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Undercarriage damaged now making extremely loud grinding noise

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by cruit, Aug 6, 2022.

  1. cruit

    cruit Junior Member

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    Yesterday there was tire debris from an accident and I couldn’t switch lanes and had to drive over which gave a loud smack but everything was fine and continued driving. This happened before and I was able to get new washers and get the plastic shielding back together. Now however it’s making a much louder noise when the engine kicks on that sounds like loud grinding. Not sure if I should troubleshoot on my own or if it got messed up and need to trade it in
     
  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Before we start talking trading in usually roll the sucker up on ramps or if you have a buddy with a lift lift her up and have a look a lot of times grading and grinding sounds are just plastic sitting against something that's turning etc on most of my prii. Most of that plastic that can do that is already gone I don't replace it because it doesn't really add to the gas mileage enough to be worth the cost of the plastics My under trays under each seat had about 60 or 80 lb total for all four of rocks in them so I was carrying 60 to 80 lb of extra weight that's a couple of babies for nothing that would hinder your gas mileage more than the aerodynamics of the trays
     
  3. cruit

    cruit Junior Member

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    thanks gonna roll it up and check. Have debated gutting the plastic completely last time this happened but didn’t want to mess with anything since I know very little about cars






     
  4. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    He's walking real slow we know dragging and loose plastic rubbing against wheels tires and drive axles anything that's rotating. Is probably not going to sound good and we should probably just get rid of it. Just seemed like that's a good idea or you can spend a lot of time with the silly fasteners trying to put it all back up to visit that a lot maybe glue it I just got rid of it didn't seem like a good thing all that plastic
     
  5. cruit

    cruit Junior Member

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    just got her up on some ramps turns out last time I got an oil change they just junked the plastic. Found the noise a metal bracket things weld broke
    https://youtube.com/shorts/5-tD_SlfL7o?feature=share

    Hopefully not an issue just makes a god awful noise

     
    bisco likes this.
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    happens to almost everyone, oil monkeys
     
  7. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    Not bad, one feller keyfob stopped working and he traded it in for a brand new car. Quick fixes are the best
     
  8. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Just get under there with a screwdriver gun and some short screws and put screws through the loose parts back into the parts that are still holding. At the same time, if you're hearing noises when the engine starts up, you might have other problems. Post pics!
     
  9. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Pull that mess off cut it throw it away Don't put more holes in the bottom of the car trying to put it on it's not doing you anything there anyway just chuck it
     
  10. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    That's your heat shielding for your cat... You definitely need to keep that. Some short screws through the shielding into the undercarriage will hold it in place.
     
  11. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    It's shielding the floor panels from a great deal of heat that is given off from the Cat... If you remove it and you live in a hotter part of the country, the inside of your car will be hotter and the undercoating with dry out and crack and fall off.