stevenbr549

My '93 Accord EX wagon with 346,000 miles has, over the past year or so, developed a strange squeak when turning left or right. At first I only noticed it on cold mornings, but lately it does it pretty much all the time, and it's gotten really loud. The car has to be moving; I never hear it when turning the wheel while stopped. I thought it might be the outer boots on my aftermarket axles, so I sprayed them with silicone, and didn't fix anything. I'm a Toyota tech, and our cars make the same type noise from the rubber seal/boot thing on the steering shaft, but that noise can be heard when turning the wheel while stopped, and my noise definitely cannot. Any thoughts?

MAD_MIKE

Check your sway bar endlinks and bushings. If a small oil leak occurs it can lube up the P side sway bar bushing and can cause a squawk of a squeak when the car rolls.

NerfGunner420

my dads car does this after a accident he had. and mine it just started doing it. sounds like its coming from the inside by where the steering wheel is mounted.

stevenbr549

Mine's kinda like that; only I'd guess it's where the shaft goes through the floor rather than up near the steering wheel. I'd condemn the floor boot (or seal or whatever's down there), but I can hold the wheel dead still at 15 degrees or so doing any speed and it'll squeak constantly. It sounds rotational in nature, but the only things rotating are the axles, and greasing the boots didn't make a difference. And the squeak seems to be the same whether I'm doing 15 or 55 mph. Weird stuff.

holmesnmanny

Could be the lower control arm bushings. As they get old they get soft and squishy.

Or perhaps the rack is leaking and starting to go bad.

stevenbr549

I'm sure the control arm bushings have seen their better days, but this noise doesn't seem to be related to suspension movement. I can be in a level and smooth parking lot, for example, and hold the wheel slightly (or a little more than slightly) to the left or right while driving at any speed and I'll get a steady noise. Imagine the sound of a squeaky door hinge, but the door never stops opening--squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeak--until the steering wheel returns to center or turns past 10 or 2. If that makes any sense.

holmesnmanny

That sounds like the power steering pump need an oring rebuild kit. You can get the kit from the parts store for $20 or so. Keep in mind the pulley bolt is reverse threaded.

stevenbr549

Really? I've never known a pump to make this noise, but I'll be tickled if you're right. I've already ordered the o-ring kit (ordered it yesterday because I noticed the pump is leaking), so maybe I'll be able to confirm your diagnosis soon. Thanks for the help, by the way.

holmesnmanny

Lock to lock turning stresses the pump. When the orings wear they leak and the pump pulls in air. Thats the noise you hear. The fact that it leaks helps to possibly confirm. Its possible you will need to replace the rack to, but do the pump first since its cheaper and easier. See what happens. Report back.

g2_DB

Possibly your lower ball joint