1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

New Prius owner - Ideas on sounds(not knocking sounds)

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by chowdan, Jun 3, 2016.

Tags:
  1. chowdan

    chowdan New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2016
    2
    0
    0
    Location:
    Seattle
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Hey everyone! New to the forum, however long time lurker. I'm an avid hypermiler who used to run in a 2002 Honda Civic manual transmission. Average MPG on that car(City/Highway mix - located in Seattle so highway not always highway speeds) was 42MPG with maximum of 58mpg since running with an Ultragauge.

    The time came when the constant repairs on the civic was getting to me and I was ready to switch to something that can push my hypermiling skills to the max. Convinced the GF to allow me to sell our beloved Civic and get something a bit "nicer", especially since we have stable jobs(shes a nurse, i'm a software test engineer).

    Well long story short, after renting a 2015 Prius over the weekend for our minication, I was sold on it. Averaged(according to the internal MPG) 55mpg over 780 miles of driving(driving highway down to the oregon coast and back).

    Well just yesterday we made a purchase on a 2012 Prius II with 53k miles on it. We are now proud owners of the Prius family! I love the vehicle and am tuning the ultra gauge to the car! In the last 50 miles i've driven, I've achieved 51mpg!

    Anyways now that we are owners of it, I am hearing some noises that I'd like to get clarified as to what they are.

    The first one is when i start up the car and shift from P into D or R there is a "click" sound. This seems to occur everytime shifting and i'm not sure if its "normal". I hadn't noticed it until I had the windows down and music off. I'm not sure if its common to hear but I dont recall hearing it on the rental(though i believe music and windows were up every time i started it). It does occur with the engine running AND without it running, so its not the engine, but more like the shifting?

    The other sound that baffles me(again dont recall rental having it), is when i start up the car cold(i think its only when cold), I will hear a sort of chime, more like a spaceship "wommmmmm" sound. Its hard to describe, but I would say it lasts 3 seconds or so. It doesn't seem to happen when the engine starts. The first time I heard it, it was after i had shifted into gear and was backing out via electric only. The second time I heard it was when the engine was running as I was sitting idle in the driveway.

    When we bought the car, I had a mechanic run an inspection on the car. He said the only thing is the oil pressure sending sensor had a very small leak which should be addressed within the next 6 months or the next oil change(2000 miles away).

    I will try to get an audio capture when I get off work today and share the video/audio file with everyone. I'm more curious to know what is causing the sounds in case something needs to be address priror to major failure(firm believer in preventative maintenance than crucial maintenance).

    Thanks all - looking forward to being apart of the forum :)
     
  2. Munpot42

    Munpot42 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 12, 2012
    1,391
    543
    0
    Location:
    Santa Monica, Ca. 90405
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Welcome to the world of Prius and weird sounds, sounds like they are normal sounds, I know when you just get in the car some pump starts (has to do with the brakes, it's normal, a host of other sounds are normal also, but no harm in the audio capture, it might record something abnormal.
     
    chowdan likes this.
  3. RyanFlorida

    RyanFlorida Member

    Joined:
    Mar 14, 2016
    36
    70
    0
    Location:
    Clermont, FL
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Definitely normal sounds from the description. Sometimes before you enter the car you will hear that"spaceship" noise. It is the brake system charging since sometimes when you start the car and drive away the gas engine is not yet running to charge the brake system like in a regular gas engine car. The click could be the doors locking? The car automatically locks the doors upon shifting to Drive, but not Reverse (I think). It could also be the transmission shifting. If that click gets worse be sure to change the ATF.
     
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,781
    48,987
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    congrats and welcome to priuschat!(y) could the click sound when you shift be the door locks?
    hard to analyze sounds on the net, why not take a new one for a test drive, and compare?
    all the best!
     
  5. DonDNH

    DonDNH Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2004
    1,711
    654
    0
    Location:
    Nashua, NH
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Four Touring
    This click is probably the parking pawl disengaging. You'll hear a similar sound shifting into P