Insignia 2014 CDTI Squeaky Front Left Wheel Area

[Rob Scratching His Head]

Been scratching my head since I bought this car at a few weeks ago, another one of the things I have found is that it has a kind of chirpy/squeak that seems to be coming from the front left hand side, it sounds like it could be a Shocker that's a bit dry or a bush that has a bit of play, it's always there, not very loud, just loud enough to REALLY be annoying, it starts as soon as you start to move and obviously it stops when the car stops. I took it into Vauxhall and they wanted to book it in for a diagnosis, they told me that it could take a couple of hours to figure it out because sometimes they are just hard to find but I should also be ready for a non diagnosis if they may not be able to determine the issue..... BUT! it's going to be a couple of weeks before they can fit it in due to staff shortages etc, I didn't book it in, for a main dealer, they sounded VERY vague. Next I went to Kwik Fit (yeah I know, rip off central) they insisted on booking it in because that's their system so I did, when I dropped it off a couple of days ago the mechanic said that he's just drive it round the car park a few times to see if the noise made itself known and then put it on a ramp, His few times round the car park turned into a half a lap, then he drove it into the garage and put it on a ramp, I didn't even get time to take a sip of my brand new Kwik Fit Latte before they cam to the waiting room for me to accompany them to the ramp where my car was in the air, I thought here goes, they have found an armful of jobs to do and a cost to match, not so, in fact he showed me the underside and pointed toward the inside of my front left wheel, he said, something round here is squeaking...... he wasn't sure what it was but it didn't need a long drive to hear it. He said it was probably either the Track Rod End bush, the Shocker or the Lower arm bushes that were squeaking but couldn't tell which. He suggested that the best thing to do would be for me to let the problem develop and then take it back when the noise get's worse, with that I left ... NO CHARGE! (what is happening to Kwik fit (they didn't even look round it to see if there was anything else that the car "needed", I was shocked. So I left with my squeaky car, it's soo annoying, it's in the background all the time. A a last straw, I went to a local garage today with a very high hourly rate but excellent at diagnosing faults by listening, well, they didn't charge me at all, they couldn't diagnose it either, they did however say that it was more than likely to be the lower arm, these car's have a tendency for the lower arm bush to hive slightly causing the squeak but not enough to effect the performance in any way or to make it apparent when a pry bar is used, the only way to confirm that it is that bush is to swap out the lower arm. My question is simply, has anyone else had the same issue and solved it? Or does anyone have any advice at all? Cheers   

[Vauxhall Owners Club]

Had a similar issue with an Alfa Romeo that used to make similar noises usually in the dry rather than when it had been raining.

I used to spray Silicon spray liberally over the rubber bushes and the noise would disappear for quite a while, but always returned

 

[Rob Scratching His Head]

Hmm, yeah, I had a similar thought but just in the last few days we have had some heavy rain which caused some puddles, of course I headed right for a decent one, at leat 2 thirds up my wheels, my thoughts being that if it was going to be a dry spot problem, this would would at least make a noticable difference because all the underside (including all the bush's ets ets would get a good soaking. Tha plan was that if this worked in quetening it down a little, I would than get it in the air once more and spray the hell out of the complete suspension and steering kit with either silicon or even wd40. Well, it made no difference at all, not one incy little bit less chirping so back to square one. I decided to give one last chance and went to a very small and dingy looking (always the best sort) garage, I spoke to the owner / mechanic and he told me that it wasn't anything that I was looking at, it was going to be the lower arm bush. Apparently, the bonding between the lower arm bush and the metal component that it's bonded to develops a weakness, this causes the bush to atart this creaking noise but it's acyually coming from inside the rubber itself, just like molycules separating. none of this can be seen from the outside. Well, he also reccomended that I give it a little time to get worse and advised that I go back in a month. So, counting the days and listening to loud in car music till hopefully it's cured. I have to say, I feel hopeful because he was very adamant. Just to prove his point, he sprayed everywhere under ther with massive amounts of lite grease, wd40 and some silicon too, made absolutely no difference at all. He also said that he was suprised that the dealership didn't just tell me what it was, they know very well about the rubber problem apparently. I'll let you know when it's done. 

[Vauxhall Owners Club]

Wait to hear the outcome, hopefully it won't be too long and drive you insane