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Anyone? Squeaky steering when cold?

24K views 15 replies 9 participants last post by  Dan W  
#1 ·
I purchased my Hardtop S back in November. The whole winter, I've had my steering column squeak when it's cold out whether I turn the wheel left or right. It goes away when the vehicle warms up to operating temp. My local Mini dealer hasn't heard of this happening so there is nothing to fix at this time. Anyone else have this issue?
 
#2 ·
I had a squeak from the top of the steering column in February. The car at the time was only used locally so no long runs to warm it up. Mainly turning right but also slight squeak turning left. It was fairly obvious the noise was from the steering wheel area (the top of the steering column).

The dealer found the source easily and replaced the Steering Wheel Airbag Slip-Ring two weeks later and its fine now.

Could be the same for yours but I don't know that its a common problem.
 
#6 ·
Mine sounds more on the outside under the hood than on the interior part of the column. It's almost the squeak of something rubbing on wet rubber.
Like this? I started having this noise last week. Dunno if it is anything to do with the ambient temperature (yes it has been COLD) or engine temperature. I hear the noise at any time.

Turn up the volume and put your ear on a speaker;) This was captured inside the car.

 
#7 ·
Mine did this when we had freezing temperatures. It would only squeak first thing in the morning after sitting all night and it would go away after the heater started blowing. My last car (2013 Toyota FJ) did the same thing when cold so I haven't worried about it. My cold squeak is definitely an interior plastic noise when I turn the wheel left backing out of my driveway.
 
#10 ·
It happened to me last year when the outside temp was -37C and again just this past weekend when the outside temp was -38C.

My car is stored inside underground garage.......I determined the noise in my case was from the tires. Every time I turned the steering wheel the tires were turning and giving off a sound like a hard rubber kinda hard vibrating sound. It is gone now that the temp has warmed up to -4C.

Iduno, is it more than just this ?
 
#14 ·
2 Fixes in Germany

Hi guys,

In Germany, two fixes are available for this issue.

1) Replacement of the "clockspring" (hope I got that right - it's the electrical connection of the steering wheel/airbag)

Didn't solve the issue in my car.

2) Just done/available in Germany:
The MacPherson struts are removed and the contact surface to the camber plates gets a sealing on an oil basis.

Seems to make sense, I'm quite confident that this will solve the issue. "My" suspension specialist (not from the Mini shop) already suspected this as the root cause some months ago.
 
#15 ·
Hi guys,

In Germany, two fixes are available for this issue.

1) Replacement of the "clockspring" (hope I got that right - it's the electrical connection of the steering wheel/airbag)

Didn't solve the issue in my car.

2) Just done/available in Germany:
The MacPherson struts are removed and the contact surface to the camber plates gets a sealing on an oil basis.

Seems to make sense, I'm quite confident that this will solve the issue. "My" suspension specialist (not from the Mini shop) already suspected this as the root cause some months ago.
Good to know. I'll ask about that.