Questions and Answers

Jeep Grand Cherokee Is Squeaking Q. Dear Mr. Ciulla, I have a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee, with a fuel injected 4.0 liter V-6 engine, automatic transmission and ABS. It is has approximately 81,000 miles. My problem seems to be when I start to accelerate from a complete stop, I hear these annoying squeaking sounds, on and off like an old horse drawn carriage.

My guess is that it’s coming from either the front or rear wheels but completely stops as soon as I hit the 15 mph mark. Then again I could be completely off and it could be the universal joint. Whatever it is I desperately need your expert opinion. I just had my brakes serviced which as far as I can tell also includes re-facing of the rotors.

Thank you in advance for your guidance.
Sincerely,
Henry

A. When a person says "squeak" to me in this venue, I can hear several different flavors of squeak.

If you bounce the four corners of the vehicle and hear the squeaking noise, then I would say you probably need new shocks. If not, then I would guess the noise is from the drive shaft or axle shaft joints.

The front axle, assuming you have 4WD, are the Constant Velocity (CV) type. If the CV boots are broken, road dirt and water can enter the CV joint and could possibly cause the squeaking you describe.