I have been coming on this website for almost 6 months reading and learning. I bought my son a 98 talon esi last October, the car seemed to be in good condition but the ***hole I bought it from failed to mention that the upper control arm was about to fall off. I fixed that issue then it spun a bearing, I am in the process of building a low compression motor with stage 2 hahn turbo setup, I am planning on putting the motor in his car over his winter break. He came home the other day and the car has a noise coming from the driverside front end it sounds like its the strut squeeking but it makes the sound the whole time it is turning to the left and a little less when turning to the right. I know it is not the control arm problem because we cut out part of the stut tower and welded a new piece in. I am assuming it is the strut being blown because it didnt start until it got cold out. I am only asking Id hate to spend the money for suspension with the cost for the motor swap coming in a couple weeks.

So it squeaks while the steering wheel is turned? If the wheel is held in place does it still squeak? Does the noise happen when the suspension is in travel or also when on level pavement? Need more info here.

I would suggest checking your ball joints and tie rod end for damaged boots and possible corrosion. If you have a serviceable outer tie rod, make sure it is greased well.

When the car is sitting still I can push down on the front end with my hand and it makes that squawk sound like the strut is weak same sound when driving turning the wheel just for a longer period of time. We took the wheel off and looked but didnt see any damage also put the car on stands and set a floor jack under lower control arm and jacked it up and down, no sound everything moved smoothly.

Sounds like a ball joint to me. May be wrong but if you put a floor jack under the control arm and jacked it up and turned the wheel and didn't get a noise, maybe it's because the weight of the car is off of the joint. Same thing on mom's grand marquis, until it broke and the wheel passed her as she went into the ditch.

Could be power steering related...

I tend to think it is a ball joint or some other suspension component. If it was power steering related, I would imagine that with the car sitting still and the wheel fully cranked, it would still make this noise.

I had a similar issue on a 97 car my buddy had, we would push down on the car as if it were squeaking from the suspension, but it turned out to be a loose front motor mount. Not saying that's what it is, but you never know, might as well check.

Does your steering wheel shake/vibrate while driving? Is treads on your tires good also?

It could be balljoint or worn bushings also. I had a similar problem with mine everytime I hit a bump or turn the wheel to the right I would hear a squeak. Be sure to check bushings in your control arms for cracks and wear. Check the upper arm also. Its easy to associate the noise with struts when it could be the upper control arm.

No vibration no tread wear. I went ahead and ordered new lower control arms I already replaced the upper when I fixed the strut tower. The more I thought about it, everything is more and likely wore out do to the issue with the strut tower.

Originally posted by austin14
I have been coming on this website for almost 6 months reading and learning. I bought my son a 98 talon esi last October, the car seemed to be in good condition but the ***hole I bought it from failed to mention that the upper control arm was about to fall off. I fixed that issue then it spun a bearing, I am in the process of building a low compression motor with stage 2 hahn turbo setup, I am planning on putting the motor in his car over his winter break. He came home the other day and the car has a noise coming from the driverside front end it sounds like its the strut squeeking but it makes the sound the whole time it is turning to the left and a little less when turning to the right. I know it is not the control arm problem because we cut out part of the stut tower and welded a new piece in. I am assuming it is the strut being blown because it didnt start until it got cold out. I am only asking Id hate to spend the money for suspension with the cost for the motor swap coming in a couple weeks.

Ball joints make a springy, scratchy noise if they are worn. Check out some youtube videos of bad joints to see if thats your problem.

I had my lower ball joints go bad on me. It seems that the ones thedealership replaced didn't have nearly enough grease. After a year on my car, they started to make a squeaking noise everytime I hit a bump or turned, but wouldn't make it when I lifted the car up to check. I'd go with your gut instict on this.

I replaced both lower control arms on driver side, problem fixed. The car was also pulling to the drivers side fixed that problem too! The best $90 I've spent yet on the car.