The other day, I noticed an annoying noise , a squeaky sometimes rattling noise, emanating from somewhere up front! So, I decided to tackle this one thing at a time, I cleaned and lubricated my front brake pads, inspected the swaybar end links , the sway bar bushings were lubed a month ago, the rear LCA’s bushings look new. I put everything back together, ensured all bolts were correctly torqued, went for a test ride!
Same annoying squeaky rattling noise.
Now , I decided to investigate the front bumper cover, easy to remover , so off it came and I took a test drive, you guessed it , that squeaky noise was still there!
as I pushed down on the hood then gently pulled up in the hood, there it was the noise, push down, squeak , pull up , Squeak!
I broke out a can of spray white lithium grease and gently moved the hood latch around to get the spray nozzle tube into the moving parts of the latch , put the front bumper cover back on and went back out for test drive.
Peace and quiet! No squeaky rattling noise, not over train tracks, that pothole on South Pelham Street, in the twisty S turn in Effingham road, nada!! Quiet as a library.
So I’ll just pass this along , Sweetie thought it was a loose dashboard area screw, I thought disc brake pad hardware needed lubed, turns out , the hood latch was dry and squeaky



Here’s the back side of the latch , my 2011 was a rental so no closed sensor for the remote start like this one

 

Good detective work! But that may also mean that part(s) #17 need adjustment?

 

I had that annoying rattle when my car was new. Another thing to look at is the little rubber hood bumpers as Randy said above. They are adjustable as they are threaded and can be moved up and down.
Oldblue. Check and be sure your's are adjusted "up" enough to touch the hood when it's closed.
The problem with mine was 1 was damaged at the factory and I couldn't adjust it up. Got a new one and fixed my rattle/noise.
The damaged one and the replacement. Picture from 10 years ago.

 

I did adjust those then adjusted the hood latch through the grille

 

 

Arrhggg, that noise is back, so I reinspected the struts, a small leak in the right front, the strut mount bearing plates , dry, I sprayed the one at a time tgen test drive around the block, left front stopped the noise, then right front even more quiet, the saa was y bar end links are OEM and when I clamped I’m with vise grips to the shaft they moved but in a jerking motion , not smooth.
So seeing as the front struts , bearing plates and swaybar end links are original to this 9 years old HHR, I bit the bullet and ordered up some new parts. Interesting, what I ordered from RockAuto was $520.00 CDN shipping , taxes and duties included, but up here , they would have cost $560.00 CDN, before taxes 13%, and shipping, via truck $168.00.
Thanks RockAuto, and yes I remembered the discount code!

 

Well now , this maybe like swatting a fly with a howitzer, but that noise is gone. Squeaking in the swaybar bushings, gone, swaybar endlinks, struts and strut mounting plates and brake pads, all gone


Old bearing for strut mounting plate on the left new one on the right

Nice new strut mounting plate new rubber isolator inside

Old FE3 9 year old strut

A little crud on the old strut and the sway bar end link stayed attached.

New KYB strut

Where the old passenger side strut lived

Note how your strut goes up in there, where that flat spot goes

The mounting bolts only go in one way

Drivers side R new KYB strut, yes there’s an R stamped in the swaybar tab , you really can’t mess these up

Moog strut mount part number, yes , made in China

KYB made in the USA

Same with this one

Moog sway bar end links made in Mexico

New PowerStop brake pads, come with new hardware

 

Nice, Christmas come early, or your birthday 🎂?

 

Income tax return

 

Looking good. They did need some work Eh!