my truck has been in since monday (8th) for the squeaking. I brought them a copy of posts from this thread. Unfortunately they say they haven't been able to either reproduce the noise or find the problem.

However, they did hear the rear drivers side internal squeak but haven't found the culprit yet. I saw the car yesterday (friday) and the left passenger side area is stripped down to sheet metal.

It is unfortunate to have problems at 8000 miles but the dealership has been significantly more helpful than my previous experience. The problem with the external noise is that I usually had to drive for an hour or so before it would happen. The dealership tells me they don't have staffing to do things like that. But they are trying. I think.

 

I think I've had the noise once or twice on my FEH. It sounds like a strut to me. I say that because it sounds EXACTLY like my old Ford Probe did in the front end when its strut was replaced. They couldn't replicate that problem then either however I soon realized it was worse after it rained (Its been raining here in MI for about a week straight so I'm thinking that might be the case with my 06 4WD FEH too).

In any case... on the Probe, after I figured out it was rain related, I accentuated the problem to help them find it. I took a high pressure wash hose and pointed the tip up in the wheel well toward the top of the strut and "hosed" it for about a minute. The problem wasn't intermittent after that.... I drove to the dealer driving a car that sounded SQWAUK, SQWAUK.... every little bump..... People actually LOOKED at the car as I drove by.... The dealer didn't seem to have any problem "replicating" the problem after that.

In any case does it seem to be rain/carwash related with the rest of you? The Probe did it when it was dry... it was just much worse after rain.

 

I also suffer from the dreaded squeaks. I have a 05 FEH that i have had for almost a year. I have not had any squeaks coming from the back that most of the post i read have, but mine are from the front and very very noticable over all other noises. Lucky for me my boyfriends is a certified ford tec, so he has been able to hear the squeak when they have occured (it seems to be in warm/hot temp only and low speeds) but alas he has not had a chance to look at it and dosent seem to be in to much of a hurry seeing as it does go away, but after reading this and heading into the summer months, i will have him take it in this week to get looked at and if he finds anything, i will be sure to let ya'll know.

 

When I first hear the squeak, I gently pull up on the parking brake lever and it goes away.

 

I think there are two different types of squeaking noise being described here.

One is brake related where many owners hear a rythmic squeaking noise as the wheel turns, and this seems to go away upon fidgeting with the parking brake one way or another. This, in theory suggested by many, is due to the regenerative brakes FEH has and that the rear brakes hardly get used.

The other, the one I have, is somehow related to the springs/shocks or suspension sections in general, where the squeaking is not rythmic as we drive. One owner reported that if he pushes the rear end from the side, he can duplicate the noise. For my car, the dead giveaway to this noise being suspension related was that whenever I have a load in the trunk, or just have passengers in the rear seats, the squeaking noise gets much worse and much louder. I suspect this was rooted in the fact the FEH is heavier in the back (than conventional version) due to the battery's weight and Ford might have used the same suspension components as the regular Escapes. There has not been any apparent remedy to this type of squeaking posted on this website.

 

From what i have been told, the rear suspention squeaking is being addressed by ford and the only thing that can be done now is to have the suspention replaced but it would only be a temp fix.

 

Bethany, thanks for sharing that info. Did your service advisor tell you that? Please keep us updated if you hear more. I am glad Ford is doing something about it. But with my luck, they will probably come up with something after my warranty expires...

 

I dont deal with the service advisor, he wouldnt know if anything was going on anyhoo. My boyfriend is a ford senior master technician, and is the only one in the shop who works on hybrids (nobody else wants to learn the new tec) so he gets every prob that heads in the door. When he is stumped, he calls up some ford hybrid department to see whats going on (only tecs can call them) and asked them due to the high number of hybrids that come in with that "complaint."

 

Unfortunately, I have the squeak also. Mine is very loud and very annoying. It seemed to start as soon as the weather was warm. At first I thought it was an interior trim "rubbing" noise, but the other day I was in a parking garage with the windows down and it is audible from the outside.

Tomorrow I'm going to call me dealer and Tuesday I'll bring it in. I hope they can do something about it. I have very little patience with dealers even though mine is pretty good in general. I need to take them for a ride because I can't bare to think about getting it back with a "cannot duplicate issue" note on my paperwork.

Other than this issue, I absolutely love my FEH.

 

I've realized I also have the rear end squeak, though not the one that occurs when underway/driving. Mine only occurs when the vehicle is parked, and generally only when one or more people are climbing out of the vehicle (esp. back seat passengers) or the vehicle is pushed from the rear, such as one might do while leaning into the bumper to pull something out of the cargo area. It's a funny and pretty loud squeak, but it's a little difficult to reproduce. For example, today I got a really loud prolonged squeak while wrestling stuff out of my cargo area, but when I stopped what I was doing and intentionally pushed the vehicle forward (parking brake's set, btw) it wouldn't squeak for me.

I realize others have a different squeak related to driving and/or braking. I've had the brake squeak twice (once in the first week of ownership, once about a month and a half ago), but under both circumstances my brakes were wet and the squeak ceased as the brakes were used (the latter time I did apply the parking brake at very low speed, per posts here and on the FEH Yahoo group. Worked like a charm.)