Dear Fellow Volvo Owners,

My Volvo recently developed a nasty squeak in the front left suspension which my mechanic diagnosed as a bad front left tie rod end (It was bad, too, all torn up and full of grime) which he replaced after suggesting that I ought to have my alignment done sometime soon. After he replaced the tie rod end the squeak disappeared completely for a couple of weeks until I went to a Goodyear garage to get new tires and to have the alignment done. A couple of days after the new tires were on and the alignment was aligned the squeak came back with a vengance. It only squeaks when I am going over bumps and especially when there are one or more passengers in the car (or when I bounce the front end up and down to see if it is still squeaking). Is there another joint that could be faulty, or is it something I can lubricate without replacing??

I would greatly appreciate any advice anyone might have.

Halsey Rodman

Los Angeles, CA

You may want to try something easy first. I had a squeak before I did my front bushings. There is a bushing that runs up to the firewall (down low) It's big. I would try sqirting some WD-40 on it from the top of the car down. let it get in there and see what happens. These bushings wre my sqeek problem and when IU replaced them I can see that they were swimming around on the shaft that they should have fit snuggly on. The spray with WD is temporary because it's too thin. white lithium would be much better but you can't get it in there because it's too thick.

I had some squeaking recently, same area and frequency that you are describing. I mentioned this to my mechanic when he had the car on the lift to rotate the tires. We greased the ball joint and the outer tie rods. The grease took a few days to work in, but once it did the noise went away.

Now all I need to do is replace my struts and bushings, but I dont think that is your problem.

Ideal time to try the hypodermic lubrication trick. I use a syringe without the needle. Poked a timy hole in the boots for the outer tie rod ends and ball joints, then force grease in with the syringe. DO NOT line your eye up with the hole when you take the syringe out, 'cause not all the grease stays in there:)

Thank you for your advice, but what is the best kind of grease to use for this application and also where is a good place to buy a syringe. Someone told me that you can buy syringes pre-packed with silicone lubricant but I can't seem to find them. Have you heard of this???