UPDATE--12-30-02

The dealership just called me, and they said that its normal for the steering wheel to do this. Does anyone else have this problem? I never noticed this knocking sound until about 2 weeks ago. I told the dealership this, and he said they looked at other vehicles, and it had the same noise. He also said he contacted Mazda about it, and they said it was normal, and not a problem. This sounds fishy to me, can anyone give me recommendations/comments. Thanks in advance.

ORIGINAL POST:
I am bringing my P5 into the dealership for the 1st time (car is about 1yr2mths old). I have a squeaking problem when I turn the steering wheel clockwise. It also has a knocking sound when the steering wheel is turned clockwise, then released. This sound tends to be alot louder when Im making a U-turn. Anyone have any ideas about this? Im hoping the dealer figures out what it is.

 

It does sound like knocking on wood, but it happens when I turn my wheel clockwise (right). The dealership claims other Proteges do that, so when I go their today, im going to check it out. I told him the main thing that was annoying was the squeaking sound, he said he would look into trying to fix that.


Ive had 30 VIEWS of this post, all I would like is a yes/no answer if anyone else has that noise.

 

Next time i ride in the pro I'll make sure to se if i hear anything....so fai i haven't heard anything at all....and from your descriptions of it....I think i would have already heard it....but we'll have to see

 

ORIGINAL POST:
I am bringing my P5 into the dealership for the 1st time (car is about 1yr2mths old). I have a squeaking problem when I turn the steering wheel clockwise. It also has a knocking sound when the steering wheel is turned clockwise, then released. This sound tends to be alot louder when Im making a U-turn. Anyone have any ideas about this? Im hoping the dealer figures out what it is. [/B][/QUOTE]

WRONG. The dealer is lying to you. I had the same problem. I went to one dealer and they told me it was normal. They even showed me an older protege and it had sort of the same noise (a lot less). I complained and said it was not normal.
I went to another dealer and complained once, where they said they would look into any service bulletins. 2 weeks later after no calls from them, I went back and they looked at it again and they finally said they would fix it.
It ended up being a problem with the rack and pinion steering. They replaced the whole box for about 2k warranty bill. And gee guess what, my "normal sound" went away.

 

What year is your Pro?

 

he has a 2001 ES

 

Yeah I'd say tester is right on the money there.

It doesn't come through the steering column when going straight. Thus it can't be anything to do with the bearings. I then thought about the power steering fluid. But that seems fine in your description and you don't have the other symptoms that this fluid's absense would create.

So I'd say that's it. A problem with your rack and pinion steering.

Car manu doesn't release cars with this obvious unnatural noise only to say 'that's normal' later. I'd say it's a possibly common problem with 3rd gens. Thus they see this problem perhaps frequently and assume it's normal.

 

Mnkyboy, I haven't noticed the noise on my Pro5, but I do get the same noise, especially the squeaking noise in my '99 626.

 

Well, the dealership said they couldnt do anything about it. They said they contacted Mazda about it, and Mazda said it was normal. Funny thing is, my car wasnt making the squeaking noise when I drove to the dealership this morning. It could be possible that it only happens during cold weather, im not sure. It doesnt happen all the time.

As for the knocking sound, its still there. Im going to contact Mazda USA about this, and see what they can do talking directly to them. I didnt have time to look at other P5s at the dealership, but I plan on going back there sometime this week.

Im also going to try to meet up with the local Protege club here in New Orleans. Maybe they can help me