Front left wheel is making a high pitched squeeking noise. It comes intermittently, but usually when the car is warmed up. The squeeking is a pulsing sound also. You can hear it get louder if you brake, go over a bump, or turn the wheel. It's not ALWAYS there though, probably about %50 of the time, once the car has been driven for awhile. I couldn't figure out which wheel it was coming from, but I knew it was on the left side. When I got home last night, I pulled into the driveway, put the car in Park, and the car rocked a little (put in park on hill) and the squeeking would squeek with the rocking of the car. I then determined it was from the front LEFT wheel.

Then this morning I took the car to my mechanic to check it out. We drove behind a business complex (along a wall to hear the noise better), and it wouldn't make the noise! Finally, after a litte listening, it was there. But it's a really high pitched pulsating beep, and he couldn't hear it! Maybe I'm trying to be conacted by a different world... :eek: Anyway, I could hear it well, but he couldn't hear it, like his ears could not pick up that high of a noise.

Well I know this will not be easy to diagnose without seeing it. But any places I should look? I have braked hard a few times to try and remove glaze build-up, but it didn't really help. Should I put some glaze stuff on there anyway, just to eliminate some possibilities?
Thanks everyone!

Could be a bushing, ball joint, or the strut piston. Try spraying everything with some penetrating oil ( one component at a time) and see if you can eliminate the squeek. Does not sound brake related.

It doesn't seem to be the brakes really, yes.
But are you sure the suspension? I am going to jack the car up tomorrow (John, of course no ramps!! :) ) and go over everything after taking the wheel off.
SO we'll see! Thanks for the help, and I'll post the results tomorrow.

Well another observation. The squeeks goes away when I brake, but then when I let off the brake it comes back a second or two later.

I took off the wheel today and took some pictures. Where should I look?

http://www.a-p-group.com/cklasse/Wheel%202.JPG

http://www.a-p-group.com/cklasse/WWWwheel3.JPG

http://www.a-p-group.com/cklasse/Wheel1.JPG


And this is of the brake.... look ok?

http://www.a-p-group.com/cklasse/Brakes.JPG

THanks guys.

There's nothing wrong with your car! You just wanted to post pics of your dirty bottom! :D :D

John,
I've had those pads on there for a few months now! (Maybe you will see that I'm not THAT hard of a driver... but I try and avoid hard braking, timing stop lights, releasing gas pedal early and coasting to light, etc.) I think they've been on there for about 8 thousand miles now.

But back to the squeak, where should I look!? I can still hear it and it's SO annoying!

Sway bar bushing(s)?

I would check the ball joint on the upper control arm. I had the same problem on my car about a month ago. I took off the whole arm. Removed the small protective boot. Moved the ball joint back and forth while spraying WD40 and re-greased the whole thing again. Putting back the boot takes some patience. Anyway, it's good as new now. If you have excessive clearance replace it. However, I think it comes as an assy with the upper control arm.

Vin

Ok,
You all suggest to do all of these things. But I know nothing about suspensions! What/where are upper and lower ball joints, sway bar bushings, ball joint on the upper control arm assembly (vinamgs idea), and sway bar busings? I only know where the shocks, springs, and brakes are.
Thanks for the help.

I'll try power washing it real thoroghly but I've washed the car, I'll try it again just to be sure.

Dave,

Look at your first picture. Do you see the goldish colored nut toward the top? That's your upper control arm ball joint. The ball joint is upside down. That J shaped arm that holds the joint is your upper control arm. The cylindrical part of the upper control arm that attaches to the body of the car is the housing for the upper control arm bushing.
The big arm on the bottom that holds the spring shock, etc. is the lower control arm. Same thing with this one. The two parts that connect to the car are the lower control arm bushings. On the opposite side where it attaches to the bottom of the steering knuckle is the lower ball joint.
Now look at the second picture. Left side middle of the picture you can see a round bar. That is your sway bar. If you follow it toward the wheel you'll see that it attaches to the lower control arm. The rubber part of the attachment is the sway bar bushing.

Any of these moving parts can cause squeaking. But the high pitch squeaking that you described sounds to me like metal to metal. Which could be dried up ball joints or the spring. I would check the ball joints. Start with the upper (tendency to dry up quicker since it's upside down, easier to get to).
Hope this helps.

Vinamg

Vinamg,
THanks for the parts description. Now that I know what is what, and what to check. What do I check for? How do I correct it? DO I need some grease or something? Thanks again.

John,
Thanks a bucnh for the advice. I will take the wheel off again tomorrow and check it out. How much does it cost to get them replaced?
Also, I have noticed an increase in steering wheel vibration again... is this also a symptom? Thanks again.

Try new shocks, the picture makes them look real bad.

Dave,

Two things to check for steering wheel vibration:
1. Check your front wheel bearings for play and re-torque them if needed.
2. Rebalance front tires

To check that upper ball joint remove that "goldish" nut and separate the upper control arm from the knuckle. Once off move the ball joint around and check for clearance. I am guessing that it will be somewhat hard to move (dried up). If there is no clearance you can try re-greasing as I described earlier or you can change it. This is a pretty simple DIY project.

As for lower ball joints they can easily be checked without removing anything. If these need to be changed you better leave it to your mechanic.

I doubt that you have a shocks problem. BTW, how many miles on your car?

Vinamg

Vinamg,
THanks for the help. I already put the wheel back on, so I'm probably just going to forget it. I removed the wheel earlier and and checked everything (even removed that one screw!), rinsed it all, but I just don't know really how or what to look for. Everything looks "ok" to me, but I'm not a tech and don't know for sure.
What's frustrating is that I took it to my mechanic, he can't hear anything! I'm going to take it back agian tomorrow, have them remove the wheel, check the wheel bearings, have them retorqued if needed, and check the upper and lower ball joints.
BTW, it has 90K miles, and I don't think the shocks are a problem.

Nonetheless, I have a few pictures to post.

http://www.a-p-group.com/cklasse/Suspension.jpg
The peice at the bottom is the upper ball joint, correct? Bigger pic below.

http://www.a-p-group.com/cklasse/BallJoint.jpg

And what is this? Is this anything that I should check?
http://www.a-p-group.com/cklasse/Suspension1.jpg

This is probably all pointless, I'm just going to take it in tomorrow and see what they can do. Alteast I tried!
What do you think the prices on these parts are? Thanks guys.