Prius (2001-03) :: Power Steering On / Off At Highway Speeds
Jan 1, 2016
It feels like its catching, or its off and then comes back on ?? No codes, none.
View 11 RepliesIt feels like its catching, or its off and then comes back on ?? No codes, none.
View 11 RepliesI bought 2012 Prius ii around 6 weeks ago. From day one I started noticing vibrations in the steering wheel most noticeable at highway speeds. I can describe this as high frequency vibrations that become very very annoying especially if you drive to work for an hour every day. This car has OEM Bridgestone Ecopia EP 20 tires. I took the car to the dealership twice already, they balanced the tires twice and road force tested it twice. They replaced front tires for me because based on the test results one tire was at 16 lb the other one at 19 lbs.
The new tires are at 8 and 10. They keep on telling me that this is by design and is a characteristic of the vehicle. However the Prius I test drove when I was buying it did not have this problem, otherwise I would never buy it. This vibration happens in any mode and I can even feel it at lower speed now though it is not as noticeable. I had a few people including Prius owners drive my car and everyone feels the vibration. With so many Prius models sold I highly doubt that everyone just accepts it as a feature.
My 2001 Buick Lesabre 3.8 loses power at highway speeds, sets a PO101 code (MAF sensor). I have replaced the MAF sensor 3 times, as well as the coolant temperature sensor, the crank position sensor, the throttle position sensor, the MAP sensor, the intake manifold gaskets (upper and lower) , the pcv valve, the egr valve, the Idle air control sensor. After cruising at highway speed for about 3 miles the car still loses power for about 20 seconds then gradually regains power only to repeat the fault again 3 or 4 miles down the road.
Otherwise the car has plenty of power quickly achieving 100+ mph going though the gears smoothly and normally. I have inspected the intake plenum and vacuum hoses for leaks and have found none, all in very good condition. The car ha 122,000 miles on it and has been well cared for, very clean under the hood with no leaks. I did reduce the egr chimney size to 3/8" while replacing the intake gaskets and that reduced the symptoms somewhat, i.e., the car only loses about 15 mph instead of dropping to about 25 mph before recovering.
I have a 2001 w/94k. New tires and alignment (3k). Recently I have been hearing a humming noise which can start to be heard around 45mph which gets increasingly loud up to 65mph, and then seems to quiet down if I go above 70mph. From the driver's seat it sounds like it's coming from the driver's side rear of the car and from the passenger seat it sounds like it's coming from the passenger side rear of the car. So it definitely sounds like it's coming from the rear of the car. Bringing my car in to get looked at it is difficult with my work schedule, so I thought I would try here first. Around the city there is no noticeable sound and there has been no loss in MPG that I can tell (44-47).
View 8 RepliesMy accent just crossed 180K mark. From last year the steering wheel shakes quite a bit at highway speeds ,say 70MPH. It's especially bad when I accelerates . Took the car to a shop, they told me two things, the CV axle of passenger side needs replacement, and the wheel hub bearings are bad(both front wheels). They quoted me $200 for replacing the cv axle, and $400 for replacing both front wheel bearings. Since I don't even think the car worth $600 right now(given high mileage), I told them I'll just do the axle(I know how to do it myself but don't have the time, plus it won't be that much cheaper DIY anyway). They said fine, but if you don't replace the bearings you may have the wheel fly off one day and that's dangerous.
They replaced the axle, and the car drives a lot better now. There's still a little bit of shaking at high speed but 75% of that shake has gone away. My question is, does the worn out bearing causes car to tremble at high speed? I heard other people told me there should be a grinding or loud hawling sound if the bearings are bad, but I don't hear that. I searched the internet and some people say, to determine if the hub bearings are bad, just drive it for 10 minutes then feel the hub. If it's barely warm, the bearings are good. If it's warm to hot, then the bearings are bad. I felt it and it's warm, but not too hot to touch. I tried the rear wheels and those are barely warm indeed.
So from this method it seems the front wheel hub bearings are indeed bad. I wonder how long I can keep driving this without endanger myself. $400 is not cheap for this car and I don't have a machine to press in the bearings myself. I can disassemble the rotor and hub that's not a big deal, but I don't know how to get the old bearing out and the new bearing in. Is there a machine shop that just do the pressing? Or, is there any shop selling the hub assembly with bearing already in place? this way I just remove the old hub assembly and replace it with the new assembly, a lot easier. I searched the internet but can only find pre-assembled hub w/ bearing for the rear wheel of this car. I need the front ones.
This has happened multiple times but this last time was the dangerous one. I was driving home from work on Friday on the tollway which is very straight but does have some slight turns in it (construction). So I am at highway speeds for some time and one of these slight turns comes up. I try to turn my wheel but nothing happens. I apply more and more force until it finally decides to turn and by that time I am applying so much force, it jerks really hard. If the car didn't finally decide to turn, I would have hit the highway barrier. I am lucky that no one was next to me or I might have hit them.
-This only happens at sustained highway speeds, city driving is perfect.
-It doesn't happen every time I am on the highway, it is intermittent.
-It does not have a bias with regard to direction (left turn or right).
-I have put some Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF in my reservoir to add fluid to my system with whatever was currently in there when I bought the car @ 75K miles. Car currently has 130K miles. Is there some sort of write up for PS maintenance/flush? I need to pull the return to drain, right?
-I do have a rubber on rubber squeak sound in the front right when I go over a bump.
Noticed the steering wheel shakes just slightly at highway speeds. Happens to me when I'm at around 65-70mph and above. It's just very slight, so I really wasn't thinking its an alignment issue at all. I didn't know if this was a bit normal for these B7s or what. I've had alignment issues in cars before and this just doesn't feel that bad, but its enough to give me pause.
View 7 Replies2010 FJ Cruiser has an intermittent shimmy that you can feel in the steering wheel at highway speeds. Noticed it not long after new tires. Go around a long curve and it starts, then stays until you go around another curve and then stops. It is as if the wheels have to align a certain way for some harmonic effect. I had the tires rebalanced and rotated. My mechanic said they balanced up very well. Shimmy is better but not gone. Wierdest thing is that when it happens, if I keep my foot on the gas and gently press the brake the shimmy stops and the returns as soon as I let up on the brake. When I asked my mechanic if it could be 2 slightly warped rotors he said the shimmy would be worse braking not better.
View 4 RepliesI have just over 11K miles on my 2011 and now notice steering wheel vibration & slight shake at 70 mph. The passenger can also feel it.
View 14 RepliesJust rotated my tires this weekend and noticed today that the steering wheel has a vibration in it at highway speeds, 65-70mph. It did not do this at all before I rotated the tires, why it's doing it now? Tires are fairly new and Bridgestones H/Ts.
I know my rotors are warped and need replaced but the vibration I'm referring to is when I am not braking.
2008 Passat 45k. No accidents. Towed twice on flatbeds due to bad fuel pump. Tires were rotated every 10k or so.
I'm wondering if there are any suspension (or wheel) issues that can lead to maybe tire wear and a loud oscillating noise. I had factory Goodyear Eagles 235/45-R17's that started to develop a very loud speed-dependent oscillating noise that definitely came from the tires, but I can't tell if it's one tire or more than one. I just had them replaced though I was not quite yet down to the wear indicators. My new Continentals are of course pretty quiet, but occasionally I think I hear very faint oscillations again on certain surfaces at high speed.
I'm worried that I might trash these new tires. I had to have an alignment/balance/rotation at about 30k due to minor steering vibrations at highway speeds. The noise started around 37k and got louder and louder. About this same time I had a flat tire that was immediately repaired; I noticed uneven wear on this flat tire which I attributed to the previous minor alignment/balance problem. I usually find out about any low pressures by the dash light, so I'm pretty sure my tire pressures are usually good. I rotated at 40k with a minor improvement that got bad again after about 1k.
My '04 Santa Fe (135K miles) has been doing this for a little while.
Between 65 - 75 MPH on the highway, under acceleration, I experience what I can only describe as a "shudder".
I don't believe it's a wheel balance issue, because if I'm coasting or maintaining that speed everything is stable.
We have an '03 Santa Fe (2.4L). We are the original owners.
About 18 months ago, one of our Ignition Coils cracked and caused a misfire when then engine was under load. I replaced the coil, wires, and plugs myself at that time.
Since that time, we have experienced intermittent engine jerking while at highway speeds. There does not seem to be any pattern, and it does not happen every time we drive it.
I took it to the dealer who diagnosed a valve cover leak. They replaced the gasket, one ignition coil, wires and plugs. The problem still happened intermittently after that. I brought it back to the dealer, who diagnosed a valve guide/seat leak. Oil is getting into the cylinder and fouling the plug they say.
I could not afford the fix (and was very dissatisfied by the service I received) so the dealer recommended to change the plugs every 3 - 5K miles to get me through. I was told this on 03/31/09 (125695 miles). I replaced the plugs, wires, and BOTH coils again at that time.
Last week @ 130K miles the engine jerked again. I replaced all four plugs again Sunday morning, but the ones that I pulled were NOT look oil fouled. I showed them to a mechanic friend and the guy at the auto parts store. Both agreed that the spark plugs looked almost new. Sunday evening, while driving on the freeway, the car jerked again!
Since this happened again SO soon after changing the plugs, I really have a hard time believing the valve guide diagnosis. Some possibilities I have seen/heard:
- Crank position sensor or camshaft sensor (This was replaced at 78K miles along with the all of the belts)
- Clogged fuel filter
- Bad O2 sensor
- Vacuum leak from the hose that is between the throttle body and the engine casing
- The dealer's valve seat suggestion
I bought a new 2010 (Gen III) Prius IV one week ago. I have driven it less than 200 miles. Last night, I experienced a few seconds of steering wheel shaking while driving at highways speeds. I assumed I had hit uneven pavement. At no point was it difficult to turn the wheel. But after the shaking, the car seemed to sometimes drift to one or the other edge of the lane. I chalked that up to unfamiliarity with the car and to rain and darkness. Today, I read Forum posts that described the lighter touch that usually works and the importance of wheel alignment.
After the shaking, another 45 minutes of driving, and a half hour parked, I headed home on a slower road. That is when my wife noticed that the Electric Power Steering warning light was on. We are both pretty sure it was off before that. This morning, I pulled out of the garage and back in, and turned the wheel both ways as it moved. The light did not come on.
I called the dealer to discuss what had occurred. I made a service appointment for Monday so they can check it out. Someone in a Gen II forum (where I mistakenly posted this at first) advised me to pull over and take an evidence photo of the light if it comes on again.
The PS warning light wouldn't be too surprising to see in a Prius driven tens of thousands of miles. If yours ever came on when your Prius had low mileage, I'd be curious to know the outcome. I misidentified a benign icon as the EPS warning light.
The mechanic became suspicious when he couldn't find any code or any trouble. We sketched the icon we remembered seeing for the service supervisor. He explained that it was the cruise control light. I either forgot I had turned cc on or I had pushed it accidentally when I operated the wipers.
The wife and I own a 2003 Hyundai Elantra with 163k miles.
We just had our oil changed and we are currently running 5/30 and the oil light came on about a week after the change. I stopped the car immediately and checked the oil level and it was fine and oil was super clean. So I jumped back in the car and the light was off. Drove down the road about 2-3 miles and the light came back on and stayed on. Today it stayed off for a good 5-10 min while driving at highway speeds of 55-60 and then it popped on. The car runs great and it's not running hot that I know of and doesn't sputter or anything.
I was wondering if it was a bad Oil Pressure Switch? Where are they located at in the motor? I just put 1k into it with new new belts, valve cover gasket, spark plugs, wires and tires.
I have a 2005 6.0. I just got done doing the HPOP seals, injector o-rings, stand pipes and dummy plugs. I have drove the truck 600 miles since the work with no problems other than a wiring issue I got fixed...
I was driving at highway speeds, and all of a sudden I lost power and got a shake when trying to accelerate. I pulled over and turned it off, and when I went to restart it I got nothing at first, then it went to what seemed like a partial crank followed by a thud. So I'm thinking I just hydro locked it. I waited a few mins and tried again, and it started but had a few knocks for 15 seconds or so, then it ran rough with smoke pouring out of the exhaust (grey then turned kinda white).
I the only codes I have are for the egr which I've had unplugged for a long time, and a glow plug code, but when I started it back up, I had no codes. I'm baffled. I did notice I have oil on my oil filter housing at the cap, a little oil had slung on to my wire harness and my intake. I don't even know where to begin!
I have a 2006 f250 6.0. the truck has 101k miles and to this point I have had zero issues. I am having trouble loosing power after running at highway speeds. Once I stop and begin to accelerate the truck looses power for a few seconds ,Belches smoke and begins to operate normally. I had an egr code, so I replaced egr and the problem persist. It is intermittent and does not happen if I stay under 50 mph.
View 12 RepliesBought a 2005 Prius with a perfect history and that recently had its 60k check up at the Toyota dealer. Don't know exactly when the sound changed since I'm not the primary driver, but now it sounds like a jet airplane when it reaches highway speeds and it's hard to hear what we're saying to each other, much less what people are saying over the Bluetooth (although the built in Bluetooth noise cancellation feature is fantastic and the person on the other end of the phone doesn't hear the noisy engine). What could be causing the car to sound like we're taking off at the airport (at any speeds above 40 mph, it seems)? Our passengers comment on the near constant background noise level.
View 10 RepliesHaving trouble with a shimmy at 65-75mph .....
View 19 Replies2010 camry LE
A family member did a tune up on the car and did not realize that the power steering reservoir had a HOT and COLD min/max lines. He filled up to the max line for HOT while the car was completely cold. He also filled up with Prestone Power Steering fluid with Stop Leak instead of ATF/DEXIII.
The car was driven a few times for maybe 50 miles in total before I found out about all this and I drained the fluid out to the appropriate levels. However the steering at low/parking speeds is still very tight (tighter than what I used to remember, at least).
Did he royally screw up the power steering system here? What can I do?
I commute 100 miles a day at higher highway speeds (around 75-85mph, its the flow of traffic around here) for almost my entire commute. I test drove a Prius C the other day and after about 20 miles with cruise set on 80mph, the computer showed 33mpg was the average. So I was hoping for some real world input from currently Prius C owners that commute at higher highway speeds.
View 19 Replies