3G Issues (CD, washer nozzles, creaks)

[Tideland Prius]

Okie dokie. So I've had my Prius for a month and a half now and i've got some issues to bring up and see if anyone can help me out



1. CD player skipping: It's been skipping since I bought it. However, I noticed it will do so with MP3 CDs and not with store-bought CDs. I don't have any store-bought CDs to play in the CD player long enough to verify it (I had my friend bring one on the road trip but then again, my MP3 CDs worked for most of the trip too). Sometimes it just skips a few times, other times it skips continuously and other times to says "Unable To Read Disc". I'd like to bring it in but the issue is sooo random that I'm afraid I'll get the usual "we can't find the problem" from the dealer. I have checked my MP3 CD when i got home and I played it on the surround sound system for 5 hours non-stop and it didn't skip. I also had it in my smart for the past year and it didn't skip


2. Washer nozzle aimed too low: My driver's side is aimed a little too low. The factory setting had it basically aiming at the driver's side wiper. That doesn't quite help. Had the dealer do an adjustment but I can't seem much of an improvement. I was expecting it to spray at least 1/3 up the windshield but it's barely making it over the wiper at its resting position


3. Got a taste of winter last week. it was as cold as -5°C. Left the car outside at a (Canadian) Thanksgiving dinner. When I went out later that night to show the car to a few friends, I noticed that the moonroof was creaking quite a bit. I know the cold and ice can do strange things but I don't recall the Camry ever doing that.

4. My tonneau cover doesn't retract all the way on its own when it's cold. It takes a little pushing to have it retract all the way into the cover. Normally, I just guide it in and it retracts itself all the way in. This one leaves about 2 inches that I have to manually push in.



Anybody else have these cold weather issues? (CD player isn't cold weather related)

[fuzzy1]

(1) No skips on my CD, after many many hours on a homemade WMA collection. But with a few hundred tracks on it, it takes about 15 seconds from power-on to making any sound.

(2) Now that you mention it, the washer nozzle does seem low, but so far not bad enough to bother me.

[G3priusV]

Originally Posted by Tideland Prius

Okie dokie. So I've had my Prius for a month and a half now and i've got some issues to bring up and see if anyone can help me out



1. CD player skipping: It's been skipping since I bought it. However, I noticed it will do so with MP3 CDs and not with store-bought CDs. I don't have any store-bought CDs to play in the CD player long enough to verify it (I had my friend bring one on the road trip but then again, my MP3 CDs worked for most of the trip too). Sometimes it just skips a few times, other times it skips continuously and other times to says "Unable To Read Disc". I'd like to bring it in but the issue is sooo random that I'm afraid I'll get the usual "we can't find the problem" from the dealer. I have checked my MP3 CD when i got home and I played it on the surround sound system for 5 hours non-stop and it didn't skip. I also had it in my smart for the past year and it didn't skip


2. Washer nozzle aimed too low: My driver's side is aimed a little too low. The factory setting had it basically aiming at the driver's side wiper. That doesn't quite help. Had the dealer do an adjustment but I can't seem much of an improvement. I was expecting it to spray at least 1/3 up the windshield but it's barely making it over the wiper at its resting position


3. Got a taste of winter last week. it was as cold as -5°C. Left the car outside at a (Canadian) Thanksgiving dinner. When I went out later that night to show the car to a few friends, I noticed that the moonroof was creaking quite a bit. I know the cold and ice can do strange things but I don't recall the Camry ever doing that.

4. My tonneau cover doesn't retract all the way on its own when it's cold. It takes a little pushing to have it retract all the way into the cover. Normally, I just guide it in and it retracts itself all the way in. This one leaves about 2 inches that I have to manually push in.

Anybody else have these cold weather issues? (CD player isn't cold weather related)

I haven't seen any problem with CD. I haven't seen that much cold/ snowy day this year yet and I don't have moon roof. But I do agree with washer being too low. And I want to add a squeaking problem after driving on a wet road. Have you experienced that?

[chrisj428]

Tideland,

As far as the moonroof creaking goes, the Camry's moonroof is a conventional design whereas the Prius' moonroof is of a panoramic design.

The conventional one is a cutout surrounded by metal. The pano one isn't a full-frame design and has to rely more heavily on gaskets for sealing. It's also more prone to flexing (and subsequent noise) by design. Nature of the beast, unfortunately.

(NB: You think yours is bad? Go drive a Pontiac G6 with the panoramic roof -- you can't hear yourself think in that car!)

[stream]

Originally Posted by Tideland Prius

1. CD player skipping: It's been skipping since I bought it. However, I noticed it will do so with MP3 CDs and not with store-bought CDs. I don't have any store-bought CDs to play in the CD player long enough to verify it (I had my friend bring one on the road trip but then again, my MP3 CDs worked for most of the trip too). Sometimes it just skips a few times, other times it skips continuously and other times to says "Unable To Read Disc". I'd like to bring it in but the issue is sooo random that I'm afraid I'll get the usual "we can't find the problem" from the dealer. I have checked my MP3 CD when i got home and I played it on the surround sound system for 5 hours non-stop and it didn't skip. I also had it in my smart for the past year and it didn't skip

I play MP3 and store bought CDs in the CD changer with no issues.

Having said that, in my previous car (BMW) the CD drive was a bit sensitive (also skipped on occasion), and the solution was to burn CDs at as slow a speed as possible, and I never had an issue after that. Give it a try.

[jburns]

Originally Posted by Tideland Prius

2. Washer nozzle aimed too low: My driver's side is aimed a little too low. The factory setting had it basically aiming at the driver's side wiper. That doesn't quite help. Had the dealer do an adjustment but I can't seem much of an improvement. I was expecting it to spray at least 1/3 up the windshield but it's barely making it over the wiper at its resting position

The washers are designed to work best when moving. The air flowing up the windshield spreads the solution up the windshield. If the nozzles were set higher the lower part of the windshield would not get get wet at all when moving.

[Tideland Prius]

Originally Posted by G3priusV

I haven't seen any problem with CD. I haven't seen that much cold/ snowy day this year yet and I don't have moon roof. But I do agree with washer being too low. And I want to add a squeaking problem after driving on a wet road. Have you experienced that?

If you're referring to the brakes, I think that's normal. Mine are squeaking.

Originally Posted by chrisj428

Tideland,

As far as the moonroof creaking goes, the Camry's moonroof is a conventional design whereas the Prius' moonroof is of a panoramic design.

The conventional one is a cutout surrounded by metal. The pano one isn't a full-frame design and has to rely more heavily on gaskets for sealing. It's also more prone to flexing (and subsequent noise) by design. Nature of the beast, unfortunately.

(NB: You think yours is bad? Go drive a Pontiac G6 with the panoramic roof -- you can't hear yourself think in that car!)

Good point. Thanks!

Originally Posted by fuzzy1

(1) No skips on my CD, after many many hours on a homemade WMA collection. But with a few hundred tracks on it, it takes about 15 seconds from power-on to making any sound.

(2) Now that you mention it, the washer nozzle does seem low, but so far not bad enough to bother me.

Thanks! Mine's MP3 though, not WMA.

Originally Posted by stream

I play MP3 and store bought CDs in the CD changer with no issues.

Having said that, in my previous car (BMW) the CD drive was a bit sensitive (also skipped on occasion), and the solution was to burn CDs at as slow a speed as possible, and I never had an issue after that. Give it a try.

I burned them at 8KB/s. I'll try the slowest speed then.

Originally Posted by jburns

The washers are designed to work best when moving. The air flowing up the windshield spreads the solution up the windshield. If the nozzles were set higher the lower part of the windshield would not get get wet at all when moving.

I suppose but on our 2005, if I spray while driving, the top of the passenger side wiper sweep doesn't get sprayed so it ends up wiping dry unless I spray again at the next traffic light.

[fuzzy1]

I burned them at 8KB/s. I'll try the slowest speed then.

That sounds like the compressed audio bit rate. You want the slowest CD burn rate, which is a completely unrelated parameter and should be in Mbits/s even at the slowest 1X rate.

[Bobsprius]

No problems with my CD's at all, but have had a share of them bad from when someone burned me some copies!

The Washers are OK, a little low but when your driving at highway speeds they are fine.

No sunroof but it doesn't sound out of the norm with some cars.

Tonneau Cover is just cold not big deal really...once your car warms up that is...but you could try a little silicone spray perhaps??

[Tideland Prius]

Originally Posted by fuzzy1

That sounds like the compressed audio bit rate. You want the slowest CD burn rate, which is a completely unrelated parameter and should be in Mbits/s even at the slowest 1X rate.

Sorry, I meant 8x lol.