2004 Alero Creaking noise from front end. Weird

[ggarciatx]

Bought a 2004 Alero with 47,000 miles on it a little less than 2 weeks ago. It had a creaking noise when going slow and over bumps and going up driveway. This is coming from the front end around the engine/fender area. I read all the threads and none seemed to be the same noise.Sales dealer put it in and they replaced the struts. It seemed to have been fixed, but is now doing it again. This is the weird part. It only does it for a while, after once you start driving a bit, the noise goes away once the engine is warm. Last night when I got out of work it did the noise all the way home (1/2 mile)
Did it again this morning when I went to run errands, but after a bit of driving the noise went away. sounds like a creaking rubber on rubber or metal on metal noise. Once the noise is gone the car is very quiet. Drives like a dream. Just the noise is very annoying. any ideas?
Thanks
Gabe

[vamc]

Is it more like a humming sound?Creeking sound?......mmmmmmm. bad bushing in the frunt end maybe.

[ggarciatx]

It sounds like a rubbing noise. like the front end is all loose or something. not a humming sound. happens when on the road and when going over bumps or road imperfections. Once the car warms up, its gone.

[vamc]

still thinking bushings.

[BNaylor]

Originally Posted by vamc

still thinking bushings.

I agree with Andrew. Could be the control arm bushings or even the upper strut mount/load bearing.

[pistonring]

Sounds to me that you might be experiencing what happened to mine. There is a bearing plate that the top of the strut is mounted to that makes a rubber rubbing sound. It is expensive, I think I paid about 60 bucks for mine and it is a lot of work since you have to remove the strut to replace it. You can't really lube it to get it to stop either, has to be replaced. It is a tight fit so lube doesn't want to penetrate it.

[kinmarha]

I had a squeaking/creeking sound coming from my front end previously and they blowed it off at the dealership. They showed and explained to me it was most likely from the springs being cold. Typically the problem happened if I had let my car sit or it was very cold out. Nothing has been replaced but I haven't had the problems since the weather broke.

[jr6078]

I have a '99 Alero that was doing the same thing and found a thread on this forum that suggested lubrication applied to the top of the strut mounts between the top strut bushing and the body would stop the creaking. I sprayed WD-40 in this area and it has worked for over two years now. I had similar creaking from the rear end in cold weather and attempted the same fix, but it was only partially successful. I still get occasional creaking from there.

I also had a similar noise from the front end after replacing a lower control arm bushing. Turns out that someone else had a similar creaking noise and that re-torquing the bolt that goes through that bushing stopped the noise. After re-torquing mine, it also quit. The bolts are accessible behind the front wheel and go straight up into the body after passing through the bushing.

[ggarciatx]

Sorry i havent posted what happened. I picked up my car the monday after easter. well the dealership replaced the two struts, the bushing
plates and one tire on that one. I told them what i thought it was and they didnt listen. in teh first three weeks of owning the alero, it was in the shop for 11. the noise is gone and the car runs slicker than snot. took it to corpus christi this weekend and it ran great.

[vamc]

Thoes people never listen anyways, nothing new.