Engine (?) sounds loud to me

[Joannerice]

My car is a 2007 Prius, package 2, with about 37,000 miles on it. I just made my annual trip from New England to Florida a few weeks ago. During the last leg of my trip, I started to notice a loud noise (not pinging) that appears to be coming from under the hood. It starts at around 30 mph and gets louder as the speed increases. If I take my foot off the gas, say, at around 60 and let the car coast, the noise goes down as the car decelerates, going away under 30 mph. I sometimes think a scooter is passing me, but no one is there.

I had the car at the dealer 2 days before I left and had the oil changed, tires rotated, and safety inspected.

I have driven this Prius since December of 2006 and I have never noticed this before.

Anyone have an idea what might be causing this? Thanks for any insight.

[Spartane]

Since the last thing changed was the oil, did you check the oil to make sure that it's at the correct level?

[Joannerice]

Originally Posted by Spartane

Since the last thing changed was the oil, did you check the oil to make sure that it's at the correct level?

I had not checked the oil. I just went and checked, and the level is fine.

[Patrick Wong]

If you can characterize the noise, it might help us to respond to your question. For example, does this sound like a loud exhaust sound due to a hole in the exhaust system, or whining from the transaxle, or a squealing sound from a bad wheel bearing, or ??

[Joannerice]

Originally Posted by Patrick Wong

If you can characterize the noise, it might help us to respond to your question. For example, does this sound like a loud exhaust sound due to a hole in the exhaust system, or whining from the transaxle, or a squealing sound from a bad wheel bearing, or ??

You are talking to someone who doesn't know too much about cars. It sounds like a scooter, starting slow, then speeding up as the car accelerates. I wouldn't not characterize it as a squealing.

I thought about an exhaust problem, but the sound--to me--seems to be coming from the front end. If it is an exhaust problem, would the sound increase at a certain speed (>30 mph) and disappear completely at speed <30.

I'll take it in next week.

[ikklesmiler]

Originally Posted by Joannerice

You are talking to someone who doesn't know too much about cars. It sounds like a scooter, starting slow, then speeding up as the car accelerates. I wouldn't not characterize it as a squealing.

I thought about an exhaust problem, but the sound--to me--seems to be coming from the front end. If it is an exhaust problem, would the sound increase at a certain speed (>30 mph) and disappear completely at speed <30.

I'll take it in next week.

with a hole in the exhaust the noise would increase as your accelerated, and decrease when not accelerating.

The nosie normally sounds like a pop pop pop sound, or like a boy racers car.. a bit like the sound you explained, like a scooter starting up

hope you manage to get it sorted soon

Ann Marie