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2012 Prius Hatch "Bounching" Over Road Bumps

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by simonman, Oct 27, 2015.

  1. simonman

    simonman Junior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2011
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    Location:
    Grand Rapids, Michigan
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Hello,
    I bought a 2012 prius 4 with 42k miles recently. The car is just too loud. I've determined the "noise" to be the rear hatch bouncing when I drive over small bumps in the road. The bounce creates an air pressure change that is just too unacceptable. I've milled the hatch lock mechanism's holes into slots to I can close the hatch tighter. This made a little improvement. My next step will be to add some gasket material on the hatch itself so it closes tighter. My slots allow the hatch to bottom out so I had to back off the adjustment a bit.
    Has anyone come up with a fix for this?
    Thank you,
    Dan
     
  2. bhyde

    bhyde Junior Member

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  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
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    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    it's not adjustable? never heard of it before.(n)
     
  4. David Beale

    David Beale Senior Member

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    Location:
    Edmonton Alberta
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    I'm betting it's the hatch floor storage bin and cover. Set the latches and make sure you don't have loose items just sitting on the plastic tray under the hatch floor. I use the rubberized mesh you can get for tool chests and kitchen shelving to absorb rattles and keep things from sliding around.
     
  5. simonman

    simonman Junior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2011
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    Location:
    Grand Rapids, Michigan
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Nope, I have added Boommat XL and under carpet lite to the entire car including all the spare tire area. It is most definitely the hatch bouncing too much. I have another test I will try at noon today....
     
  6. energyandair

    energyandair Active Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Victoria BC Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    On my 2010 there is a pair of black stops designed to engage each other at each side of the hatch, one on the hatch and one on the frame. The ones on the hatch are secured with one bolt and the matching ones on the frame are secured by 2 bolts with washers. Loosening the bolts on the frame (10mm wrench) permits you to slide the stop and adjust how tightly the door fits when closed.

    Adjusting these on my car made the car a lot quieter. It also seemed to be a bit more rigid.

    I assume that the 2012 is the same.
     
    Mendel Leisk and Eclipse1701d like this.