2005 gurgling noise under dash???

[ggarman]

Just bought a used 2005 with 56K on it.

Every once in a while, while I'm on the road, I will here a water gurgling noise coming from deep under the dash near the floor. I'm pretty sure it isn't the coolant pump pumping into or out of the thermos because I know the sound and this noise happens after I've been on the road for a while.

At first I thought it might be a plugged A/C drain hole, but the noise can happen while I'm just cruising along, not turning or anything. My next thought is coolant moving through the heater coil, but you shouldn't hear air bubbles like that in the coolant lines, right?

This is the first weekend after we got it, I'm going to be giving the car a real good inspection and maybe I'll find what it is then.

Is this a normal noise? It is fairly faint, have to have the radio off and windows up to hear it.

Thanks,
Greg

[Rangerdavid]

Actually, its me. Yup, ok, I'm busted. But it was me, I was under the hood of your Prius...

It may be one of the clogged drain holes under the hood just under where the windshield meets the dash. Check these, I've unplugged one before and prior I had hears sort of a sloshing sound....

Good luck.

[drifty1955]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ggarman @ Nov 9 2007, 10:12 PM) [snapback]537558[/snapback]</div>

Just bought a used 2005 with 56K on it.

Every once in a while, while I'm on the road, I will here a water gurgling noise coming from deep under the dash near the floor. I'm pretty sure it isn't the coolant pump pumping into or out of the thermos because I know the sound and this noise happens after I've been on the road for a while.

At first I thought it might be a plugged A/C drain hole, but the noise can happen while I'm just cruising along, not turning or anything. My next thought is coolant moving through the heater coil, but you shouldn't hear air bubbles like that in the coolant lines, right?

This is the first weekend after we got it, I'm going to be giving the car a real good inspection and maybe I'll find what it is then.

Is this a normal noise? It is fairly faint, have to have the radio off and windows up to hear it.

Thanks,
Greg
[/b]

I know exactly what it is. Someone home changed the radiator coolant on the car. My last car a new Nissan Sentra (owned like 4 so far) did the very same thing because I did a bad thing which is tried to dump & replace the coolant. I dumped the radiator and did not take out the thermostat so thought I could get away with it. I knew about the trapped air deal with this car so went carefully but: It really gets air bubbles if you try to replace the thermostat. It seems on this Nissan model any coolant change is a no no because its really really hard to get all the trapped air out. The dealer has a special vacuum device they hook to the rad to evacuate the air. It made a gurgling water leaking sound under the dash for about 3 weeks. Its coolant flowing through the heater coil under the dash with bubbles in it. Solid water flow is silent. I finally left the rad cap off and let it run for a while with the heat on for a while on a Saturday and it finally went away.Not sure how hard it is to change the coolant on our cars but I bet it has the same issue. The dealer can evacuate it, if its driving you nuts. Good luck.

[galaxee]

unfortunately for you, drifty is probably right.

never tried it that way but DH supposes if you turned the heat on high, defrost, all that, that the engine might keep running...

try to keep the engine running for about a half hour, basically. take the radiator cap off. can't guarantee it will work but it's worth a shot before heading to the dealer.

[Bear68]

Just to expand on Galaxee's advice, which is quite sound, try rising the front of the car on ramps or jackstands. Be sure to block the rear wheels. Air bubbles in the cooling system will obviously go to the highest point. Racing the engine will help increase the flow of coolant. Use a prop or a helpful foot to keep the pedal to the floor and the ICE will run at pretty much the fastest speed the ECU will allow.

[kenallwein]

If you can hear it behind the dash - then the sound is coming from the lines behind the dash.... The heater lines. As others have mentioned, you have air in your system. Easy steps first - cars are setup to "burp" themselves - this takes place after a heat cycle while the engine is off. Make sure your recovery tank under the hood is about half full of coolant, and the car should take care of the rest (it will need several of the cycles to complete the job). And remember - since some of the air is in the heater lines, you are going to need to run the heater.

Kenny

[ggarman]

Thanks for all the input!

I believe you are right about the coolant, I checked the coolant today while inspecting the car and the resivour(sp?) was empty and I took the radiator cap off and it wasn't filled to the rim. Added as much as the radiator could take, squeezing tubes and running the engine for a while to help 'burp' it and filled the resivour to the correct level, I'll keep an eye on the level for a while until it stops sucking it dry. Maybe next weekend tilt it up and run it open, we'll see how things go this week.

I've changed the coolant out several times over the years and yes if you want to do it right, pull both radiator hoses and thermostat and, if they exist or aren't corroded over, the plugs that are on the side of the engine block. Never had a bubbles issue like this.

I know the coolant was definitly changed because it is green, I was expecting red. It sort of ticks me off that it was changed cause I was hoping for the original to be in there with its long life and all.

I haven't done a search yet, but is the original coolant really all that great or is it just hype and one should never wait 100,000 miles before changing the coolant?

RangerDavid, so that was you under there! I thought I heard something scurry off this morning when I started nosing around.

Thanks,
Greg

[galaxee]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ggarman @ Nov 10 2007, 03:05 PM) [snapback]537749[/snapback]</div>

I know the coolant was definitly changed because it is green,
[/b]

yikes!!
get that crap outta your engine ASAP!!!

[Bear68]

Oboy! Again I get to agree with Galaxee!! :P

Factory long life coolant is red with a 30k mile life span. The NEW factory SUPER long life coolant is Pink and should NOT be diluted with water. The original lifespan is 100k miles until it has been serviced and then is 30k miles.

My personal preferance would be for the factory pink coolant changed every 30k miles. Best part is, although it is more expensive since you don't add water, you don't have to add water. basically that means no guess work as to the ratio of coolant to water. Simply add more pink until it is full.

[farrellcsun]

Hi everyone: i have an 07 Prius that i got into an accident and they had to replace the radiator. i've had the car back for about a week and noticed the gurgling sound everyone here is talking about. Since the radiator was replaced, i'm pretty sure that is the culprit.

it doesn't bother me enough to take it back to the dealer right away, so my question is: is it "hurting" anything having those air bubbles in there? do u think it's ok to just wait until the next regular service to have them look into it?

like someone posted earlier, it may just go away on its own after several weeks. Just not sure how serious it is to look at right away.

thx! -Farrell