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High pitched sound normal?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Patty N, Nov 8, 2009.

  1. andreimontreal

    andreimontreal Active Member

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    So, I'd have to buy that unit entirely ... ? More $$$, I feel like I'm owning a boat already :LOL:. The good part is that I see nifty 3rd party replacements - this might be a nice worthy upgrade.

    Time to pimp some ...
     
    #101 andreimontreal, Oct 15, 2019
    Last edited: Oct 15, 2019
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  2. jacktheripper

    jacktheripper Active Member

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    head unit is where you insert CD and adjust radio station, I replace it with aftermarket head unit to get rid of the static + high pitch noise. You can even get a double din head unit with GPS + backup camera + Android OS for a few hundred bucks, fits and looks just like the stock JBL unit !!!

    Jack
     
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  3. Celanie Almquist

    Celanie Almquist New Member

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    Simply an extremely irritating whine for people with sensitive ears. My car didn’t do this when I first bought it (2013) now its constant.
     
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  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    have you had the recall done?
     
  5. Celanie Almquist

    Celanie Almquist New Member

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    No, what recall? And I brought it to the dealer for the sound and they couldn’t really hear it. They said they had their specialists look at it and they said the sound was normal. I feel like they would have told me if there was a recall that I could apply.
     
  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    You really mean constant? There can be a whine when you’re decelerating, more so if you’re braking too. But that’s not constant, just during the described conditions.
     
  7. Celanie Almquist

    Celanie Almquist New Member

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    Yeah even when I’m just parked with the engine running. It gets more intense when I accelerate and decelerate.
     
  8. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    It won’t be regeneration whine then; that’s only during deceleration.
     
  9. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Mechanics' stethoscopes are really cheap and if you have the sound while parked, it should be quite easy to lift the hood and tell us where your sound is coming from. That would help a whole lot when trying to pin this kind of thing down over an internet forum.

    On mine, the most prominent whine when stationary is from the throttle body. But that one doesn't really change intensity on accel or decel. It's also there as long as the car is in READY, even when the engine isn't running.
     
  10. Celanie Almquist

    Celanie Almquist New Member

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    When the mechanic that was working on my car opened the hood he said it was coming from the inverter area.
     
  11. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Everybody says that. Even here on this forum, people who have clearly been listening to the throttle body whine have not only said it was coming from the inverter, but have supplied elaborate invented explanations for why the inverter would make that noise. People are funny about their assumptions that way. I suspect it's because the inverter is the one big unfamiliar electronic thing, so it's natural to assume the unfamiliar electronicky noises are coming from it.

    What would be useful from the mechanic would not be "sounds like it's that area" but "here's what I touched with the stethoscope where it was loudest."

    But you don't need a mechanic for that, because mechanics' stethoscopes are really cheap, and then you don't need to take somebody else's word for it.

    One thing I've noticed about the throttle body whine is that, because the throttle body is in the engine's coolant circuit, and water conducts sound really well, a stethoscope will pick up the same whine when you touch pretty much any part of the engine cooling system. There's even a large pipe to a radiator hose located between the engine and the inverter (but part of the engine's cooling system, nothing to do with the inverter), and you'll get a strong pickup of the throttle body whine from that pipe. It will still definitely be strongest at the throttle body itself though.

    One thing you might want to do, just because we know the throttle body does make a prominent whine you can hear when parked, is start by taking your new stethoscope straight to the throttle body and listen to that whine. Now you'll immediately know what that one sounds like, and you'll either say "yup, that's what I'm hearing", or "nope, the sound I'm looking for sounds different in such-and-such way" and that will help you tune out the throttle body sound while you look for the other.
     
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  12. Hisepp

    Hisepp New Member

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    I'm in a new-to-me me 2017 Prius V with 55K miles, that emitts a high pitched sound (just like the sound an older tv would emit when plugged in, but turned off). The prius noise is around 15,000hz, and is constant. The noise starts about 45 seconds after powering up the vehicle and is present until sometime after it's been powered down. It does not change in volume or pitch and it does not change based on driving conditions. It's giving me terrible ear fatique that goes away at night, but starts up again within being in the car for no more than 5 minutes. This cannot be good for my ears.

    I do also hear the other high pitched noise that many are commenting on that happens during acceleration, and this is not it. That sound is of a lower freqency, and it comes and goes based on acceleration.

    A sound analzyer app on my phone also picks up an 18khz frequency that comes and goes...but I don't think that one bothers me, since I can't hear 18khz. I kind of think you have to attack the noise issue in this car at a time, since there are so many of them! I do see dynomat in my future..or a different car.

    I have an appointment w/ a specialist at the dealership to try to identify what is generating the sound. I'll post a follow up!
     
  13. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    sounds like the inverter, but who knows? if they can't identify it, post a recording
     
  14. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Earlier posts here mention how inexpensive a mechanics' stethoscope is, and how useful it can be for pinning down a sound, especially if it is present when the car is on and not moving, easy to pin down. Also makes it easy to learn the actual source of the sound that makes so many people say "sounds like the inverter".