2005 Prius dashboard sound during hot day

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by John Skyline, May 20, 2026 at 5:20 AM.

  1. John Skyline

    John Skyline Junior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 12, 2022
    7
    1
    0
    Location:
    Asia
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A


    Hi all, my lovely car makes this squeaky sound and it seems to come from the part where the windshield meets the dashboard. I can't pinpoint the exact area, has anybody fixed/solved this before? The car drives perfectly fine so i just want to make it more perfect. Much appreciated, thanks in advance.
     
    #1 John Skyline, May 20, 2026 at 5:20 AM
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
    16,878
    8,619
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    This probably is a servo motor sound, not locking into position. Stripped internal gear. They all do that over time, although yours seems really loud.
     
    #2 JC91006, May 20, 2026 at 7:33 AM
  3. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2020
    13,667
    2,476
    0
    Location:
    Durham NC
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    Base
    Does it change when you move the HVAC controls from your feet to face etc . Fro tecirc to fresh . Hot to cold as in lo to hi . If you hear any of this change as you enact control changes you getting to issue. Many times moving the controls rapidly through their paces May make issue stop . Then you have your answer and you know what can help prolong the pain . Things are hard to get to . Etc . Not costly parts today it's the labour .
     
    #3 Tombukt2, May 20, 2026 at 8:16 AM
  4. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2008
    28,307
    18,750
    0
    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    Take a look at this thread:

    No, that wasn't a mouse in the heater | PriusChat

    There are three such servo actuators, so first you have to get your eyeballs down there and pin down which one is doing it. We'll hope it isn't the one for fresh/recirculate (that's the hardest one to get to).

    In my experience, though gears can strip, that's not usually what's happening here. The actuator's position sensor gets electrically noisy. The ECU wants to hold the actuator in one target position, so when the position signal coming back bounces around, the ECU responds by moving the actuator.

    For a gen 2, be sure to scroll down to the later posts on page 2 of the thread, which give tips for the trickier access in gen 2 compared to gen 1.
     
    #4 ChapmanF, May 20, 2026 at 10:56 AM
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)