Squeaking sound from wheels during rolling start/Brake Noise (merged)

[hansgrason1]

Originally Posted by Karalyn78

I have the same problem with my Prius. I took it to the Toyota dealership today and said it was the plastic hubcaps over the tires. They drove two other 2010 Prius's while I was there and they had the same problem. The guy told me "You aren't going to be the only one with this problem, we can usually lube he tire and the sound goes away, but this different." He said its a cosmetic problem, not a mechanical one, but agreed, it made the car sound cheap and was annoying. He'll be calling me in a few days with what the factory has told him that we can do.

Interesting! So, have you tested their (the dealer's) theory and removed your plastic hubcaps for a period of time and noticed that the squeaking has not returned? Please let us know!

[Dark_matter_doesn't]

I've had mine for about five weeks, and I recently put the wheel covers back on as part of a mileage check to see if they increase MPG. I started noticing the squeak this week and really heard the one-RPM squeak this morning on the way to work when I stopped for coffee. The squeak only occurs at low speed - it goes away as one speeds up above 10 mph.

I'll wait 'till I hear the noise again, then I'll stop and pull the wheel covers off & see what happens.

[hansgrason1]

Originally Posted by Dark_matter_doesn't

I've had mine for about five weeks, and I recently put the wheel covers back on as part of a mileage check to see if they increase MPG. I started noticing the squeak this week and really heard the one-RPM squeak this morning on the way to work when I stopped for coffee. The squeak only occurs at low speed - it goes away as one speeds up above 10 mph.

I'll wait 'till I hear the noise again, then I'll stop and pull the wheel covers off & see what happens.

There ya go! You ARE the man! Thanks for getting this news to us. So it "appears" that the squeaking may in fact be from the plastic wheel covers. Please keep us posted on this.

Also, was there any significant change in mileage with the wheel covers removed?

Thanks again!

[hansgrason1]

Originally Posted by Dark_matter_doesn't

I've had mine for about five weeks, and I recently put the wheel covers back on as part of a mileage check to see if they increase MPG. I started noticing the squeak this week and really heard the one-RPM squeak this morning on the way to work when I stopped for coffee. The squeak only occurs at low speed - it goes away as one speeds up above 10 mph.

I'll wait 'till I hear the noise again, then I'll stop and pull the wheel covers off & see what happens.

Yes, same with me, between 1 and 10 mph is when the squeaking is audible. Over 10 mph and the noise goes away.

Also, the "plastic wheel cover" theory would explain why the pitch and rhythm of the squeaking changes if you turn the wheel from side-to-side as the squeaking occurs.

[morpheusx]

Originally Posted by qbee42

Brakes do that. Most cars are noisy enough that you don't hear them. Prius brakes are worse than most since they don't get much use. You can clean the brakes by forcing the car to use friction braking. Find an open stretch of road, get up to 40 mph or so, shift into N and apply the brakes to slow down. Repeat a few times and it will wear off the rust.

Tom

Just wanted to re-itterate what he said. All braking systems accumulate lots of rust on the rotors, on most cars daily use grinds it off daily. The Prius brakes really don't get much use. Except in panic stop situations they will usually only engage at under 7 MPH not giving much of an opportunity for them to grind off the rust. Chances are if you hear them you probably have a drive with less stop and go and more highway use. In this case it would be a good idea to find a hill on your route and shift into neutral and ride the brakes down the hill. If you shift the car in neutral while driving do it at under 41 MPH (I don't recall the speed where you can over rev the MG1 and it may be 5 MPH higher in the gen 3).
(the reason for shifting into neutral is because the car is unable to regen from braking while in neutral.)

[SlowTurd]

Originally Posted by SlowTurd

try taking off your hubcaps and see if it goes away??

back in the old days metal hubcap used to make noises where the tabs held them on.


either use a little grease or maybe try some felt.




ps. if your hubcaps fall off don't blame me

[jrjrdinh]

the same noise occurs in my prius as well, i'd like it to go away but just plan to ask my dealer regarding it

[hansgrason1]

Originally Posted by jrjrdinh

the same noise occurs in my prius as well, i'd like it to go away but just plan to ask my dealer regarding it

Please share with us what your dealer tells you. Many of us have been disappointed with the dealers take on this problem. My dealer, who has been great diagnosing problems with previous Toyotas I have owned, couldn't find a thing because the squeaking did not occur while they had the car. (...and of course, a few hours after I left the dealer the squeaking started again...ugh!)

[Dark_matter_doesn't]

Folks, it's the brakes. I had the squeak this morning, stopped & took off the wheel covers & the squeak persisted. I then tried the brake cleaning approach raised earlier in this thread of speeding up, shifting to neutral and performing a rapid (not emergency!) stop. A couple of cycles of this made the squeak go away.

So, the tentative prescription is to do the "brake clean" process about once a month or when low-speed, 1 RPM-ish squeaking is heard.

FWIW, I learned that I had to do a few panic stops on gravel in my Integra every few months just to exercise the anti-lock brake system. This avoids a rather expensive maintenance for cleaning/clearing the valves in the system. This wasn't in the manual, just something that could be done by a knowledgable owner to maintain the vehicle. The Prius brake clean process falls into that same category.

[HI MPG]

I have had the wheel covers on my car since the day I bought it. I have not heard any squeaking from them until yesterday. I was driving out of the parking garage at my work, and the squell started... I opened the moonroof and the noise seemed to be coming from the passenger front. After driving more "traditional" cars for the last few years, the squeaks sound exactly like the noise emitted from brakes when they are rubbing against the sensor pads. Like others, the noise only seems to happen at low speeds and goes away after about 2 minutes, or above 15 MPH.
As this was the first time, it was quite shocking... especially from a new car. I'll have to listen again today to see if it happens.