Our Honda Jazz has developed a strange intermittent high pitch squeal.
We first noticed it earlier this month when we were driving up the A9 between Perth and Inverness. The first time I heard it, it was not very loud, and I wasn't sure if it came from our car. It happened again a few minutes later, and as we progressed, it became louder, and it became clear that it was from our car. It wasn't (and isn't) a constant squealing - it always came and went. We pulled into a layby and stopped, had a look at the wheels, didn't see anything, so we got back in, started up, and drove all the way home without hearing anything.
A few days later, I took the car down in Inverness - round trip of about 100 miles, and heard nothing.
On Thursday, we drove down to Edinburgh and then to Ayrshire - a journey of about 300 miles. The noise reappeared before we got to Edinburgh, disappeared when we went into Edinburgh, and didn't reappear on the journey to Ayrshire.
Didn't reappear at all over the weekend when we were driving in Ayrshire.
Yesterday, drove back home from Ayrshire. Drove to Glasgow on M77, no problem. Noise reappeared on M8 driving to Edinburgh, but disappeared as we drove around Edinburgh. Reappeared after leaving Edinburgh driving on M90 to Perth, but disappeared when we were driving around rural roads in Perthshire. About 10 minutes after we got back on the A9 at Dunkeld and started heading north, it reappeared. After about 20 minutes, we pulled into a layby and turned off the engine for about 3 minutes. We restarted, and drove the rest of the way home, careful to keep car at under 55 miles an hour, and drove home - about 120 miles or 2 hours 30 minutes. In the first 20 minutes, there was a brief hint of the noise a couple of times, but after that, it was completely absent.
So - driving in town, or on country roads, there does not seem to be a problem. Keeping below 55 mph, there doesn't seem to be a problem. But if one does long drives and goes at 65 or 70 mph or more, the noise seems to come up. But stopping the car seems to make the problem go away - at least for a while.
It seems to come either from the near side front wheel or the engine area.
Any thoughts?
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Slipping belt maybe? Hope so anyway as that should be an easy fix.
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Yeah, got to be favourite. Any decent mechanic can check it for you.
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>> So - driving in town, or on country roads, there does not seem to be
>> a problem. Keeping below 55 mph, there doesn't seem to be a problem. But if
>> one does long drives and goes at 65 or 70 mph or more, the noise
>> seems to come up. But stopping the car seems to make the problem go away
>> - at least for a while.
As it seems to be speed dependant, could it be due to something catching the wind, causing it to rub on a moving part? Engine undertray perhaps?
Was there any work done, or incident preceding the noise?
When the noise is present, have you tried dipping the clutch to see if it's engine related or speed related?
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Good questions, bathtub Tom.
I don't think it is wind related - simply because we have had windy days when there was no problem.
In terms of incidents and work done - there was an encounter with a deer which hit the passenger headlight area in January, which meant that the headlight was replaced in February. I doubt that this is connected to the noise - but I suppose it might be.
Yes, I dipped the clutch, and let the car run in neutral. It didn't seem to make any difference. On the other hand, if I dropped the car a gear and accelerated, it seemed that it might have helped a little, but not much. So I guess it is probably speed related?
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>> In terms of incidents and work done - there was an encounter with a deer
>> which hit the passenger headlight area in January, which meant that the headlight was replaced
>> in February. I doubt that this is connected to the noise - but I suppose
>> it might be.
>>
Could well be the source - if the headlight is fitted ever so slightly wrong, or the deer deformed the bodywork/plastic ever so slightly and there is now a gap where the wind whistles through?
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EDIT: Whoops - I made a mistake.
Should read: It seems to come either from the DRIVER'S side front wheel or the adjacent engine area.
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I got it checked out this morning. They couldn't find the problem - indeed they couldn't find any problems and reckon the car is fine.
In terms of where the noise comes from, their best guess is that it might be a wheel bearing. Second most likely is that it could be suspension related, but they gave the suspension a good looking over, and it was fine.
From their investigations, they thought it was very unlikely that it was anything to do with the brakes or the engine.
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Erm, have you seen next door’s cat recently?
;-)
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And we have finally got it sorted. It turns out that the brakes were binding on the front wheel on the driver's side.
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Probably due to the dealer trend of no longer servicing brakes. Visual check of pads and disc condition and that's your lot. When they start squealing then its time for some attention.
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Pals Mazda was in dealer today for MOT and service.
I got notification thru on my app that it passed with an advisory on rear brakes.
Spoke to him tonight. Dealer told him he needed all pads and discs done, front and back and it cost him £525.
I said but the MOT never flagged that up? Dealer told him they were 80% worn ( what were, pads, discs, what???) and how do they measure that percentage??
And the fact that he only does 4k miles a year suggests they might have lasted another year anyway.
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And whilst people fall for it then it will continue. Thieves.
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The last time I used the main dealer for servicing was when my CRV was 5 years old, it is now 10+ years.
2 hour wait for the service. The chap who sat next to me had just had his 5/6 year old Jazz trailered in. The car had brake problems.
Whilst drinking his "free Coffee" the service manager came over and said the problem was ceased brakes.
The customer replied "You serviced and MoTd the car less than 3 months ago"
Service Manager " A lot can happen in 3 months"
The remedy new pads & disks all round some £750+VAT IIRC
A wheels off fettling of brakes every 2 years, say, would take about 1 hour's Labour charge and some grease!
Last edited by: Falkirk Bairn on Tue 6 Jun 23 at 09:13
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AIUI the MoT is a functional check of the brakes. If they provide the required retardation etc the car passes. I suppose there might be an advisory of there was very little pad left or the discs were visibly badly lipped.
I'd imagine 80% worn related to the pads and is an estimate based on what is visible. So far as the discs are concerned he could ask what the min thickness is and ask if the measured it and with what result.
Modern pads are harder than used to be to be and discs are consumables like tyres and pads. In my experience discs need replacing at alternate pad changes - the lipping shows the system works!!
I had a similar alert and silly price quote for my Fabia at the last service. Still OK now but I'm monitoring the discs as I'm not sure they'll go all the way until the pads are done. Much cheaper at my local fast fit outfit - Formulae One in Northampton - than at the Skoda dealer.
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So far as the discs are concerned he could ask what the min
>> thickness is and ask if the measured it and with what result.
You could ask, i doubt you'd get much of an answer. I doubt they'll have a clue.
Eurocarparts used to have limits on their site, how accurate they were is anyone's guess.
Last edited by: sooty123 on Tue 6 Jun 23 at 11:57
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>> AIUI the MoT is a functional check of the brakes. If they provide the required
>> retardation etc the car passes. I suppose there might be an advisory of there was
>> very little pad left or the discs were visibly badly lipped.
It's a bit more than that... Visual of the discs and pads, failure for discs badly worn (although TBF they have to be REALLY bad!) or pads < 1.5mm thick, check on the brake machine for efficiency and balance across axles, then a run down check on the machine for brakes dragging, and also a check of the brake effort to pick up any fluctuations suggestive of vibration / run out.
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My AWD Jaguar gets a quick trip outside with a Tapley meter in the passenger foot well.
The normal roller test is not used.
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The minimum disc thickness is stamped into the disk, usually on the inside next to where it mounts on the hub where you can't see it without removing the disc. But... the disc specs (diameter, max and min thickness, bolt hole pattern and diameter etc.), for just about any car, can be found online. Same for pads.
If you want to check the thickness yourself a cheap plastic vernier caliper is good enough for 0.05mm (stainless ones are better). If the discs are too lipped just hold something against the disc and deduct from the reading.
www.amazon.co.uk/Vernier-120mm-Calipers-Measuring-Micrometer/dp/B0BZ4FK7QD/
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You can also use a micrometer to avoid the lipping.
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I have two micrometers that failed certification for face flatness (many years ago it was part of my job to certify instruments to National Standards.) Probably at least £100 each when new.
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I don't think I've had one fail. Tended to use Mitutoyo for all PMI, very rare to have a calibration fail.
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At a guess our failure rate was about 1 in 10. Most of those were for face flatness measured with a series of glass blocks. The failed ones were still good enough for most jobs but some customers demanded everything was traceable to National Standards and wanted the certificates to prove it.
Last edited by: Kevin on Tue 6 Jun 23 at 22:01
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The failed ones were still
>> good enough for most jobs but some customers demanded everything was traceable to National Standards
>> and wanted the certificates to prove it.
>>
That's what we had as standard for PMI, any Mitutoyo product was very rare to fail national standard.
Gaseous was another matter.
Last edited by: sooty123 on Tue 6 Jun 23 at 22:10
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>> You can also use a micrometer to avoid the lipping.
I've used spring callipers in the past. Quite easy to pull over the lipped edge of the disc without affecting the gap, which can then be measured with a ruler.
www.amazon.co.uk/SPRING-CALIPER-OUTSIDE-CALLIPER-300mm/dp/B0147L326Q
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>>If you want to check the thickness yourself a cheap plastic vernier caliper is good enough for >>0.05mm
I've a plastic vernier, cost a quid from Wilko IIRC (useful as tyre tread depth gauge), although I use a cheap micrometer for the discs, to overcome the lip.
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>> And the fact that he only does 4k miles a year suggests they might have lasted another year anyway.
The local Vauxhall garage tried that trick with my late father who only did 3,000 to 4,000 miles a year, but luckily I took the phone call.
They said they work on the principle that the average motorist does 12,000 miles a year and that if something like brakes looks like they'll wear out before then, they advise the customer to have them changed to save having to book the car in again before the next service and MOT.
They tried the same trick each year for the next 2 years, and each time I explained to them he only does short journeys and the annual mileage should have confirmed that with them. At year 3 they tried a different trick and said the discs would soon need replacing as they had a lip on the outer edge. I checked the disc thickness for myself and they were not worn down to the minimum thickness. I got out the angle grinder to remove the lip and nothing was mentioned at the next service and MOT.
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Honda Jazz/Fit - Intermittent high pitch squeal - Runfer D'Hills
