Question for the hood squeakers...

[Breadfan]

When you hear your hood squeak...do you have your climate control on or off?

When my dad got his Crown Vic a few years back, I noticed while it was running with the A/C on the compressor clutch would chirp a bit when engaging. (It also made a bit of a rattling sound when not engaged...) His Vic was a used CVPI that had about 80k on it when I first noticed this.

The other day I was riding home, had my A/C on low but my window open. (Becuase I love cooling the outdoors!) Every once in a while I'd hear a squeak. I figured, hey, just my hood.

I've heard this since getting the car, and I am leaning to believe this is what folks hear as the hood squeak. Maybe not always, but sometimes.

When I turn off my climate control, I don't hear it.

It's intermittent, and when you listen for it, you can easily start to think "hey maybe it's from that bump in the road."

But it's my A/C compressor squeaking as it cycles on and off. (Whether or not it should do this is another story, but i've heard this on many Panther cars.)

I've noticed this sometime when I've not even ahd the A/C on. So I'm not entirely sure what I'm hearing. The best way to know for sure it won't do it is turn the climate control system OFF.

So, if you hear a squeak on the way home today, try turning off your climate control, and see if it goes away.

I'm not saying the hood squeak doesn't exist, or that this is a magical fix, but it's possible some of the noises are coming from the A/C compressor.

So give it a shot if you hear squeaking, and see if it stops with the climate control off.

[Bluerauder]

When you hear your hood squeak...do you have your climate control on or off?
Mine was definitely a hood squeak. Didn't matter whether the A/C was on or off. The fix recommended using the felt sticky pads has quieted my problem. BTW -- my A/C compressor doesn't squeak -- it "clicks" pretty noticeably. The dealer adjusted the gap back awhile ago; but it is still a pretty loud clicking noise went it cycles on and off. Maybe the click is drowning out the A/C squeak?? :rofl:

[natedog1284]

Mine's kind of a squeaky click. :rolleyes: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this is the clutch on the a/c compressor. It engages the a/c only when it needs to be used, then just lets it freewheel until it's needed again. I believe it uses it at all temperature settings on the climate control, even at full hot. My '83 Chrysler Fifth Avenue used to do the exact same thing, just a little louder. In fact, most if not all newer Ford products that I've encountered produce the same noise as our cars when the climate control is being used. So it is normal, and as far as I know, pretty much unavoidable, at least without extensive modification. But I fear I may be developing a hood squeak, which sounds very different, and much more irritating.

[Breadfan]

Yes exactly what I hear, and it does occur even with heat.

I don't believe I have the hood squeak. I was hearing this while driving, and thought it was, then I turned of my climate control and it vanished.

So for some...could this be the culprit?