I have a 1991 Mazda Miata that I have had stored in a Garage for the past 6 months or so. After taking it out of hibernation a few weeks ago, there has been a rather loud squeaking noise coming from the wheels that I can hear echoing off of cars as I drive down the highway in traffic, and on occasion I can hear it while driving through town.
It speeds up in frequency as I speed up, and slows down when I slow. It seems to be unrelated to RPM, and is not affected in volume when applying the brakes, or even the parking brake.
My initial thought is that I may have rusted out something related to the brakes, as it was rather damp in the garage, and I had the parking brake on the whole time it was stored, even though I didn't need it (my mistake, I know).
I don't have many tools at home, and I know very little about cars, but I was wondering if there was something that I could do or check to identify/resolve this issue, before/without bringing it in to a mechanic. Is it damaging the rotors to drive like this? How could I go about diagnosing the real issue?
I am able to provide more info if needed, you will probably have to tell me what to do in order to get you this info, as if I were a 5 year-old though :)
I have looked at Rhythmic squeaking sound from front wheels but I dont think that it is related to my issue, though I may be wrong. Please inform me if so.