Driving last night, I heard this horrible scraping sound from time to time, but I couldn't stop right away. When I got home, I saw that the bottom cover (or whatever the proper name for it is) had come loose at the left front -- I assume from hitting the ground once too often (damn this low clearance). I took a pic, but it's not too clear. The front edge is frayed a bit.
View 3 RepliesMy prius 2008 94k miles makes this strange noise from time to time, randomly. What it might be?
View 11 RepliesSo I'm also noticing my car occasionally makes a huge thud sound from time to time when I put it into two certain gears. From park to reverse it's not loud but there's a little noise, but from any gear into Drive it's sometimes a loud boom and the car shakes. My pops mentioned to me this is dangerous because of how the engine is moving underneath the hood when it happens. I just recently changed the dog bone mount, could it be the others? I'm ware that it's wise to change all 3 if you change one but I was on a budget & it was a lot worse before. Someone mentioned it might be my torque converter but I did some research & the two symptoms don't add up. And I'll add once more that this happens occasionally & not every time I switch to a different gear. What it may be?
View 11 RepliesFor the last several days, every morning when I stepped on the brake the first time in the morning, there was a "ka-luck" sound. Then throughout the day, the brake had no such sound and behaved normally. Is the "ka-luck" sound normal and why it happens? Winter/Rain?
View 13 RepliesFor several days I could hear a scraping sound from the right front side. I thought it was snow packed in the wheel well at first, until there wasn't any snow there. Today I was driving on the Xway and the scraping became a buzz like a Cessna airplane. On the way back home I turned the steering wheel back and forth and sure enough the buzz came and went. That made it sure to me the wheel bearing was bad.
View 19 RepliesMy 2013 Prius with 25,000+ miles has developed a low “clunking” sound every time I stop and the rear of the car settles. It seems to have come on gradually and now it doesn't seem to get any worse. My dealer is unable to find the cause and there is nothing loose in the back end of the car. This isn't an awful sound but it’s very irritating and I’m embarrassed to give anyone a ride. I've driven a friend’s 2010 and it makes no noise when stopping. I’m about to go back the dealer again and attempt to get a manager to take a ride and see if he can hear the sound. The mechanic I dealt with claimed that he tried out a new car off the lot and it made the same noise – implying that I should just quit whining.
View 2 RepliesMy 2007 Prius (151,000 miles) just started making what sounds like a scraping sound when in motion. This does not happen every time I drive it. The dealership said I need to replace the brake fluid actuator pump.
He couldn't really tell me what would happen if I don't have it fixed. He said perhaps the power brakes would go out, or maybe the anti-lock brake system. Either way, I don't want to mess with possible brake failure. But the cost of this repair is so high, and my car already has 151,000 miles. I'd love to drive it to 300,000 miles if I can, but am I being realistic? I'm wondering if it's worth investing this much money in a car with so many miles.
I am not sure what is going on .......My 2004 Prius ICE runs all the time now , the fan on my HV runs a lot too .......temps are 106 degree plus now. I have no check engine dash light yet. My scangauge race thru a bunch of codes. I have Engineer 4kw v6 installed too.
View 8 RepliesOne of the headlights will turn off after some driving time. If I turn the light off and on it will come back on. Asked Toyota, of course they said it is because you are not using OEM Toyota bulbs. I have the same bulbs on both sides. I even replaced the bulb on the "bad side".
Still the same issue. If the bulb is the problem, it would just be off, why it comes back on after "off/on" exercise? Another symptom I saw last week. When switching to high beam light both lights go off. "Off/on" of the car resolved this. This happened only once though.
The car was in the front accident 2 years ago and Toyota repaired it with life time warranty. But I am not sure if it related or not and how to convince Toyota that there is an issue here and not a "bulb" issue.
Last oil change at the dealer (they're free) I informed the service desk of some knocking and grinding noises that are happening from time to time in the front end.. and fluid in the driveway.. they did the oil and said they saw nothing... so I have to go back next week for my last free oil change and before I made the appointment, I dropped in to see my regular mechanic.. steering rack is leaking on the passenger side and has been for a while as the fluid is down to the minimum line in the reservoir.
Made the appointment with the dealer, informed them about the noise again and fluid on the driveway.. again. Let's see what they say this time.
The headlight beam height can be adjusted from inside the car. But even when not fiddling with the dial, I hear an electric motor sounding noise from them time to time, just a short <1s whirring sound. I listen with the bonnet open and I'm pretty sure it's coming from the headlights. Is this normal? is there any way I can stop it?
View 3 RepliesOver the past year we have been noticing that the HVAC blower doesn't turn on from time to time. All settings in the control panel seem normal and the fan speed is turned on. Most of the time everything is working normally, sometimes when the car starts the blower isn't working and then starts after a minute of driving. Sometimes I notice the blower isn't working and I turn up the fan speed and after a few clicks it starts working normally for the remainder of the drive. And then sometimes the blower doesn't ever start and I need to turn off and restart the car a few times. When the blower hasn't been working the a/c compressor has been turning on, something in the blower circuit is failing.
There are five possibilities:
The HVAC controller isn't telling the blower to turn on
The power relay isn't always working
There is a wiring or connection problem
The blower motor itself isn't working
The power mosfet is failing.
What needed to be replaced?
I own a 2012 Camry Hybrid XLE, but I'd imagine this issue could exist w/ any trim. Hear a slight crinkle/rattle from time to time coming from your headliner area? At times it almost sounds like someone padded your headliner with a plastic grocery bag.
I usually heard it on bumpy roads. I went through a nightmare with my dealer where they had my car for about 40 days trying to figure out the cause. They even replaced the headliner! (they did a lousy job too, w/ lots of oil smudges and scratches on my plastics)
Discovered the real cause of rattle. The sound actually comes from where the sun visor meets the headliner. The white plastic socket (pictured) where the sun visor plugs in has some wiggle room. When the car vibrates (be it from a bumpy road or what have you) it can slide against the interior cut out of the headliner. This makes an obnoxious crinkling sound.
At the moment I'm driving around with no sun visor on the passenger side-- and I also have no rattle (occasionally I might hear it from the driver side sun visor, but it's minor). I'll probably add some foam up there to add some more tension to alleviate the issue completely. Even just re-seating the sun visor and ensuring the screws are tight would probably have significant impact...
Having problems with the auto-up feature on your windows? Mine seems to randomly stop working from time to time. Only the drivers side has the problem. When the truck was new the dealer re-programmed the computer and put a new window switch in. That worked for a while but the problem keeps coming back. I can easily do the re-programming sequence however the problem always comes back. I have a 2012 Lariat SCREW.
View 13 RepliesI have a 2002 Kia Sedona Mini van and it runs real well except for when it rains. i will get the dreaded squeeky belt from time to time while driving in the rain and the van just doesn't seem to run as smoothly...is that possible?
View 5 Replies2004 base prius. Cold morning but in the garage, so not frightfully cold. Teens in the garage?
Went to start, and the whole car shook. My reaction was to push on the gas pedal (old habits die hard) and in a second or less it smoothed out. It seemed to have more to do with the start cycle than the actual engine running.
I am new to the world of maintaining my own car. I had an issue this morning when I drove my 2011 Elantra. The car started jerking from time to time while i was driving. So I ended up going back home and swapping cars. Other than a coming up oil change, what could the issue with my car be? I am at about 43k miles.
View 7 RepliesI get a musty odor from my vents from time to time. It usually happens on days when it is damp out and often on startup but sometimes it happens later in the trip. Its quite strong, unpleasant, and terrible for allergies.
I read something about this a long time ago but cannot find the posts. Found a TSB summary on VW's site but Dealer pulled it and says its for Passat. Thinking its something in the A/C or ventilation system.
My 05' with 130,000 miles has been acting weird lately. It likes to charge up to 8 bars all the time now. Before it was always around 5-7 bars. It goes down to purple 2 bars on a 2 mile hill climb. I see the bar from 6 going down to 3 or 2 immediately.
When I am driving on a flat road at constant speed. The battery is charging or being used continuously. Never does it stay at discharge or charge for longer than 2 seconds. The arrow goes green then orange then green, on and on and on. Besides that, it seem to drive ok. No dash lights what so ever.
My 2008 is 4 years old now but only has 27k miles. (I'm retired.) However I am really disgusted that it has had so many serious problems. Most recently, the trunk will not open all the way. I noticed this before it went out of warranty but I assumed it just needed some WD-40. In fact I remember another poster on this forum actually making fun of another owner who complained about the trunk not opening all the way. Well, now the dealer tells me I need a whole new trunk support system for $388! I'll just live with it as long as I can stand it.
Additionally, the doors often don't lock when I push the thumb lock on the outside of the door. I've tried both doors and the trunk. Of course the dealer couldn't find anything wrong. I know I could try the key fob but I keep it zipped up inside a pocket inside my pocketbook and never fool with it - a feature I do love about the Prius. Having problem with the trunk not opening all the way?
2005 Prius. I just don't want to jump ahead to replace the hybrid batteries right away. Can I still drive the car, some place people say it is okay to drive then eventually it would get weird...
View 19 Replies