, 04:50:15 pm Yahoo Message Number: 98627Quote "I have an odd sound from my 2003 E-450 that began... I can't tell what part of the chassis it is emanating from but... I'm thinking something in the suspension... Do you have any ideas?"Quote Terry 2003 26.5' RB Terry I cannot confess to any "squeaks" except the one in my kitchen floor. But, in following this thread, do you suppose that a loose chassis nut/bolt could cause what you're describing???Steve S. Lazy Bones & Jiggs
Re: Squeak is back! Reply #22 – January 16, 2009, 05:21:29 pm Yahoo Message Number: 98628I got rid of my squeak by having a lube job.Michelle Ress west coast North America http://www.flickr.com/photos/safoocat/
Re: Squeak Reply #23 – January 16, 2009, 06:12:13 pm Yahoo Message Number: 98630lejest2003 wrote: But, in following this thread, do you suppose that a loose chassis nut/bolt could cause what you're describing??? --- Steve, I'm not Terry and can't speak for him, but all of the frame bolts on my rig are tight as ticks, and the chirpy, rythmic "skreek" is still there. It's a mystery for sure! ;-)Joan
Re: Squeak is back! Reply #24 – January 16, 2009, 07:23:29 pm Yahoo Message Number: 98632Joan and TerryHave either of you tried applying the parking brake to see if that affects the squeak. Give it a try; pull out on the brake release lever while pumping the pedal. Have check the parking brake oil level lately? I found an empty one a 2003 LD a few months ago.The bottom of the LD's floor is covered in galvanized sheet metal, held in place with sheet metal screws. Tightening the multitude of screws has solved a few mysterious squeaks in various LDs.I'm still not convinced the drive shaft and/or center bearing isn't the cause. A bad u-joint, center bearing or out of balance shaft can cause all sorts of strange noises. Any chance of finding a shop with a hydraulic lift big enough to hoist an LD? To find similar noises in cars, running the vehicle up to speed, while on the rack, is a good way of find a noise.Now, how about some modern trouble shooting utilizing remote sensing. Use your FRS radio (or wireless intercom or ?) to track down elusive noises. On one of the radios, first tape the transmit button down, then duct tape or wire the radio onto something close to where the noise appears to be coming from. Next, go for a drive and listen to the other radio. Try placing the radio in several positions to pin point the noise. Crude but effective. I find this works better than tying the wife to the frame and having her spot the noise.Good luck with the hunt. Larry
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Topic: Squeak (Read 13 times)
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