I have a 2008 FEH and have a chirp in the front end as well. The dealership told me it was the ac unit kicking on and the chirp was from the ac clutch. That was fine, but it happened when the ac was off. I had to take the service manager on a road trip to point it out to him. According to the dealership they phoned Ford and was told that the ac unit is used to cool the hybrid battery and thus it would come on when the ac was off as well giving the annoying chirp. In other words according to them all was well. If you come up with any solutions to minimize the noise I would love to hear it.

 

I posted once, but evidently did something wrong.
I have a 2008 FEH and also have a chirp from the front end that showed up about 3 months after purchase. I took it to the dealership and they said it was the ac unit clutch engaging making the chirp. I said that was funny since I hear it when the ac is off. I took the service manager on a test drive and pointed it out. According to the dealership they called the factory because they couldn't figure it out. The story I got was that the ac clutch will engage even when the ac is off in the cab because it's still used to cool the hybrid battery.
If anyone comes up with a solution to silence it I would love to know.

 

The first sentence is very true. The A/C can come on without your intervention to cool the battery. Why they can't make it so the clutch doesn't squeak is beyond me. Seems to me to be something they should replace. I have an '06 but it doesn't squeak when the A/C engages.

 

Its probably the air gap is to large and there is a tolerence so some are looser than others.

 

Mark E Smith:

So what's your take on that? Could it be a problem, or no worry?

 

Purdue:

Anything happen with the dealer about your AC chirp? Thanks!

 

I have a 2008 FEH.

Tonight, I got the chirps. I had the windows down and the AC off. I get the chirp coming when it goes into gas mode...but what is the chirp at 40 miles per hour? That's right when I hear the 2nd one (and that only happened twice). Is it the AC shutting OFF?

 

I suppose cycling on or off to cool the battery. Ours has diminished somewhat, probably due to the cooler weather. I wonder if Purdue has been to the dealer yet for work on this issue?

 

I wouldnt worry, unless it gets worse. You could see if Ford would reshim it a little tighter though.

The spec for the gap in the compressor clutch is .014" to .030"

 

My A/C clutch makes a grinding sound when it engages for the first time each day. I don't notice any ususual sounds when driving.
No "chirps". Mine is more like "chatter". -John