2013 - Squealing noise in drive, not engine? - Updated!

7522 Views 7 Replies 6 Participants Last post by SweSam, May 25, 2021

infinitempg

Discussion Starter · Feb 2, 2019

Have a 2013 Foz and a couple weeks ago started hearing a squeal when I get to 35-40mpg. The noise is steady with the speed of the car, not the engine. As I start to decelerate the noise gets quieter and more high in pitch until I stop then it's quiet. Needed tires so thinking it's my brake pad warning since I needed brakes, too, I got tires, brakes, new pads and rotors and an alignment. Drove away only to hear the same noise. They want to replace the belt but I can drive until I hear the sound, shift into neutral and rev the engine and the noise starts steady.

Any ideas what this might be???

Totally stumped the local shop. Drove and got the noise started, put it in neutral, turn the engine off and noise stayed steady. Put it on the rack and could not get the noise to start no matter what was done. So I left, took a back road and tried to find some sense to when it does it. No one on the road so decided to just blow it out. Floored it and got up to about 60mph. When I slowed I didn't hear it. Accelerated normally and heard the noise but not much, kind of intermittently. Drove hard several more times and then I could not get it to make the squealing noise. Not sure if it has to do with the driving hard or the engine warming up but tomorrow when I drive I'll see which is true with that.

Update - It's totally odd.... after gunning the crap out of things and driving as hard as I could several time yesterday it seems that it did something as today i once again tried to make it squeal but nothing. Totally quiet. And totally baffling.

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Kevin

· #2 · Feb 3, 2019

Certainly is baffling! Let us know if it returns.

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infinitempg

Discussion Starter · #3 · Feb 7, 2019

Been 4 days and been driving normal and listening and still nothing. Being a mechanical engineer I really don't like voodoo mysteries like this but thinking the string of garlic and rabbit's foot hanging from the mirror might of helped. Don't recall looking up solutions to car problems and finding floor the car and accelerate like mad a half dozen times and that should straighten it out.

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Kevin

· #4 · Feb 7, 2019

Thanks for the update - very strange! Just don't feed the gremlins ;-)

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James Ball

· #5 · Mar 29, 2019

My Australian 2009 Forester stared doing something very similar two days ago.

It'll be fine for a while and then after about 10-15 minutes driving I get a constant squealing noise from what sounds like the front left of the car. It sounds almost like I'm following someone with a slipping alternator belt, that constant squeal but not too loud. If I turn left it increases in volume a bit, if I turn right it goes away until I straighten the wheel. A/C doesn't effect it and there doesn't appear to be anything stuck in the brakes as I can go for 10-15 mins without it happening.

Once it starts then I only hear it going 40km/h (around 28mp/h) or more. If I slow down (and no the brakes don't effect it) then it starts rises in pitch at around 40kh/h and disappears as I get to around 10km/h.

I tend to drive it pretty relaxed as the police are rather radar happy around here. I'll try the hard driving option and see if that makes a difference, but I'd be interested to hear if you had any other theories or if your noise has returned.

James

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TofuTakahashi

· #6 · Jun 13, 2019

Bumping this thread to see if there’s any updates, my 11 Forster is starting to have the same exact issue at low speeds, non engine from the front right with the same increase in pitch. Nothing seems to be different with performance.

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haggercody

· #7 · Oct 19, 2020

Maybe unrelated, but I have an older crosstrek (sorry realize this is a forester forum, but i have one of those too

) that kinda has the same issue going on. The first time it happened I had recently driven over some newly patched road spots and thought it could have been some debris got lodged up somewhere (it went away after I parked and reversed). It didn't happen for a while, then a few days ago it started again, so I parked and reversed and it was gone. then today It happened twice while driving a short trip--both times eliminated by pulling over and reversing. I'm starting to think it isn't related to debris, though, and next time it happens I'll try JUST parking and not reversing.

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SweSam

· #8 · May 25, 2021

I'm having the same problem now with a 2002 forester. Or similar at least.

After driving about 10 minutes the car begins to squeal, sounds like front right in my case. If i turn right it goes, if I turn left it grows.

The weird thing is that the sound had disappeared during the winter, during the coldest period and came back now in the last couple of weeks since it has been warmer. (I live in the North of Norway so we have a long winter here!!)

The sound seems to be strongest at medium speed and disappears when I drive fast enough (but comes back when I slow down).

Did anyone find some clue to what might be the cause?

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