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Having a HIGH-PITCHED squeal from, again, the 2003 GMC Envoy XL. It makes the noise when the vehicle is in motion, and completely stops when stopped at a light. It “appears” to be coming from driver’s side front.. And, in addition to.. when driving, has a sound like the belt on a treadmill. Now.. I drive this everyday, and while I may feel the SLIGHTEST amount of sponginess on the brake pedal, it still runs and drives fine. However, this noise has been there for about a week and it does concern me.
Though we plan on taking it to our service guy to check it out, I was tempted to remove the tire and spray the caliper with Brake Parts Cleaner, but I may be just wasting spray.
High miles (almost 200,000) but.. It usually doesn’t make noises like this. And everything works on it fine.. it’s a nice truck. Needs a new windshield now, but, nice truck otherwise. Really. Looks and rides like a LOT lower mileage… Perfectly maintained, and I have also done some de-carboning with throttle body and brake booster apps of Seafoam. (This vehicle develops a rough idle problem if you do not; I watched Eric’s Throttle Body dos/donts, but this truck has a TSB about build-up and at least one time, got so bad it would stall. TB cleaning remedied the issue but I believe it was taken apart as it gets really really bad on this 4.2L I6 Vortec 4200.) I have basically begun the Sea-foaming through TB and brake booster (trying to be careful) to avoid this again. From what I hear.. only rarely can damage occur by doing it that way.
Anyways..The vehicle is a 2003 GMC Envoy XL, and.. while I appreciate that it can be very hard to speculate without video.. What are some of the things that this could be?
Thank you.
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I will visually inspect to see if the inside of the tire is rubbing against the wheel mouldings.. it sure sounds like it but I feel I would have seen wear on the tires.
I can’t think what it is.
Did you pull the wheel off yet? That would be the first step I would take. Maybe jack it up and depending on the diff rotate the rotor with my hands to see if I can’t reproduce the noise.
Most cars have a splash shield behind the rotor. Sometimes those bend and contact the rotor making this type of noise (though this doesn’t happen on its own). Or maybe something is caught between the splash shield and the rotor?
EDIT: cap269 beat me to it.
Hi there. Mechanic says it sounds like “Either the bearings or the transmission.” … Mechanic says there are “transmission bearings?”
I wish I could get a video of this sound.
I can try to do that today, but… I wish the other cars were working, then we could let this one sit until we get that sound figured out.
Well, yes, there are bearings inside the transmission, but I am going to assume that the mechanic meant that it was either a wheel bearing issue or transmission issue. I would also suggest that you consider it could be a driven accessory bearing or drive belt noise also. That is easy to test by removing the drive belt and operating the vehicle to see if the noise is still there. Yes, you can drive the vehicle for a minute or two without the belt. Just don’t do it very long.
Is the squeal constant, regardless of speed, or does the squeal increase in intensity with increasing wheel speed? Does it squeal at all speeds, or does it only squeal above (or below) a certain speed? When accelerating, does the squeal diminish when engine revs drop after the transmission shifts into the next higher gear? Does it squeal in reverse? When driving and you apply the brakes while the vehicle is still moving, does the squeal change or stop?
[quote=”Evil-i” post=138340]Is the squeal constant, regardless of speed, or does the squeal increase in intensity with increasing wheel speed? Does it squeal at all speeds, or does it only squeal above (or below) a certain speed? When accelerating, does the squeal diminish when engine revs drop after the transmission shifts into the next higher gear? Does it squeal in reverse? When driving and you apply the brakes while the vehicle is still moving, does the squeal change or stop?[/quote]
It shifts perfectly (thank God.) But…
I don’t hear anything I’d call a “high-pitched squeal”. The only unusual sound I could hear was something like a plastic bag fluttering in the wind.
Sounds like wheel/hub bearing noise to me, but I couldn’t tell which side from the video. Based on the observation that the noise seemed to quit when you were making a right turn tells me the noisy bearing may be on the right front. You will need to either get a jack or find someone that will help you lift the vehicle to find out which one it actually is (if the noise is indeed coming from a wheel bearing). After all, if you want to do more repairs on your own cars you will need to lift them at some point, so just get a floor jack and at least one pair of jackstands. Some poeple advise replacing both wheel bearings at the same time. However, I feel doing that is a waste of time, money, and materials to replace a part that doesn’t actually need to be replaced. If you do wind up diagnosing and replacing a bearing, make sure to just replace the whole hub assembly.
This video will illustrate why you should replace the hub assembly as a unit whenever possible:
[quote=”cap269″ post=138391]Sounds like wheel/hub bearing noise to me, but I couldn’t tell which side from the video. Based on the observation that the noise seemed to quit when you were making a right turn tells me the noisy bearing may be on the right front. You will need to either get a jack or find someone that will help you lift the vehicle to find out which one it actually is (if the noise is indeed coming from a wheel bearing). After all, if you want to do more repairs on your own cars you will need to lift them at some point, so just get a floor jack and at least one pair of jackstands. Some poeple advise replacing both wheel bearings at the same time. However, I feel doing that is a waste of time, money, and materials to replace a part that doesn’t actually need to be replaced. If you do wind up diagnosing and replacing a bearing, make sure to just replace the whole hub assembly.
This video will illustrate why you should replace the hub assembly as a unit whenever possible:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTS4ke7nViE%5B/quote%5DAwesome Sauce. And I agree!
**Previous poster: The “high-pitched squeal” is intermittent at best, and seems to be prevalent under braking (?) but also wasn’t AS noticeable in the video I made.. Go figure.
I also am leaning towards “wheel bearing” (since transmission shifts 100% and I engage “A4WD” – not sure why this one has that AND 4Hi.. seems redundant.. – in the rain.)
I will see what I can do about a jack today. Without yet watching the video (I will soon..) Shouldn’t be able to wiggle the tire back and forth? Or is that a Tie Rod test?
I want to really thank you for the help you are giving. You also helped me not waste my Brake Parts Cleaner spray, I still have some left lol.. just not sure if I will ever need it. 🙂
Eric gives the wheel the wiggle test in the video. While your bearings may not be as bad as those, the idea is the same. Here’s a good video that details the process of checking the bearings.
BTW, there is a reason that you have both A4WD and 4Hi. Here is a summary:
[quote=”cap269″ post=138425]Eric gives the wheel the wiggle test in the video. While your bearings may not be as bad as those, the idea is the same. Here’s a good video that details the process of checking the bearings.
BTW, there is a reason that you have both A4WD and 4Hi. Here is a summary:
[/quote]I checked out the video just now. Weird how the back wheels spun BACKWARDS at about 30:24 when he turned the wheel forward.. was the 4Runner in 4WD? I had an AWD Volvo (both 1999 and 2000 V70 XC) that did the same..
BUT, cool info about A4WD! Good idea. I used it in the rain.. I only put it on in the rain.. Then turn it right back off.. if I feel like I need more control, to avoid stupid drivers.. it basically sounds a “Select AWD,” which is smart. The Volvo is the best AWD system I ever dealt with, though.. aside from the 4-Hi in my S10.. which only needs it in snow……….
I suppose I should get this jack. THOUGH, it has been said that “The truck is going into the shop on Monday.” Between 200 and 300 miles (easily) more will be on it since then. And the GMC.. will be hitting 200,000 this month. 🙂
So, the noise means that it isn’t “That bad” yet? The noise can really go away? (I know that isn’t good. The truck is going in to a shop with a lift.. trusted family mechanic that always does a great job. No idea how much he costs, though. Probably on the low side of high, since he quotes book then tries to give as big a discount as he can, for the repeat business.)
I’ll also need one for when it comes time to jack up my slightly raised SUV. Has 31″ tires, adds an inch of ride height…
Well, keep us posted on how it turns out. I’m curious to find out if it was indeed a bearing (and which side).
[quote=”cap269″ post=138438]Well, keep us posted on how it turns out. I’m curious to find out if it was indeed a bearing (and which side).[/quote]
Absolutely. No doubt I will do just that.
I also thought I would make a little update video for you all 🙂 Here is that!
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