2010 Prius V steering clunking noise

Yes, I agree w/you.. in this case, the service advisor IS a veteran.. I'm not sure why he acted the way he did w/me.. it's not the first time.. but I've overlooked it in the past. I was really surprised that the service manager didn't call me to discuss. I had a pretty good relationship with him to that point. I get that he will stick up for his guys.. but this one really steamed me. Being a customer, I was just not used to that sort of treatment when I was asking questions. Especially when I was expecting him to tell me the car was ready for pickup, and I get the $2400 quote instead. Apparently, my expectations on the previous visit were clearly unrealistic.

Thanks Again for your note and info.

 

yea, that seems to be the way it works out.. turns out the leak is more like a 'weep' and is common.. I've seen NO oil on the ground. It was flagged when in for regular service. Apparently, they mis-informed me of the source, so why the shock when I brought it back for the bombshell quote. I didn't exactly appreciate the extra trip back for that.. (juggling transportation etc.) The whole entire thing was just weird.. and that clunk in the wheel.. I've mentioned it twice and apparently, that weep was what they focused on. One would think that they could be a little more informative about the issues since my guess is they know most all of them by now. (?)

 

Yes it is very easy. There are a couple of plastic nuts that hold the cover down. those popped off.. maybe some kind of flat screwdriver - I don't remember exactly. There is a U-joint on the bottom end of the intermediate shaft and it has a basic hex head bolt. On my car, that is what needed to be tightened.

you can put a finger on the corner between the joint and axle and turn the steering wheel back and forth and try to notice the motion or listen for the noise. It is possible that your car has a different problem so if that joint isn't the cause maybe you will have to do the whole intermediate steering axle.

 

Thank you for your note and for the info.. I'll see if I can get a peek down under and see what I can see.. I'm pretty certain this is the cause of the clunk.. the front end components all see to be in order.. alignment good etc.

 

Hey folks,

Just a quick update on the clunk.. I asked the dealership to look at it a while back when I had it in for the pre-winter service..
I guess they found loose and worn bolts down at the intermediate shaft.. They replaced and tightened the bolts to spec and all is well.
Since they couldn't actually offer me an estimate until they took it apart, they went ahead and fixed it and charged me $150.. She said it technically should have been $190 (or something like that) but they just charged me the $150 which I was more than happy with. Most of the cost was the labor.. as the bolts certainly didn't cost that much. It's nice to drive the car again without the clunk..

Now to address the timing cover leak. (apparently an engine R&R) but not until next spring.. assuming we keep it that long..