Fix 2010/2011 Prius Rattles for 99 cents (Neat Version)

I bought my 2010 Prius in March, 2010. After about 8 months of quiet ride, I noticed some rattle noise in the winter. After reading many ideas from Priuschat and several tries, I found some simple and neat solutions to fix those common rattle problems.

Material and Tools

IKEA FIXA self-adhesive pads (99 cents). If you couldn’t find this product, you can look for some rubber instead. The thickness is about 3mm.

Scissors and flat head screw driver (I’m using swiss army knife)



1. Hatch Rattle

Symptom: When Prius is running on bumpy road, you will hear some kicking noise from the hatch area.

Reason: I think this is the most notorious rattle in Prius G3. This noise is caused by the design of lower rubber stopper. The two steps on the top have gaps with the hatch frame. When the hatch door is closed, the steps on the rubber stopper are not fully compressed. When the rear of car body is twisted (due to the big opening of the hatch area), rattles come out.



Solution: phoenixgreg’s post gives me the idea.
http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii-2010-prius-main-forum/68184-rattle-tailgate-3.html



I tried his solution. It works, but the self-adhesive pads will come off from the upper side spacers after a rain or snow. After that, I found another way to have the same effect.

1. Cut a small pad of IKEA FIXA into a 15mmX10mm rectangle for each step on the rubber stopper. Make 4 of them.
2. Insert the rectangle into the gap between the hatch frame and step.
3. If you still can hear rattle noise after you insert 4 rectangles, add 1 more on both sides.

2. Center Console Rattle (“the Bridge”)

Symptom: Creaking noise from the bridge

Reason: Another common rattle, another design problem. The G3 has a bridge style center console. Actually, I like this design very much. My right leg can lean on the bridge when I’m driving. G2 doesn’t have that feature.

But here comes a new problem. Maybe I have a heavy leg or something. I found the center console is not centered after having the relaxed driving style for a half year. And at this time, the creaking noise came out.





Solution:

1. Stack two or three large pads of FIXA (depend on the gap size)
2. Squeeze the stacked pad into the gap and make sure the pad has been compressed.
3. You can insert more pads to get better isolation result.

3. Glove Box Rattle

Symptom: kicking noise from the glove box

Reason: Thanks to phoenixgreg again. I haven’t realized the glove box rattle before reading his post.
http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...18-cause-lower-glove-box-rattle-revealed.html

The warning really scared me. I don’t want to break something to fix this rattle. But the photo of mechanism exposed the problem. If we can add more resistance to the end latch from outside, then we needn’t to open the glove-box assembly.



Solution:

1. Cut a small pad of FIXA into a 10mmX20mm round corner rectangle for each end latch. Make 2 of them. If you also experienced the upper glove box rattle, make 4 of them.
2. Squeeze the rectangle by using flat head screw driver into the small opening around end latch.

4. Rear Seat Rattle (Vent Area)

Symptom: kicking noise from the rear seat and vent, when the car is making right turn or on some bumpy road.

Reason: This rattle may only affect to the users who have clazzio seat cover in their Prius. Since the clazzio seat cover is a little bit thick, the width of backrest with clazzio seat cover is larger than the cloth cover. The right side of backrest will press the plastic cover of rear vent, when the car is making right turn.



Solution: Insert small pad of FIXA under the plastic cover.





The END

Prius is a comfort and quiet ride, but the interior has too much hard plastics and Toyota designers forgot to put enough soft pads to isolate the rattles.

I'm sure Toyota can make rattle-free prius. They just need some IKEA FIXAs.

Nice job. I get a hatch noise when it's cold in the winter, so if it comes back, I'll try your fix.

Good pictures, I have already done the glove box and the center bridge pretty much the same way as you. I'll try some of the other things. Keep us posted.

No rattles for me but................

it was 106f today!

By far, the noisiest part of my 2011 is the freakin' wing. It rattles horribly. I used a high density foam sheet, cut a small rectangle out, folded it a couple of times, and wedged it under the wing... rattle solved.

I made Carzone's post into a pdf file if anyone wants it.
http://we0h.us/Prius/Prius-Rattle-Repair-Gen-III.pdf

Mike

This thread needs to be sticky with PDF attached in the first post.

Great pics and suggestions, Carzone! I hope your solutions last when winter comes. Yes, it's the plastics rubbing that cause the creaks and ticks. If Toyota would use softer plastics, the problem would be solved.

My friend just purchased a Lexus hybrid. What a difference in the interior design! Now there Toyota used more pliable plastics and it makes a huge difference for a quiet interior. Of course, the Lexus is another 10k and the mileage is not as great (best he can get is 40 mpg).

Thank you! Your posts inspired me a lot.

I will keep updating the status when winter comes.

What about rattles from a 350 watt subwoofer? Certain frequencies it sounds like all the plastic parts are going to fall off.

The most annoying (sans bass) is the console. Will definitely try these, thanks.

Very nice job there, OP! I think I'll do this next time my local Ikea offers a free breakfast grub offering or "kid eats free" day. :hungry:

That's when you take your interior apart and put lots of RTV on the plastic parts that could rattle

Mike

Very nice job on the OP. Although all the rattles so far have been caused by me, myself and I, I'll keep these fixes in mind if they ever surface.

very good info here...unfortunately i have the dreaded dash display rattle that has devleoped. i thought maybe from some of the other members here my rattle was coming from the same place (lower section in front of the hsi display). however it isn't it's coming from the top portion rt corner where the dash material and some other piece meet.

One other known culprit that I haven't seen mentioned here is the license plate frame and/or license plate. A member thought the rattle was coming from inside the car when in fact the rattling was in the license plate area.

Our 2010 Prius has developed a *nasty* rattle on the passenger side that seems to be coming from the mid-level vent. At first I thought it was the glove box doors, and I'll try the fix for them, but it also appears that the vanes in the vent rattle in cold (sub-freezing) weather. The dealer was, of course, unable to replicate it in 42 F degree weather. Are there any fixes for vent rattles? I've considered a 5lb sledgehammer, but that will be the last resort.

I guess I am lucky. 53500 miles on an early 2010, rattle free!

Are you running chassis braces and a rear swaybar? I firmly believe the Prius loosens up from the chassis flex. Other cars do the exact same thing but a car with well designed chassis braces installed when the car was brand new, won't get the squeaks & rattles. Severely rough roads surely will reek havoc on any vehicle, but good chassis braces will help keep a vehicle from falling apart easily

Mike