2020 Forester Front end squealing noise.

[TGE1848]

I purchased a 2020 Subaru Forester new in February 2020. I picked up the car and drove about 10 miles towards home on the freeway when a terrible squealing noise began to emanate from the rear passenger side wheel. I took the car to the dealership the next day (the noise did not return on the drive) to have it inspected and they could find no problem.

Due to the Covid pandemic the car was driven very little over the next 2 years and didn’t have any issues. Since that time, I have driven the car from Arizona to Southern California a total of 4 times. On each of these trips, after driving for approximately 5 hours and within a few miles of the same location (near Palm Desert, CA) a loud squealing noise was heard coming from the front of the car. It sounded very much like a dry bearing; however, the noise would start on the driver’s side then after several minutes move to passenger side. The noise continued for approximately 10 to 15 minutes and then subsided.

During the time the squealing noise was heard I made the following observations:

• Appling the brakes – did not affect the noise until speed was reduced significantly.
• Turning off the AC – had no effect on the noise.
• Putting the car into neutral and coasting – had no effect on the noise.

Initially I thought this issue was related to heat as summer temperatures in the Palm Springs area reach over 115 degrees F; however, one of the trips was made at night in the rain when the temperature was approximately 85 degrees F and the problem still showed up.

On my last recent trip, shortly after the noise began, I pulled into a rest area and shut the car off for several minutes. I then restarted the car and continued the trip (5 more hours) with no further incidents.

• It appears that whatever this problem is has existed since the car was new (car now out of warranty).
• Is it possible that the road conditions near Palm Desert somehow affect the AWD feature of the Forester.
• It also seems that this issue is in some way an electrical based issue (I did not try adjusting the traction control knob when the noise is present).

I would appreciate any insight that can be provided as to what might be the cause of this noise. Until my last trip I thought this might be a problem associated with the front wheel bearings, but I no longer think this is the case. I spoke with my local dealership but because of the intermittent nature of these symptoms there is little they can do in the way of troubleshooting.

 

[Ecmbuster]

Stones, debris stuck between the brakes / rotors.
Worn / damaged wheel bearings.
Fluid levels checked in the differential.
Fluid level oil quality in the CVT.
Double check the wheel lug torque.
Any fault codes, warning lamps recorded?

 

[TGE1848]

Reply to my original post.

During my most recent roadtrip to southern California (from Arizona) I experienced the same symptoms as previously reported. The problem turns out to be a harmonic tire noise as a result of cement road surface interacting with the tread pattern of my standard OEM tires.

Just west of Palm Springs the I-10 road surface changes from asphalt to concrete. Several lanes of the concrete road contain a “wavy” pattern imprinted into the surface which goes on for miles. Driving in any of these lanes causes the front tires to “sing” and moving out of the offending lane eliminates the noise. I have no idea if changing tires would have an effect on this issue but I am relieved that it is not a more serious problem .