Fellow LR owners,

I’ve been experiencing a strange issue where I get a creaking(?) sound coming from the passenger side of the vehicle. This only happens when:

• firmly applying the brakes to bring the vehicle to a stop; and
• the AC is running.

I searched for this problem but thought this is a pretty rare combination. Any ideas?

I replaced all brake components on the front end within the last couple months and first thought it to be related to that. But now I’m leaning AC related.

 

Well does it sound like its coming from the inside or outside? There is a creaking noise the recirculation door can make. Its easy to repeat though by simply playing with the recirculation button. Did you ever resolve your brake issues to begin with?

 

The brakes are good. The calipers had seized from rust shortly after I purchased the vehicle. I replaced calipers, rotors, pads, and hydraulic hoses all at home.

The noise I’m hearing now is faint and heard from inside the vehicle. It sounds like it’s coming from behind the dash, or farther. At first, I thought it was air in a hydraulic hose (mainly because I did that job myself and so recently). It sounds somewhat like the noise made when bleeding your brakes.

But the brakes were bled, fluid levels remain normal, and the noise is only present with AC on.

I’ll have to play with the recirculation button more since you mentioned it.

 

Could it be the blower fan? If the impeller bearing has play the braking could shift the center of the fan and cause it to make grinding sound.

Try with no AC and just blower on, or just heat.

 

Hmm. So I tried it today with AC/recirculation on, AC/circulation off, Econ mode, and Heat.

The sound is most pronounced with AC on. With Heat I couldn’t hear the noise. In Econ mode, I think I heard it a little.

I was able to hear the recirculation door noise when toggling on/off. The noise while braking sounds a lot like this. But the same noise was there regardless of recirculation on or off.

 

Update: it appears this might have had something to do with the passenger retractable cupholder and/or vent.

One morning the cupholder popped open unexpectedly and wouldn’t shut. I removed it (the whole vent piece), disassembled, locked the tray in so it wouldn’t pop back out (temporary fix until I order the new part), tightened everything back up, and popped the part back onto the dash. The vehicle has stopped making the noise since this fix.

The noise had been occurring for weeks prior to this happening. Not sure why or what association it had with the AC, but *shrug emoji*

 

I am having exact the same problem as yours, do you mind sharing some photos to show me a picture on which vent piece you talked about and where are the things you changed for the cup holder? Thank you so much!

 

What should I do if this seems to be the issue?