1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

noise like loose metal scraping/rattling on pavement

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by dneafse, Oct 1, 2013.

  1. dneafse

    dneafse Junior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 1, 2013
    5
    2
    0
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    My 2012 Plug-in spontaneously started making a metal scraping/rattling noise in the middle of a low-speed drive around the neighborhood yesterday. Seems to be coming from the left front wheel area. I've checked thoroughly under the car and in the front wheel wells for anything that could be dragging/rubbing, and I can't find a culprit there. It occurs while coasting in EV mode, so not ICE/exhaust related. The car doesn't pull to one side or the other. Only 9K miles, so I wouldn't suspect a hub bearing or any other significant wear to be causing this.

    Possible clue or red herring: the dealer replaced the the left front tire and did an alignment two days ago, and the noise occurred within 15 miles of driving after that service.

    My searching on this forum came up with a possibly misaligned disc brake dust cover as a cause. However, this noise isn't a constant metal-on-metal friction, it really sounds like something is very loose and rattling around as the wheels are spinning. I'm ready to take off the front wheels for a closer inspection, but am more inclined to do that if folks think the remedy might be simple.

    Thanks in advance for any insights,

    Dan
     
  2. jdcollins5

    jdcollins5 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 30, 2009
    5,131
    1,338
    0
    Location:
    Wilmington, NC
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    If the PiP still has the plastic wheel covers, pop this off and check for something rolling around inside.
     
  3. dneafse

    dneafse Junior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 1, 2013
    5
    2
    0
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    No plastic wheel covers, but I think a screw or rock inside one of those would produce exactly the kind of noise I'm hearing. . . .
     
  4. sprtent

    sprtent Member

    Joined:
    Jan 31, 2012
    104
    75
    0
    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Will probably not be the case but check to see if the rod holding up the hood is properly secured underneat the hood.

    Does your PIP has wheel locks and the dealer gave the lock key back to you to store in a proper place?
     
  5. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2010
    7,668
    6,481
    0
    Location:
    Redneck Riviera (Gulf South)
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    First rule of troubleshooting:
    "Always look where you've been."
    The dealer did something, obviously. (The hood prop is one heckuva good long distance guess!!)
    Check the lugs and give the underneath side and the port side of the engine compartment one more thorough looking over.

    Why the front tire replacement and front end alignment at 9K miles?
    If all else fails (and this would be my very LAST resort!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) take the car back to the dealership and see if you can replicate the symptoms.

    Good Luck!
     
  6. dneafse

    dneafse Junior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 1, 2013
    5
    2
    0
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    While I'd love to blame the dealer on this one (had a slowly leaking puncture near the sidewall, and fixing it required two trips because they originally replaced the wrong tire!) , I took the wheel off this afternoon and found the true culprit: a tiny rock caught between the disc rotor and the thin metal dust cover. The rock was tricky to get out, because it was living in a little open space near the axle where the rotor is hollow, and only sometimes showing itself between the rotor and the dust cover. I fished it out with a pipecleaner.

    Thanks to all for the suggestions,
    Dan
     
    Mendel Leisk and sprtent like this.
  7. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2010
    7,668
    6,481
    0
    Location:
    Redneck Riviera (Gulf South)
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Great!
    Glad to hear it.

    As much as I like to bag on dealers (Especially Toyota and Motorcycle dealers!) it's good to hear that the problem is gone with no $$ having been expended.

    Good Luck!
     
  8. RickO

    RickO Junior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 6, 2016
    26
    8
    0
    Location:
    Maine
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    I heard a similar sound on my 2007 Prius - just like an exhaust pipe would sound if it's dragging on pavement, but nothing was dragging. Put it up on a lift and discovered that a heat shield had rusted and come loose, so was scraping against the exhaust. Removed it and that ended the noise.