[stilov]

I am pretty good at diagnosing things, but this one is weird.

It only happens when the car is cold, meaning when the weather is cold as well.

When you turn the wheel almost all the way...it is a screeching plasticy noise that sounds as if it is coming from near the center speaker inside the dash.

I have had people turn the wheel and me listen in the engine compartment, and I can barely hear it...almost like it is happening inside under the dash.

But what in the world would be affected in the dash that would be influenced by temp?

Any ideas?

[Figure807]

Stock strut brace mounting location? Tried removing the cowl to get a better listen? Post a video/soundclip.

[135Pats]

If you crank it all the way the power steering pump will make a light humming noise that you can feel in the steering column, but that's perfectly normal on every car and doesn't sound like what you're experiencing. So it doesn't make this noise at all if it's say, 60 deg outside? Has it repeated itself throughout seasons, or did it start this winter? Just trying to make sure you don't draw a causal relationship between cold and the noise prematurely.

[stilov]

I have my cowl off...and my cabin filter still on, I wondered if something was going on there. I don't think it's serious, just more of an annoyance.

It's not a power steering hum, I thought of that first... I'll see if I can get a sound clip

[135Pats]

Originally Posted by stilov

I have my cowl off...and my cabin filter still on, I wondered if something was going on there. I don't think it's serious, just more of an annoyance.

It's not a power steering hum, I thought of that first... I'll see if I can get a sound clip

Sound clip would be very helpful, I also run with the HVAC on but cowl off, so I have a good sense of what the car sounds like when it's operating normally under these circumstances. What a stupid thing the cowl is...but I digress.

[R.G.]

I have the same problem. Dropping it off to the dealership Friday to figure it out. Will follow up and let you know what they come up with

Originally Posted by stilov

I am pretty good at diagnosing things, but this one is weird.

It only happens when the car is cold, meaning when the weather is cold as well.

When you turn the wheel almost all the way...it is a screeching plasticy noise that sounds as if it is coming from near the center speaker inside the dash.

I have had people turn the wheel and me listen in the engine compartment, and I can barely hear it...almost like it is happening inside under the dash.

But what in the world would be affected in the dash that would be influenced by temp?

Any ideas?

[NTXE92]

It's probably your strut tower brace. Tighten it down at all three points and recheck.

[stilov]

I'll check it out...do they come loose? I've never had it off.

[NTXE92]

Yes they do loosen a little, just enough to allow the braces to shift slightly. It is a very common problem. The sound you're hearing is transferring from the strut tower braces to the firewall that they are attached to. There's a round cover just rearward of the microfilter that contains one of the bolts you need to tighten. It's a big e-torx.

[stilov]

Sounds extremely plausible. I'll check it.

[cn555ic]

Off topic but how did your NOS installation go?

[stilov]

installation fine...it was a meth issue I was dealing with. turned out it was a bad pump. Fixed that, upgraded to the G5 JB4, and took forever hooking my n2o back up. I bought a couple more jets .028, .030, .032 Just got the bottle heater working last weekend again. Tried running it and my kickdown blocker keeps the pedal at 98% instead of 100%, so n20 doesn't shoot.

nothing major, just a bunch of little things. That, and I rarely run n2o. I mean one bottle lasted me a year. With the advances of E85, I sometimes wonder if running E85 at say 19psi is the same as running 16psi on 93oct with .028 n2o jet.

And I don't think I want to go the backend flash...I'm kind of done dumping a bunch of money into this. Plus I am at what I feel is the limit of the tranny, and I do NOT want to blow it up.

[Big_Luss]

Let me jump in, i think we have the same problem... I am in Montreal, Quebec and we are getting mad cold weather this week and this started... It then slowly dissapierd when the car reach operating temp. Here is a quick video i took

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8js4m...ature=youtu.be

Thank you for watching guys.

[stilov]

That's it exactly it!!!

[Big_Luss]

Allright so were you able to solve the probleme by tightned the strut towerbar bolts ?? It is about -30C here, im not really into working on my car outside for the moment !! I'm having this for about a week and still use my car because it goes away when the car heats up... Keep us update please. Sorry for my spelling, im a frenchie !!

[stilov]

Not sure yet. I just got in from tightening it. Although it seemed really tight already. I'll know tomorrow when I head to work.

[stilov]

It did not do a thing By tightening that bolt

[Ilma]

Deja Vu.....

I just started noticing this noise as well a few weeks ago.

Only happens going in reverse with the steering wheel cranked fully to one side.

I am suspecting the strut tower being loose since I had some suspension links replaced recently.

Keep me posted as to what you find please.

[stilov]

I just tried tightening the strut tower brace... Didn't seem loose. SO I didn't tighten it much, but this morning, it seemed the noise was worse.

[NTXE92]

If you tightened it and the sound changed then you're on the right track. If they don't seem loose that's ok, they never really "back out" of the threads. You're next course of action is to take the braces out and clean the contact points with some scotch brite. Get all of the loose paint off those areas and then retighten them. They come out real easy it should only take you about five minutes to remove, clean and reinstall them. Let us know what you find.

[stilov]

That what I was thinking...there is only one bolt where it bolts onto the cowl right? Right under the circle plastic cover?

I didn't have the star bit that size, but a 14mm 6 pt impact socket fit it well enough to crank on it with a 30in breaker bar

[NTXE92]

Yes that's the only one under the cowl.