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When I press the Power On button, I hear a slight grind

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by priusenvious1, Dec 26, 2012.

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  1. Paradox

    Paradox Prius Enthusiast / Moderator
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    Yes, he means if you fold the rear seats flat does it sound much louder like it may be battery/fan cooling etc related.

    Sucks because not being able to easily reproduce it seriously makes it fruitless so many times to waste a day or time at the dealership. I still say troubleshoot yourself and try to identify a location it is coming from before going to save them and mainly yourself time and headaches.
     
    #21 Paradox, Dec 27, 2012
  2. priusenvious1

    priusenvious1 Member

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    Yeah, I'll have to wait it out a little bit because of that reason. It happens maybe 1 out of 5 times I start the car or less. I'm hoping it will go away. Maybe it's the cold? Or something isn't lubricated enough?
     
    #22 priusenvious1, Dec 27, 2012
  3. Paradox

    Paradox Prius Enthusiast / Moderator
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    Oh, 1 out of 5 times is often. You can easily replicate that in what, under 2 minutes. Without knowing an area it is just so hard for us to begin to speculate honestly. Even saying the front, it helps but where in the front. Maybe have someone keep starting it and shutting it down and you listen/feel while narrowing down a location.
     
    #23 Paradox, Dec 27, 2012
  4. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    Yeah. Sorry about my semi-confusing wording.
     
    #24 cwerdna, Dec 27, 2012
  5. priusenvious1

    priusenvious1 Member

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    Yeah, when I give that ratio, its a guess based on my normal driving habits. But I'm not sure if I stay stationary and just start the car 5 times, it will work. It's totally random. Even as I took this video, the first two times, it made the noise, then the third time it didn't. The only thing that I can say that might (or might not) be the issue is usually it happens after a cold start of not running it for a few hours.
     
    #25 priusenvious1, Dec 27, 2012
  6. RRxing

    RRxing Senior Member

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    I was just taking a guess before the video was posted. While I know the brake booster pump engages when opening the door, there may be times, when there's a lot of ambient noise, where you wouldn't necessarily hear it until you're in the car with the door closed.

    The noise in the video sounds more like a relay to me, but Paradox seems to have put the kibosh on that idea. I'm out of guesses, so unless the OP takes the car to the dealer, we'll chalk it up as another Prius mystery sound.
     
    #26 RRxing, Dec 27, 2012
  7. JMD

    JMD 2012 Prius 4 Solar Roof

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    I'm not a mechanic and I own a hybrid Prius not a PIP. I recall during the introduction of the vehicle the Toyota guy said never power down the car while it is stationary in D always in P. I wonder if that noise is the car adjusting to being shut off in D and restarted
     
    #27 JMD, Dec 27, 2012
  8. Paradox

    Paradox Prius Enthusiast / Moderator
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    But if you shut the car off while in d it still engages p when you press the power button. There are many a person who skip hitting p entirely on the forums and just go straight to hitting the power button.
     
    #28 Paradox, Dec 27, 2012
  9. RRxing

    RRxing Senior Member

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    The Toyota guy is wrong. Powering down the car in D (or R) automatically puts it into P. You do not have to put it in P first.
     
    #29 RRxing, Dec 27, 2012
  10. priusenvious1

    priusenvious1 Member

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    That could be it! I do that all the time!!!
     
    #30 priusenvious1, Dec 27, 2012
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  11. Paradox

    Paradox Prius Enthusiast / Moderator
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    But like we said, countless others do it as well and do not get that noise. In addition, hitting start instead of P still engages P.
     
    #31 Paradox, Dec 27, 2012
  12. priusenvious1

    priusenvious1 Member

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    So it shouldm't be an issue? Or maybe it doesn't engage in P fast enough and it is still trying to engage when you put it back on.
     
    #32 priusenvious1, Dec 27, 2012
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  13. Les_PL

    Les_PL Active Member

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    Exactly - when pressing the POWER button watch carefully the P button LED - it will lit for an instant before the car goes asleep.
     
    #33 Les_PL, Dec 27, 2012
  14. Paradox

    Paradox Prius Enthusiast / Moderator
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    My previous post above. Others do it and do not get the noise, I do not when i do it, never had on 3 prius now.
     
    #34 Paradox, Dec 27, 2012
  15. priusenvious1

    priusenvious1 Member

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    OK. Well at least its a starting point. I'll engage in P and shut off separately for awhile and see if the issue arises again. If not, then I'll hit power to do so and see if it comes back.
     
    #35 priusenvious1, Dec 27, 2012
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  16. Paradox

    Paradox Prius Enthusiast / Moderator
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    That sounds like a very good way of testing the theory.
     
    #36 Paradox, Dec 27, 2012
  17. priusenvious1

    priusenvious1 Member

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    Yeah, I wonder why he said that.
     
    #37 priusenvious1, Dec 27, 2012
  18. RRxing

    RRxing Senior Member

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    Since it doesn't happen consistently let's look at some variables, such as:
    If I am playing music through my Zune (yeah, I have a Zune... :p) the radio is set to AUX. If left in AUX, on the next power on, I can hear a "somewhat" similar sound coming through the speakers, especially if the volume was left turned up.
    Just grasping at straws...
     
    #38 RRxing, Dec 27, 2012
  19. Paradox

    Paradox Prius Enthusiast / Moderator
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    I actually kinda like that idea as when I heard the noise it sounded to me more like a speaker buzz than a grinding noise. Another idea I had but do not know how it operates is the flaps or whatever they are which close/open for the air recirc, divert air from floor to top vents etc maybe making a sound like one is catching on something. I don't know if they move though for some reason when the car is powered on...

    Oh and don't feel bad, my wife has a Zune HD and absolutely loves it because of the Zune pass which for $100 a year lets her download as much music as she wants.
     
    #39 Paradox, Dec 27, 2012
  20. JMD

    JMD 2012 Prius 4 Solar Roof

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    I just remember him saying that the proper way to shut the car off is in P for Park ( not power mode) and if you shut it off in D for drive it is hard on the car and when you start it again it will make a noise. I just recall that in the new car orientation. It is worth a try.
     
    #40 JMD, Dec 27, 2012
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