My 18 yr old son has a new to us Lexus 1990 LS400. He is an inexperienced driver and was recently complaining to me of squealing brakes which I couldnt hear over the sound of his radio lol But he complained enough that I hired a backyard mechanic friend to teach him about changing his brake pads and putting anti brake squeal stuff on them. I figured it would be good to get the pads checked out anyway. Okay fine, but he continued complaining of the squealing and I never did hear it.

Today I borrowed the keys and drove it to town. Although the brakes were quiet, I did hear a continual sound like a bird chirping under the car and think coming from the wheels..... if my memory serves me right, I had a car many years ago that made that same sound and it needed bearings or some other big job done? I dont really recall..... Any ideas?

 

The kids radios can drown out any noise a car makes nowadays. Unfortunately that's why I'm changing an engine in my sons Corolla.
The chirping noise you're hearing I don't think would be a bearing b/c that would be more of a drone noise, real deep. It's hard to figure it out with your discription of "under the car". Your best bet would be to bring it in to an independant shop and have them take a listen. Or your "backyard mechanic friend" should be able to tell you by taking it for a ride, or at least narrow it down, or he's not a real mechanic.

 

Sometimes loose or worn belts or pulleys will chirp.

 

I've heard that adults naturally loose high frequency hearing starting at age 17. I haven't noticed, but it could be really high pitched and you just can't hear it.

 

While we're pitching out suggestions, you might take a close look at the fan bracket bearing.

 

Common cause is the serpentine belt idler, easy to check, remove the belt start up the engine and see if the noise has gone. Don't leave the engine running for long as the alternator and other devices running from the belt will not be running.

 

As the RPM's go up, does it chirp more?
My guess is one of the many pulleys being driven by the serpentine belt. Idler would be my first look but sound can be determined by lifting the hood with engine running and finding where the specific location of the noise is emanating from.

 

When the car is just idling it doesnt make the noise. It only does it when driving....... as far as I can tell it is only at very low speeds, although there is road noise at higher speeds which could be just drowning out the noise.... this is one reason I thought it would be coming from the wheels

My backyard mechanic is not a real mechanic and was puzzled when he heard the noise and told me to ask here haha.

 

Bearings are gonna have more of a drown sound to them, as stated. At idle, you say the car isn't making any noise, may have to reach up under the intake and manually rev the car or have someone rev it for you by the gas pedal. Am suspecting the fan bracket puley, as it is a common item to go up. Whatever it is, am suspecting it is pulley related. Have someone rev the car, while you listen for it to see if it replicates. You may need to do a sound clip and polst here so we can try to runi ti down a little further for you.

 

Usually Fan Pulley Bracket .. Bad Bearing Gates makes Decent Quality vs Dorman