Chirping noise from center of dash

Alec P

Alec P

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Sep 4, 2018
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Miami Florida
I have 2000 Jeep tj 2.5. Has a 4 inch lift 33’ mud terrains. In and off for quite a while now I hear a chirping noise which seems to be coming from almost the middle of the dash area or maybe slightly to the drivers side. The chirping does increase or get louder when hitting bumps in the road or just going over rougher roads. The noise isn’t always there but when it is, it is non stop and super annoying. I greased everything up front. What bothers me is that it is not 24/7 constant and there which leads me away from driveshaft issues and such. Could the upper control arm bushings be the cause? Or could it actually be something in the dash somewhere?
 
Alec P said:
I have 2000 Jeep tj 2.5. Has a 4 inch lift 33’ mud terrains. In and off for quite a while now I hear a chirping noise which seems to be coming from almost the middle of the dash area or maybe slightly to the drivers side. The chirping does increase or get louder when hitting bumps in the road or just going over rougher roads. The noise isn’t always there but when it is, it is non stop and super annoying. I greased everything up front. What bothers me is that it is not 24/7 constant and there which leads me away from driveshaft issues and such. Could the upper control arm bushings be the cause? Or could it actually be something in the dash somewhere?
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I will check tomorrow and see if I see any play in the u joints and check the upper control arm bushings. Also, the noise is not there when idling and not moving.
 
I will say this I had a ton of chirping and squeaking until I swapped my control arms. Now all the noises are gone. I would say it’s totally possible it’s the CAs.
 
Not certain about how the 2.5 serpentine belt is routed but, if you have an idler pulley (likely), see if might be coming from that. I've had 2 TJ's now with bad bearings in the belt idler pulleys and they can be very loud (sounds like hungry baby birds...through a loudspeaker).
 
TJ Hunnicutt said:
Not certain about how the 2.5 serpentine belt is routed but, if you have an idler pulley (likely), see if might be coming from that. I've had 2 TJ's now with bad bearings in the belt idler pulleys and they can be very loud (sounds like hungry baby birds...through a loudspeaker).
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Yes but wouldn’t I have the noise while the vehicle is stopped as well? My belt squeaks a bit when the ac is on or if I get it wet but that’s about it, and it doesn’t seem to be the same type of noise. And it always goes away after a minute or so
 
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Jon Wildes said:
I will say this I had a ton of chirping and squeaking until I swapped my control arms. Now all the noises are gone. I would say it’s totally possible it’s the CAs.
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Yea I changed the lowers but the uppers are still oem so I’ll take a look at them tomorrow.
 
Alec P said:
Yes but wouldn’t I have the noise while the vehicle is stopped as well? My belt squeaks a bit when the ac is on or if I get it wet but that’s about it, and it doesn’t seem to be the same type of noise. And it always goes away after a minute or so
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Ah, had that big-time 'till I realized the PO had put on the "wrong" belt. Actually, he had put on what was listed as the correct belt but it was one of those "fits all-of-these" things. Did some research and some measuring and decided on the Dayco Poly Rib 5060883 belt. Best belt ever for the 4.0L TJ with A/C. Here's an Amazon link ...but look around for best price.
 
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Can you reproduce the noise with the engine off by jumping on your Jeep from different angles (like a Ninja :))? Just thinking it might be in the suspension somewhere.
 
Same thing happened to me. I had just replaced the stereo and at first I thought it was coming from the dashboard. It would come and go and was driving me crazy. Turns out it was my hood. it was rubbing the grill on one side. I put a little grease on the contact area and it disappeared. It was chirping So bad it sounded like a bird nest full of angry birds.
 
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Lots of suggestions regarding stuff on the exterior but I was hoping to find out what makes the chirping noise under my dash too.

My hearing isn't the best due to years of rock and roll, factory work and bouncing my head off the road in an accident a couple years ago so I might never have noticed mine because it is pretty high pitched. I only found out about it when my son drove it to pick up a pizza a few weeks ago and asked me about it. I turned up my hearing aid and was able to randomly notice what sounded like there were mice in my dash. I'm not sure if 32 degrees outside would be an accurate claim but it definitely doesn't happen well below freezing and does happen above. I don't know if it was happening last summer, the doors were off most of the time.

It seems to come and go if it does it at all and the wife is sure it's on the inside.

I've tried changing the settings on the HVAC knobs thinking that something in there was possibly loose. I also tried to duplicate the noise by pushing, pulling, rubbing, and/or shaking anything I could on the dash or the console and haven't succeeded.
 
chad said:
Same thing happened to me. I had just replaced the stereo and at first I thought it was coming from the dashboard. It would come and go and was driving me crazy. Turns out it was my hood. it was rubbing the grill on one side. I put a little grease on the contact area and it disappeared. It was chirping So bad it sounded like a bird nest full of angry birds.
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Alright I’ll check that out thanks
 
When I bought my 04, I had a terrible chirp from the dash. It ended up being the two bolts that hold the factory "anti-theft" bar on the stock radio. When the PO put in an aftermarket head unit, they left the nuts off of those two studs, which also are dash mounting points. I put the nuts back on those two studs and the chirp/rattle went away.
 
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04slvrcmbia said:
When I bought my 04, I had a terrible chirp from the dash. It ended up being the two bolts that hold the factory "anti-theft" bar on the stock radio. When the PO put in an aftermarket head unit, they left the nuts off of those two studs, which also are dash mounting points. I put the nuts back on those two studs and the chirp/rattle went away.
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Where is that located. Mine has an aftermarket radio in it and I have taken it out before, but never noticed any anti theft stuff. Is ir behind the radio?
 
Alec P said:
Where is that located. Mine has an aftermarket radio in it and I have taken it out before, but never noticed any anti theft stuff. Is ir behind the radio?
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Yeah, behind the oem radio, I don’t know if it’s anti theft or just a support, but it bolts to two dash studs, then connects to a stud on the back of the radio.

Pic from google:

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