Intermittent Squeak Following Alignment Adjustment?

willydoit · July 5, 2015

Hi all,

Had my sc430 2006 alignment checked at local ATS as after my LS400 the suspension and feedback through the steering wheel was nowhere near as comfortable as the LS which isnt an issue if normal and I was expecting the difference due to others comments on the ride of this model and it is after all a totally different car. However I did want to make sure all was well and there werent any suspension issues that I was mistakenly just putting down to "thats the way these cars are" .

Was told that wheels were a long way out of balance and so was the front and rear wheel alignments. All were apparently rectified apparently no faults were found with suspension or steering. I have noticed an intermittent squeaking which sounds like a bed spring although I didnt notice the road was particularly uneven. Had it occurr twice on a fairly normal road surface even at low speed. I havent had the opportunity to diagnose it properly due to being intermittent and it seems to be coming from the nearside so not easy when driving.

The roof was down but pretty sure it wasnt a roof issue as I have seen reported. I would guess at suspension. The car has done 42,000 miles in case it is relevant. It could just be coincidence but I didnt notice it prior to the alignment adjustment. Is there any element of the adjustment procedure which could account for the intermittent squeak if something wasnt torqued up correctly. I have read about suspension squeak issues with some sc430 but didnt want to start suspecting bushes etc especially at only 42k miles if it could just be an incorrectly torqued bolt or something.

If alignment adjustment is just coincidental where would be the best places to get a mechanic to start checking for such an intermittent squeak as I suspect that being intermittent we are unlikely to be looking at anything with immediately obvious wear so anecdotal experience could be very helpful.

Thanks in advance for any help/suggestions.

Neil E · July 7, 2015

If your road wheels were out of balance and the tracking was out, there must have been a lot of vibration on the steering wheel. I suspect the noise was there before the work was done but there's no harm in taking it back to the alignment guys and asking them to re-check it.

That said, mine has always had a low pitch, suspension related, squeak, it's not very noisy, (more a slight groan than a squeak) but it's easy to become sensitive to it. I can only hear it at slow speed over humps, ramps, drop kerbs, etc or when turning very slowly on uneven surfaces. It sounds like a worn/creaky strut at the top part of the turret. It's similar to the Soarer strut noise, it was the same with the GS 430s too.

I've checked my suspension and had it checked. No issues found so far. I suspect it's something to do with one or more of the bushes but they all appear to be in good order.

John-F · July 8, 2015

We had a madly infuriating and intermittent squeak from the front OS which started the day after we got the car! Turned out to be a bad shock absorber. It passed the bounce test & was ok around town but was very skittery on surface changes at motorway speeds.

As you said, your problem could just be coincidence but it might be that the change to the alignment has slightly altered the loadings within the suspension, which possibly translates into a squeak in a 9 year old bush.

As to tracking it down, that's tricky. If it was really bad it would have been spotted on a MOT. A mechanic would probably take a pry bar to each joint where there is a bush looking for excess movement or wear. You could consider squirting a bit of silicon on every bush to see if that temporally fixes it.

As an aside we also get the quiet groan at low speeds on uneven surfaces. You have to listen for it with the radio off & the top down but I try hard not to obsess about it.

willydoit · July 8, 2015

Hi,

Thanks for the feedback, havent had chance to take the car out again yet to diagnose cause, rear shock absorbers were replaced recently so I doubt it is that. It could be the front ones I suppose or spring. It did sound a bit like a squeeky sprung mattress so it mey be the first place to check. Definitely seemed to come from nearside and at one point was loud enough to be heard over the radio although we were going over a bridge at the time which possible amplified the noise. It sounded as though it was a squeeky wheel or spring but the squeek didnt seem fast enough to match the revolutions of the wheel so I guess it just leaves the suspension although the road surface seemed quite smooth. There have been reports of issues with squeeky bushes on these vehicles so it may be that. Will see if it gets any worse, only heard it the twice on one journey so will monitor it.