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High Pitched Ringing When Turning the Wheel

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Hailey, Jul 15, 2020.

  1. Hailey

    Hailey Junior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
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    N/A
    Hello everyone,

    I have a 2008 Prius with 108k miles on it. It makes a high pitched ringing sound when I turn the wheel. It sounds like nails on a chalkboard and I'm determined to find the cause.

    The previous owner lived in Alaska; the dealership mechanic confirmed some surface rust, but he didn't take the noise seriously.
     
    #1 Hailey, Jul 15, 2020
    Last edited: Jul 15, 2020
  2. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
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    Two
    Sometimes a rock will get stuck behind the rotor dust shield on the brakes and make a loud screeching scraping sound.

    But lets see how bad it is under there. Turn the steering wheel all the way to one side and take pictures of the suspension behind the wheel then turn it the other way and do the other side. Lets see how corroded the suspension is please. Post the pictures here by clicking the upload a file button on the bottom of this box.
     
    #2 edthefox5, Jul 17, 2020
    Hailey likes this.
  3. Hailey

    Hailey Junior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
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    N/A
    Hi Edthefox5,

    Thank you for your feedback! I did as you suggested and while I was looking, I noticed that my passenger side dust shield is badly bent all the way around. It probably happened when the wheel was removed at some point in the past. I hope that is the cause! I've included some photos of the suspension. :)
     

    Attached Files:

    #3 Hailey, Jul 23, 2020
  4. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Vehicle:
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    Two
    yes thats probably it. Good pics.Well done.

    The suspension looks very good for its age and environment.Not to rusted. There's alot of wear on the brake rotor but no horrifying. The struts are toast thats for sure so you really have no shock absorbing going on so the car will be a rough ride.

    But lets look at the big expensive picture and what you must be aware of. The car is a very low mileage car for its age. In any other car that would be a great thing but on a 12 year old G2 thats not good at all for the hybrid battery the big battery in the trunk. Not the 12 volt battery the hybrid battery.
    Just about everyone and there brother is losing there G2 hybrid battery now as mostly just age and all of a sudden the car is not driven much. That's death to that battery that lack of discharging/charging cycle is really bad. Hybrid batterys driven very long miles daily last the longest. The car must be driven everyday at its age or the battery will really do poorly.

    My bought new 07 at 11 years and 110,000 mile started to fail as its my wifes car and she hardly drives it.

    So....be aware of the battery behavior keep an eye on the energy monitor on the MFD pay attention to how quickly and how often the battery tanks to p[purple bars and how long it must be driven to get it out of purple and back into blue bars.Also watch your mileage if your at 35 mpgs all the time that's not good that's stage 1 of that battery failure.

    What that hybrid battery fails the car is immobile. That battery must be rebuilt or replaced.$$$$. Just about every other post on this site now is a bad g2 battery.

    The big plus side is if you get that battery rebuilt good or buy a new battery you can get another 100,000 miles out of it easily.
    Read all the battery posts on this site. Were all going through it on the G2 forum.

    Sorry to bum you out but its the cars achilles heal at this age and you need to know.

    Drive that car!!!! keep the oil at the full line always.
     
    #4 edthefox5, Jul 23, 2020
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