Rattling/Creaky/Squeeky noise

The other day when I came to a stop at a red light, I heard a sort of rattling noise. I thought it was just a normal rattle in the dash or something.

But tonight I was driving and came to a stop and it was doing it again except it sounded sort of "creaky" or maybe even a little squeeky... hard to explain.

I also had my window down and I heard it way more loudly from I presume the engine bay. When I went into neutral the sound went again, and then I went back to drive the sound comes back or stays gone.

I tried to make it happen several times tonight to try to record the noise but ofcourse when I tried to make it happen, it wouldn't. It doesn't happen all the time. I'd say I stopped at least 10 times tonight and it wouldn't happen. The only thing I can think of is it could be a belt for some reason making the noise(?). The timing belt has already been replaced. The serpentine has never been touched I don't believe... but I'm no mechanic and the issue would be something completely different. Any ideas?

Thanks
-Nick

Have you checked under the hood for something that is obviously loose?

engine mounts perhaps??

OWWWWuuu. Check your belt and pulleys.

lol no I have not checked under the hood myself. I just finished driving and the problem won't happen again... keep trying to make it happen so I can look under when it's doing it. Remember I posted about my idling issue... the IAC can't make any type of rattling/squeeky noise can it?

Maybe a decent quality sound clip, as it is very difficult to diagnose a noise issue over a few sentences.

Yeah lol... I'll keep trying to make it happen. My girlfriend seems to believe that it only happens on humid or rainy days (I live in Colorado) (thinking that the belts are expanding or something..?)

if thats the case, check ur belts, for the squeaking noises, the rattling maybe be from the motor mounts, wouldnt hurt to inspect them

While you're down there, you should inspect your suspension parts, I know worn sway bar end links can become clunky.

Do the sway bar end links have anything to do with struts? I had struts and arm bearings replaced in front and rear... or somethin like that. Sorry if I sound dumb =P

They connect to them. Now I'm truly suspicious you better check them.

That was about 8 months ago though.

New update:

The sound only comes when the A/C is on I figured out. It still is rare but when I turned the A/C off, the noise went away. Or like I said if I go into neutral, the noise goes away. Could it be my serpentine belt if it's my A/C?

Possibly, or A/C clutch is going.

Is the A/C clutch the small motor that switches it from cold to heat?

The clutch is what turns on when you push in the AC knob. It is in the AC compressor itself. When the AC is "off", the clutch is disengaged, so the pulley is just spinning freely. When the AC is "on" the clutch is engaged, and thus the pulley is spinning the compressor.

Oh. Ok thanks for the info... I am going to get an oil change soon and I'll ask them to look at it. Would they be able to visually tell if there is something wrong with it?

Is this the part?

http://www.discountacparts.com/Mitsu...~01403_RC.html

And do you guys know how long it usually takes to replace it so I can try to work out a total price

Hey guys. I finally got some clips of the sound.

Also, it DOES happen when the A/C isn't being used, so I guess that wasn't it. It also hasn't been humid or wet for a few days.

I made my facebook page public and will give a link to the videos with a brief description.
You can hear the sound pretty easily in one of the clips. Listen for the more high pitch sound in the background rather than the actual engine noise... my cell phone doesn't record the sound that well. I also put up a vid of the sound when my phone is in the engine bay but it is really really faint because of the engine noise.

Tell me if you can tell what it could be... thanks in advance for any sort of help or tips.


http://www.facebook.com/video/video....00000262697804

Still haven't found a diagnosis of this sound... I don't think anyone checked the videos. They are still up on my facebook. Here is another link
http://www.facebook.com/video/?id=10...51341948217893

You have to listen very carefully, it is the very high pitch squeely noise. A friend thought it may be a lifter tick issue but I've heard what a lifter tick sounds like and it does not sound anything like that and it does not happen all the time.
You can hear it best in the first few seconds of the video.

I still think it's a lifter...

Yeah it sounds like there may be a lifter tick present but it's the audio... it's really hard to hear the high pitch noise squendling(?) noise.

I originally thought it was the serpentine belt but nothing is visibly wrong... does the serpentine belt spin 24/7 even when the car it at a stop?

mrg7243 told me it can't be a lifter tick because if it isn't there 24/7... so I'm getting 2 answers lol.

Also I'd like to add that when I turn my A/C on for the first time of the day, I'm pretty sure the belt slips because it makes a loud screech noise... Maybe I should just replace the belt and see if it fixes it.

^^^Doesn't hurt to try.