Jeep Liberty Noises and Sounds

tidester

Is your Liberty making strange sounds? Can't figure out the source of some mysterious noise? Are you being distracted by some irritating noise? We'll discuss it here!

Also, related discussions are being consolidated here so don't be concerned if some messages appear to be out of order!

tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper

luraye

'02 Liberty with 90K running 5W-30 fully synthetic. Starter catches fine and starts right up, but any outside temp below about 40F and it sounds like a jet engine winding up or a wild cat with its tail in a fan under the hood. Only does this on cold starts and it goes away after about a block. No engine light, loss of power or anything else that would give me an obvious reason. I just don't want to find one morning this has caused some major damage somewhere. Any ideas??

nescosmo

Luraye... It could be the fan clutch or the water pump.

Nescosmo.

liberfee

I am having the same issue. Did you have it looked at? What did they determine?

luraye

luraye

I was told to have the serpentine (drive) belt changed. So, $100.00 later, the noise is less, but still present. A mechanic friend says that it is because it has just been so bleepin' cold (staying around zero). I've checked the fluid levels and since it quits once it warms up, I'm not going to worry about it until I can feel my toes again!! Let me know if you have any better luck!! :shades:

kalideskopegal

I've checked the other posts, under "ball joint" and others, but this may be different. My Liberty, w/ 42K miles, makes a seemingly random "grunt/thump" sound.I originally thought it was the rear tire brushing up against the tire well when turning in the parking garage. Then it happened when no turns were involved, so I thought it was the rear wiperblade moving against the dry windshield when hitting a bump in the road. Now it makes it randomly, even when stopped. It doesn't seem to do it at higher speeds. I've had my ball joints replaced, and it made the noise both before an after. I think it comes from the rear, others think it's from the front. Sounds like rubber against something. All else seems to function fine. Any ideas? Sorry for the long post.

goodcrd

Have your tires checked. First run your hand over the treads and check for uneven wear. It may be a belt shifting in your tire. Use your spare and replace one side at a time. Drive it for a week with the spare on each side. If the sound stops the tire removed is the bad one.
Good luck.

kalideskopegal

Hmm...I'm not sure that's it. Tread is evenly worn, for one. It sounds like rubber going over dry glass -- or a squeegee on a dry surface. It last no longer than a second. Kind of like a short burp.

cmhunter

okay, hopefully its not the same thing that mine is doing. i just had the ball joint recall fixed and then noticed a grunt noise similar to when you drive over the rumble strips on the expressway. (the things that wake up drivers running off the road) turns out my problem is the lock up torque converter on the transmission. the jeep dealership is going to look into it more tomorrow so i don't know exactly what the problem is. mine would only make the noise when i was going about 40-45 mph. close to 42. i have 38k miles and evidently was supposed to have the tranny fluid changed at 30k-didn't brush up on my manual-oops. but maybe you should have your lock up torque converter looked out...maybe there should be another recall if there are a lot of these happening on the jeep liberty? cuz i know messing with the tranny stuff is going to hurt me in the checkbook dept. good luck to you :sick:

boilermaker2

At idles in the garage, start turning on ALL of your electrical "stuff", lights, fan, radio, dome, rear defroster, and see if it makes the sound. My alternator went bad shortly after the belt tensioner went bad and was replaced. You sporadic noise may be because the alternator will kick on only when it is needed. BTW, in my case, the alternator tested fine and the battery tested fine when hooked up to the machine. But when the tech LOOKED AT the alternator, he could stand than and watch it bobble and torque on its mounting bracket.

Good luck,
Boiler

chstockd

I was in an accident two weeks ago. T boned some one that pulled out in front of me. Airbags never deployed. Has any one experienced the same problem or heard of an airbag issue in the 03 Jeep Liberty? Between this issue and the ball joint problem.....I am afraid to continue driving the vehicle.

kalideskopegal

I'll definitely check into both of these. The sound is primarily at lower speeds, but I think it has happened once or twice at 30mph+. Sounds like I have a duck under the rear wheel wells or something.

chstockd, sorry, no experience (yet, thankfully) on the air bag thing.

bored

Airbags are designed to deploy when necessary. Since they did not deploy, you probably did not need them and they would have done more harm than good.

kalideskopegal

libby73

I have a '02 Liberty Limited 2WD with almost 60k miles. I drove about 300 miles yesterday, and when I turned off the engine last night, I heard a bubble/gurgling noise coming from under the hood.
The noise lasted less than 5 minutes, and I noticed a little steam coming out from under the hood. This morning I checked and found no leaks anywhere and the coolant level was fine.
Any ideas what it was?

whersmyspex

Hello,

Our 2005 Liberty Renegade has the usual windsield problems, we are on our third windshield now. About two months after the last replacement, we began hearing a relatively high-pitched whistle coming from the right side of the windshield or passenger door area. It is very hard to localize and sounds a lot like a one-note harmonica. It only happens above about 65 mph and is worse on hot days than cool ones.

We've had the autoglass replacement techs look at it three times. The windshield is installed correctly and is sealed. No water leaks in. They even added a bead of that expanding foam insulation inside of the passenger side seal around the top of the door, to no avail.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this? It's driving us nuts...

caribou1

I know two methods to locate thin cracks:

- apply masking tape over the windshield joint and you progressively remove it until the noise comes back. Once an area is defined pour alcohol (from outside) along the joint. This should momentarily fill the crack and help locate the problem by stopping the whistle. Wax is later applied around that region. Alcohol also cleaned the surfaces.

- a high frequency microphone (ultrasonic) that you drag around the periphery of the windshield from inside when the truck moves at 65 mph. A meter or diode indicator will reveal the high pitch sound source when passing above the crack.

libby73

caribou1

If you see steam and have not driven through a pond, you're loosing liquid
Check your hose connections and rinse the gasket of your cooling circuit filler cap under running water. The aging antifreeze could make it stick and build overpressure. My hoses are still like new at an equivalent mileage.

tidester

Great tips! It sounds like a good candidate for a Guide - see the link at the top of this page.

tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper

siberia

or passenger door area.

When driving so as to adequately produce the noise have a passenger push outward on the passenger side door/glass usually at the upper front corner. The pitch or sound level will change dramatically if it is the door seal. On small cheesy vehicles it does not take much pressure to reveal the location of such an air leak that will not usually leak water. I may take a pretty good push on a Liberty to reveal this kind of leak.

tjb2

I have a 2002 Liberty with 39,000 miles and I experience the same problem when turning into a parking spot, but not on a highway. A "whirring" sound followed by the grating sound you described. Any ideas guys? I recently bought my Jeep certified pre-owned, and I would like to have the work done before the warranty expires.

Thanks for any help....

scobky

02 liberty sport with 100k starts right up.But when temperature is below 30degrees it whines for a few seconds or sounds like a reving turbine fan. the colder it is the longer it makes the sound, but never longer than 10 seconds.nobody has a clue ,any idea on what the problem is?

jeepgirl22

hi, i have a new problem w/my liberty, ive already battled the flashing lights prob..still ongoing...
i won the heater battle though....

so now when i shift from Park to Reverse and start to back up i get this loud, hard bang. like something is stuck?????

its so loud and hard that others in parking lots actually look!!!!

side note: i feel like my e-brake is sticky too after i went to a drive-thru carwash...so im afraid to use it now...

libby_04

Hey, I was wondering if you got a professional response about the noises your 02 Liberty makes when you reverse???

My 04 Liberty has the same problem and my dealer isn't giving me and answers..

Thanks..

libby_04

I was wondering of any other 04 Liberty owners have experienced this problem.

I hear and feel a vibration and grinding noise in the rear end of my 04 Lib when I’m turning a corner or reversing at low speeds, it almost feels as though my e-brake is stuck or on, which it’s not...the dealership where I bought it, not even 2 months ago, said that they can’t find anything wrong. It’s really annoying and embarrassing because I just bought it...

Also, it has brand new brakes all around so thats not it..

Anyone????

mwolf9000

Did this problem exist before the new brake job? If not, then you may want to have the brake job checked.

woogiebear

Hey all! My first time here. I have a 2005 Liberty and am getting a constant "Whine" when I press the gas. It has just over 100,000 miles on it now. The sound seems to be coming from the AC compressor. Any suggestions? I was told by the dealer it might be the tensioner or the pulley.

montano1

I have a 2006 liberty with 51k witch I in joy very much. resented I started to hear a rubbing sound on my right front wheel. I hear it when I go over bumps and when I
come to a stop and when I turn the steering wheel left and right I jacked
it up and checked the ball joints and every thing looks to be fine. I also put on the spire tire but the sound is still there HELPI don't have much money at the moment to take it to the shop and I really like the Jeep very much but that sound is driving me Crazy!!!

bfi

You most likely have "posi-track" in the rear differential, my friend had the same noises, more posi-track additive in the rear diff fixed it. (Proportion of additive to gear oil needs to be higher.)

tmach

I have a 2005 Jeep Liberty that has developed a noise that seems to be coming from the front end, possibly the wheels, though not sure. It is a high pitched whine that occurs in cold weather (20 degrees and lower) at speeds between 62 and 65 miles per hour. Does anybody have any thoughts?

normanm

(I posted this message on the Jeep Diesel forum and got no response, perhaps this will get someones attention) We recently purchased an 05 Liberty CRD and really like the way it handles and it fits our desire to off road. After having a jeep dealer check it out completely ( on the computer) it has had all of the recalls taken care of and it does not have any warning codes that come up. As soon as we got it home we noticed a slight rubbing noise that comes from underneath. It sounds like a metal-to-metal noise similar to a dragging disk brake, not severe but just enough to be audible. I played around with the transfer case shift lever and shifted from 2W to 4PT and back again and it seemed to go away for a day. Then it came back again today. Has anyone had this same experience? I am concerned that it is doing some damage. This Jeep was towed behind an RV for awhile before we purchased it.

caribou1

If you can put the Jeep on a lift, go underneath and rotate the wheels by hand. You will be closer to the eventual source of friction you describe.
The transfer case has nothing that can rub against the transmission shafts, so the only source of friction I could imagine should come from inside, along the chain or a bearing :confuse:
Do you have enough oil in there?
When you switch between 2 and 4WD, the parts that you move remain in the oil bath.

siberia

It is virtually impossible for a Jeep transfer case to be harmed by towing behind an RV if the case is properly filled with oil. There is a cheesy but adequate pump in the bottom of the case that pumps oil to the upper mechanism in the case and the chain caries copious amounts of oil to the top also. Over loaded in deep sand or heavy mud the planetary gears may become spalled without breaking. When this happens a subdued dry sound comes from the transfer case between 15 and 40 miles per hour, maybe - audible with the windows down. When this happens the fluid become brown or darkened. I would suspect something else before this.

normanm

Thank you for the feed back, (siberia & caribou1) I took my Liberty in and had a tech at the dealership listen to the noises and the general concensis was that the Parking brake shoe (the drum portion of the brake) was dragging intermittantly. When the parking brake was pulled on and then released the sound goes away, sometimes. They said the brake is self adjusting and probably would do the same thing again from time to time. I'm relieved that it does not seem to come from the Dif. or X-fer case.

Chuck47172

I seem to be having the same trouble with my 2003 Jeep Liberty. The noise gets louder on realy cold days and practically disapears on warm days. I suspect the struts but I;m not sure. Can anyone offer a fix?

ale87

I have an automatic 04 Jeep Liberty with about 58k on it, give or take. About a week ago, it started making these almost grinding sounds whenever I would speed up right about where it would shift gears. I know jeeps have transmission problems when they get older, so I thought that it was something in the transmission...? Every day I drive it, it gets louder and louder. I've been keeping up with the oil changes and all that, but have yet to go to a mechanic because I know almost nothing about cars, and I don't want them to overcharge me for something seeing as how I am basically broke. Any ideas as to what it could be? Please help!!

backhoebob

06 Lib/crd. Growling noise coming from the engine compartment when shifting between gears, even louder when shifting up an incline. I checked and all of our cats are accounted for...

backhoebob

Yo,
Sounds like we may be experiencing the same noise. I have not checked belts or hose connections to the turbo and air intake but it almost sounds like it might be something like that. Let me know if you find the fix and I will do the same.
Backhoebob

mblagojevic

Well I just bought a Liberty limited with 37000KM.
Right after installing winter tires on the vehicle and driving home there was a noise that was coming from the rear. I work for saturn saab dealership as a mechanic. It does not sound like a diff, suspention or any metal on metal sound. It sounds as if the latch for the top glass is loose. I went ahaid and opened the glass, drove around. The noise is still there. Took off the hatch panel, no change. I can't seem to figure this out. The spare tire is very secure and the liscence plate is also secure. Now I didnt get a chance to lift it up n look under since the noise wasnt there when I baught it. Checked the rear seats and they are secure in place. It's not the jack since I had a friend ride in the back seats while I drove. The noise is really comming from the rear rear.
Sorry for such a long post. Its driving me crazy.....
If anyone can help me I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you in advance.

caribou1

Try lithium grease on the rear door.
On the moving/opening side of the door there is a rubber positionner/bumper that arrives into a vee shaped metal end_stop/ramp/receptacle that forces the alignment of the door with the truck when it's closed.
I used lithium grease on the bottom side of this ramp, and it solved my squeaking problem.

mblagojevic

Thank you,

I will try that tomorow.

Oh n are the transfer cases noisy on these trucks, its pretty noisy in 4low.
Should I try changing the oil in the transfer case n the diff, or just bring it to the dealer seeing its got powertrain warranty?

caribou1

I have the diesel engine, so I cannot hear any form of complaint coming from the transmission
I left '4WD full-time' engaged all winter and it gives a slight vibration during acceleration within city driving conditions. At 60mph I feel no difference.

For the sake of comparison, the Nissan 'Terrano' 4x4 sold in the EU which is equivalent to the Liberty has a very noisy transfer case in the LOW range. It tends to whistle.

cathief

Hey All,

I just purchased a 2004 Jeep Liberty and on the way home from the dealer I began to notice a high pitched whining noise that seemed to happen when I turned the wheel to the left. I might even describe it as a metal-on metal sound. The noise would stop when I hit the brakes. I took it back to the dealer the next day and they said they couldn't find anything wrong with it. Since then, the noise seems to increase after I've been driving for a while and also when I turn the wheel in either direction. It still stops when I hit the brakes. Any ideas on what this could be??

Thanks for the help!

caribou1

Assuming your brake pads don't stick, clean your brake piston seals. Some seals have a special shape (several lips in a wave pattern) that forces the pistons to retract from their most outwards position, after the brakes are released.

If this doesn't work, look at the master cylinder 'home' position: you could have a bad pedal assembly that doesn't release the master cylinder when your foot is off.

jhfuchs625

My liberty has developed a noise only when cold.
It sounds like a universal joint.
When I first start the car and drive forward- no noise.
When I turn right, I hear clunk, clunk, clunk that vaires with speed so I know it is drive train and the noise is coming from the rear.
As soon as I straighten out the noise goes away.
After driving straight for 1 minute- the noise is gone until the car sits overnight.
I am suspecting the rear differential as the cause.
Any suggestings

Chuck47172

This is the first time I ever posted an aswer to a problem, I hope I'm right.

I had the same problem. It would make more of a chatter noise rather than clunk, clunk. I guess the exact sound is in the ears of the beholder. Anyway, my vehicle had 80K miles and never had a differential oil change. I changed it out with some good Mobile 1 Synthentic Gear Lubricant 75W-140. And since my rear end is Tracc-lok equiped, I added in a tube of Limited Slip Additive.

Problem fixed!

Note: Trac-lok differential equipped vehicles should be road tested by making 10 to 12 slow figure-eight turns. This maneuver will pump the lubricant through the clutch discs to eliminate a possible chatter noise.

If that doesn't work then other areas to check would be...
Damaged drive shaft.
Missing drive shaft balance weight(s).
Worn or out of balance wheels.
Loose wheel lug nuts.
Worn U-joint(s).
Loose/broken springs.
Damaged axle shaft bearing(s).
Loose pinion gear nut.
Excessive pinion yoke run out.
Bent axle shaft(s).
Check for loose or damaged front end components or engine/transmission mounts. These components can contribute to what appears to be a rear end vibration. Do not overlook engine accessories, brackets and drive belts. All driveline components should be examined before starting any repair.

I hope this was a good post.
GoodLuck, and let me know what the final fix is.

kbeast1979

I just purchased a new 2009 Liberty a month ago. And about 2 weeks ago I noticed a significant vibration feeling in the gas pedal starting at around 40 mph. And this weekend I went out of town on the highway for the first time and once I got it to about 70-75 mph I felt like I couldn't go any faster like it was being held back and could feel the same vibration. Also, when I am at a stand still I really have to push the accelerator pedal to get it to move whether it is in D or R. And when it finally does move it jumps and is not smooth. Finally, when I coast down a hill I notice my Jeep doesn't accelerate at all when I let off the accelerator no matter what grade of the hill I am going down. In fact it usually is slowing down even. Please someone help!

doneill220

Hi All,
Has anyone experienced a pulsating grinding/creaking noise with a 2004 Jeep Liberty?
A pulsating grinding/creaking noise is resonating from the rear left hand side of the car. The noise can be heard at lower speeds and whether I am or am not pressing on the break. The grinding sounds is not constant, it is a pulsing sound based on the speed of the car. If traveling at 20mph, the noise is quick with little time between intervals. When slowed down to near 5mph, the noise is drawn out with moderate time between intervals.

The breaks have been replaced. The car has been brought to the dealer (whom blamed the breaks, incorrectly). I have also taken it to another mechanic (whom blamed the tires, incorrectly - why would rubber cause metal creaking/grinding noises? oye!)

Has anyone experienced this, or know what may be causing it? Please help!

Thank you in advance!

mcarver82

I bought an 09 last week and just now am noticing the same grumble and vibration in certain gears mainly through the gas pedal. It does feel like something is stuck, maybe a brake caliper? On the interstate it does hesitate and jump between gears like you said, I would like to hear someone who might know what is going on? Looks like a trip to the dealer this weekend!