Rattle or Buzz on Passenger Side? Check Here:

Greg, back when you first posted how to fix this rattle/buzz, I had the problem too, but have never fixed it. Surprisingly, now that the weather is hot here, the rattle/buzz is gone. So evidently the pastic/metal expands, shutting down the rattle. I'll be anxious to see if this winter's cooler/cold temps bring out the noise; i.e. contraction. This is crazy, but I like that I'm not annoyed with it right now.

 

Yup, my rattle went away with the warm weather as well.

 

Warm weather was a lot easier fix than setting off on a foxhunt for rabbit holes (w/kudos to PhoenixGreg). Now, I have to hope for a very warm winter!

 

Back to Ethan's request for felted spacers in the hatch door:







You can see that I cut a strip about 2 inches wide to encase the upper spacer and then I cut a hole in the middle of that strip. Then I surrounded the spacer (remove with one 10mm bolt) with felt (clean it first) aligning the cut hole over the mounting hole in the spacer. Fold some of the felt behind the spacer so it locks the felt when it is re-attached. Just re-attach it to the hatch door and no more rattles. Do this to BOTH sides.
NOTE: you need a socket wrench to remove/re-attach these spacers

 

I just discovered another rattle that I thought was coming from the passenger side. It was the sliding cover on the console. Pulling it back 1/2" stopped it. It's inside the sliding part, not sure if that can be addressed but not closing it all the way got rid of it. (and I would have bet the farm it was over near the passenger door/glove compartment)

 

I've now had my car in 6 times to try and isolate/repair a persistent rattle coming from the passenger's side dash/A-pillar area. Here are some clips showing the specific noise:

(You get the idea!)

They have tried stuffing bits of felt-backed tape everywhere inside the dash. If you notice in the video, you can see the little cream-coloured plastic panel below the A-pillar window is sitting quite high, that's because there's foam mashed all under it!

The dealership has finally isolated that the problem lies with the steel outer fender panel, and how it is afixed to the chassis of the car. They will remove/replace the mounting clips for this panel and hopefully it will solve the problem.

Frustrating, but I am happy that my dealership is still working with me on this to get it rectified. Although I'd expect nothing less, after paying so much for a brand new vehicle.

-Iain

 

Canard: You can solve this yourself as I did. Get several clean rags such as old t-shirts or hand towels. You might need to cut them in half or possibly quarters. See the shots below of the upper passenger section just below the support hinge under the hood. What you are seeing are towels jammed into 2 distinct holes that go the length of the A pillar along the upper slant and the lower section. Either or both of these holes can transmit engine vibrations creating the sound you are hearing during accelerations.

Notice the jam tool I made which is a long handle flat screwdriver with felt (or some fabric) taped to the end so as to not damage the exterior of the A frame holes when you plug them. Now wad a piece of rag or towel and insert it in one of the holes. Press it up as far as you can with the jam tool and then follow it with another rag piece. Keep packing more rags. Repeat the process until the last rag is visible and won't go in any further. Do this for BOTH holes you see. Your irritating rattle/buzz will be gone.

 

Wow, thanks for the photos - I had read the whole thread and saw someone else did this, but I couldn't follow where exactly they were talking about.

I'll give it a try as a temporary fix, but as my dealer's still doing all this for free under warranty, I'll have them do it their way. I don't really like the idea of moisture-absorbing rags stuffed away in tight areas under the panels in our climate (snowy/wet half the year!).

-Iain

 

I understand your concern about moisture seeping into the rags. Here, it's not a problem as we are so dry most of the time. It really did stop the buzzing though. My dealer was clueless on how to prevent it too - I even told them of my solution. Maybe there's another way to muffle the noise using something that won't absorb or wick moisture - fiberglass insulation? Rapid expanding foam?

 

There is a TSB regarding this noise. The dealer fixed mine. It involves removing the little window. The TSB had photos on how to fix it.

 

Can you please provide the TSB number? My dealership doesn't plan on doing anything with the glass, so now I'm concerned.

Is this "puckering" where the panel pulls away from the glass the problem? Does everyone's car do this?

-Iain

 

I think a couple of members here had a dealership fix this problem but have no idea how it was done. All I know is putting packed wadding inside those hollow beams that are open to the engine compartment prevents the buzz. I've done it for 2 Priis now.

 

My dealership performed some kind of work (the details are sketchy) that involved removing the A-pillar window and replacing a panel clip behind the fender.

Whatever they did, I'm far more than relieved - the RPM-specific buzz/rattle is now completely gone. It only took a year and ~8 visits to get it resolved, but it's finally fixed!

...however, now that it's winter, everything else has started creaking and groaning.

-Iain

 

Thanks to Skilbovia, Phoenixgreg, and others for their input. I took the black plastic piece shown in Skilbovia's video out today looking for a dashboard rattle, I hadn't done this before because my rattle is not RPM related, it just rattles on rough roads. But I hadn't found it so I decided to block off the rabbit holes and clean out the V area.

I discovered a couple of things that might help anyone who decides to do this:

1. The little push pins that hold the flat black plastic piece on at its ends, one one each end, can be easily removed without breaking them. Push down on the little round pin in the center, that takes the tension off and it will lift right out.

2. If you want to get under the black flat plastic piece a little better you can remove the whole piece. Proceed according to Skilbovia's video then remove the two 14mm bolts from the passenger side wiper and lift it off. Remove the little plastic thing from the driver's side wiper to expose its bolt, take it off. You may want to check the index marks on the glass first so you will know where they are. Once you have the wipers off remove the remaining clips and the other push pin and take the black piece out (watch out for the cap on the brake fluid reservoir). It will fit past the hood hinges if you bend it a little.

3. Once you get the black plastic piece off you can get to the V and the rabbit holes a bit easier. You will see a rectangular 10 X 5 inch hole in the fire wall just above the V, if you stick your hand in it you can feel the top of your cabin air filter.

4. On each side of the hole down it the V area you will see vertical plastic pieces, their function is apparently to keep engine compartment air out of the ventilation system. They were the cause of one of my rattles. I stuffed foam material around them so they couldn't move any more.

That's one more rattle fixed.

 

Congrats on getting the cover plate behind the wipers off and then solving a rattle. How do the wiper arms come off? Did you think there was enough room back there for foam lining that could help muffle the sound transfer from the engine compartment to the cabin? I was thinking of doing that. I was also thinking of lining the backside of the front wheel wells to muffle the road transfer noise.

 

Take the 14mm nuts off, two on passenger's wiper one on the driver's. Then just pull them off. Driver's side is easy to line up and get back on with only one spindle; passenger's side takes a little fiddling with two spindles to line up, but it still only takes a few minutes.

Yes I think we have enough room to install some foam under the plastic panel, good idea.

 

Thanks Tom...I kept this information with my "Prius tips" and wondered about the wiper arms. With the plastic shroud off, maybe we can quite down the road noise transfer from the engine bay to the cabin using foam rubber. That would be sweet on long road trips.

 

Mine pulls away on both sides but I only have the rattle on the passenger's side. Thought I had it fixed with rags and foam rubber in the "rabbit holes" but it started up again a few days ago, it is now RPM related like everyone else's.

To late to get it fixed under warranty so I'm going to take some things apart and see what I can find.

 

Hey guys,

It turns out some of the posters were in fact correct on the source of this noise. Toyota just released a TSB on correcting this issue. TSB is # 0064-12, dated 4/16/12.

The TSB states that the upper fender retainer clips are the cause of the rattle. The fix is to remove the front corner window and remove the fender, in order to replace the clips with an updated part. Warranty time for the job is 3.0 hours.

Luckily, the only parts required to fix the problem are TWO new clips, part # 53813-47040, and they are about $2/ea. You may also need a "piano wire" for removing the window and some general weatherstrip adhesive.

This only applies to 2010-11 Prius before a certain VIN. My 2011 is affected.

 

Thanks for the update on the TSB. I'm comitted to my fix via the clean rags stuffed in the "rabbit holes". So far after a year, not a sound from that area.