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Clicking Sound on Regen Braking

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Notquiterite, Feb 17, 2017.

  1. Marcius

    Marcius Junior Member

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    Was wondering, did the noise come back?
     
  2. Marcius

    Marcius Junior Member

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    How's it holding up?
     
  3. Marcius

    Marcius Junior Member

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    How's this holding up?
     
  4. Marcius

    Marcius Junior Member

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    How's this holding up?
     
  5. Marcius

    Marcius Junior Member

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    Wondering, anything new on this?
     
  6. Marcius

    Marcius Junior Member

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    I'm hoping that MP grease, and the "Toyota Body Grease W" application in the repair manual will solve the problem. My guess is that the dealer replaces the whole axle, in case there was a co-existing problem with a CV joint that could fail, so they have to be safe for legal reasons.
     
  7. Marcius

    Marcius Junior Member

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    I just re-read every post in this thread. I apologize if I've asked questions that have already been answered -- it's a lot to go through. What I gather is that these axles somehow are pre-maturely making terrible noises, and that replacing them usually results in the noise coming back far too soon! It's not clear if this is a safety issue.
     
  8. Elektroingenieur

    Elektroingenieur Senior Member

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    If you were in Japan and wanted a 1 kg can or 16 kg pail, you could order from TRUSCO or one of the other well-known MRO distributors. Elsewhere, it’s probably best to buy the small package from a Toyota dealer.
     
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  9. Marcius

    Marcius Junior Member

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    It sounds like you got a new axle put on? How is it holding up?
     
    #289 Marcius, Oct 29, 2020
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2020
  10. Marcius

    Marcius Junior Member

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    Ordered the $43 "Toyota Body Grease W" today, and a new axle nut. I also bought other necessary small parts, in case I pull the axle from the tranny. If this doesn't work, then I'm thinking about buying an after-market axle, if indeed, it's one of the CV joints. How much worse can it be vs. the new OEM that seems to fail anyway?
     
  11. Marcius

    Marcius Junior Member

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    Update: I pulled the front drive shaft assembly. There was very little grease where the TIS manual says to apply it. So, I was hopeful that greasing it would fix the noise. Well, I'm disappointed to say that it didn't help at all. So, for now, I'll live with it, and consider replacing the drive shaft with either an OEM or after-market one.

    Before I went the route of fixing this myself, I took it to the dealer for a Hail Mary. They wanted $165 to diagnose the problem. If they can confirm the problem as per the obsolete TSB, then they would need to call Toyota Corp to see if I'm covered. (I'm 10k miles out of the warrant period.) So, to potentially save $165, I went home and called Toyota Corp. They said that I have to pay the $165 and get the problem diagnosed before they can JUST TELL ME if I'm covered! All I wanted was a yes, or no and I'd be on my way. You can imagine the back-and-forth I had with them. I had to work really hard to get the girl on the phone to say, "No, you won't be covered." Are they that desperate to shake me down for $165?
     
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  12. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Interesting and a little surprising that the grease didn't help.

    I had my wife's '17 trim 2 in the shop and they spent half a day trying to figure it out. They finally decided that it just makes that noise because they couldn't find anything wrong. My '17 Prime also makes some clicks, but not quite as much as the Prius. So, I will just monitor and, if it gets worse, I'll take it back and maybe then they can find something.

    Oh, by the way, my dealership said that since they didn't actually fix anything, they weren't going to charge anything.
     
  13. Marcius

    Marcius Junior Member

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    Does your Prius fit the symptoms in the TSB? If so, then did you show them the TSB? Although the TSB is obsolete, the underlying problem didn't just go away. If your car is still under warranty, then maybe they don't charge for diagnosing. Also, I'm not sure how motivated they are to find problems when the car is still under warranty.
     
  14. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    I didn't need to. They had it already printed out when I talked to the tech and he showed it to me.

    They like money from Toyota just as much as money from you & me. They get paid either way.
     
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  15. Ranko Kohime

    Ranko Kohime Member

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    I'm curious if anyone has experienced the CV joints failing?

    Mine started clicking around 30-40k, and now with 254k, they're clicking slightly more. :whistle:
     
  16. Marcius

    Marcius Junior Member

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    Since nothing else is the obvious problem, then I think the only way to rule out the drive shaft is by replacing it.
    I'm not sure of any other way.
     
    #296 Marcius, Nov 17, 2020
    Last edited: Nov 17, 2020
  17. Marcius

    Marcius Junior Member

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    IMO, if one of your CV joints started to fail at 30-40k, and it didn't have a catastrophic failure by 254k, then it's likely something else. Some people here are getting brand new axles just to have the clicking noise quickly reappear. I would love to know why Toyota would release a TSB just for this issue, then later obsolete the TSB. I asked Toyota Corp this question, but I just got a silly line of BS about TSB's in general. I'm a little concerned that if it's not the drive shaft, then it's something in the transmission/regen braking system.
     
  18. Ranko Kohime

    Ranko Kohime Member

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    I personally inspect the shafts whenever it's on the lift at the tire store, and they both have rotational slop which has gotten progressively worse. The sound they make when turned by hand (with the transaxle side held stationary) is the same, so I think they're just prone to developing slop. :rolleyes:

    ETA: And here's my theory on what's happening: since the motors are AC, in between the phases at low speeds the motor drops torque for a few milliseconds, just long enough to allow the shaft to rotate enough so that on the next phase it snaps the shaft back. This could also be happening in the planetary gear set, or the differential, but I would expect it to be more muffled if that were the case.
     
  19. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    I was about to say the same thing. Bot our cars make that ame sound when playing with the wheels with the front end up in the air. I have no idea if they are getting worse, but my wife's '17 Prius with just over 20k miles feels just like my '17 Prime with 46k miles.

    I seriously doubt this. The motors are three phase. There is no dip in current or voltage between phases. When any two phases are at 50%, the third one is at 100%. so the power is extremely smooth, especially compared to single phase motors. The 4-stroke piston engine is the one that produces the pulses in the drive train.
     
  20. Marcius

    Marcius Junior Member

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    Toyota must know what this common noise nuisance, maybe safety issue, is.
    I suggest everyone with this problem to call Toyota Corp at 800-331-4331. I'd be grateful to hear what each of us can learn. I will start calling them every day until they give me some information. For reference the TSB is T-SB-0157-18.
     
    #300 Marcius, Nov 19, 2020
    Last edited: Nov 19, 2020
    JasonB121 likes this.