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pulsating humming noise and vibration around 60mph

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by julian chance, Apr 5, 2014.

  1. julian chance

    julian chance New Member

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    bought a second hand 2010 prius a couple of months ago. Between about 58 and 68mph I get a pulsating hum and slight vibration that seems to come from the front of the car. Each pulse lasts about a second then appears again in another second. It's there when going straight and worse if I go round a tight right hand bend and reduces round a left hand bend. If I lift off the accelerator it makes no difference. Any help greatly appreciated, my local toyota dealer says a break service might help, but I'm not so sure, is it more likely a wheel bearing maybe but the car has only done about 46000 miles?Thanks
     
    #1 julian chance, Apr 5, 2014
  2. kbeck

    kbeck Active Member

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    do not know... But if the pulsing goes with wheel RPM, the "take a turn and it gets worse" sounds like a CV joint. There's two to a side, one next to the wheel, one next to the transmission/gearbox. Unless you have $REDICULOUS mileage, it's early, though. These things last upwards of 150,000 miles under normal use.

    The CV joints have rubber boots that hold the grease in/keep the dirt out. If they get torn or damaged in some way, early failure can be your lot, which is why looking at the boots are part of normal inspections. Get the car up on ramps and feel around the boots near the wheels, since those are more exposed. If you hand comes back really greasy (not just the usual amount of road dirt), that may be your problem.

    Oh, yeah: sideswiping-style collisions can damage the joints, too. Was your car in an accident? If so, they may have skipped these on a repair, not a good idea.

    Medium expensive, if true, and the wheels and all have to come off for maintenance. The boots can be replaced, if caught early, but a worn/broken CV joint just gets replaced.

    KBeck
     
    #2 kbeck, Apr 5, 2014
  3. PriusInParadise

    PriusInParadise Member

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    I think a failing wheel bearing may be more likely. IIRC there were isolated reports of early wheel bearing failure posted somewhere.
    A noisy CV joint is usually torque sensitive, and would take a greater turning angle to make noise than what you could make at highway speeds.
     
    #3 PriusInParadise, Apr 5, 2014
  4. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    I believe I have the same problem... but my sound starts about 45 - 50 mph. I was thinking wheel bearing too, though there is no excessive play in the hub. Plus when I put my snow-tires on this winter it went away. Now I am thinking it might be my OEM tires causing the sound. They are really close for replacement.
     
    #4 spiderman, Apr 5, 2014
  5. frodoz737

    frodoz737 Top Wrench

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    Rotate and balance anyone?
     
    #5 frodoz737, Apr 5, 2014
  6. Former Member 68813

    Former Member 68813 Senior Member

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    I would say 99% chance based on the reported symptoms. Check left front wheel.
     
    #6 Former Member 68813, Apr 5, 2014
  7. julian chance

    julian chance New Member

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    Hi again and thanks to everyone who replied. Just thought I'd follow up on this in case anyone else has a similar problem. I took the car into my local toyota dealer and they came out on a test drive with me but the guy didn't know what the problem was and suggested a brake service at a cost of £100, about $140, which I declined partly based on the comments in this thread, I then took it to a different dealer but the road surface was so rough nearby that we couldn't hear the noise. So I took it to a third dealer who came out on another test drive and thought it was indead the front left wheel bearing. In the workshop he then used some sort of device, he described it like a stethoscope, to listen to the wheel mechanism after spinning up the wheel and this confirmed the vibration. Not sure why the first dealer couldn't have done that. Anyway they replaced the bearing free under warranty which was great news and the noise has gone away, he also said this was not an uncommon issue in the prius. Thanks all.
     
    #7 julian chance, May 14, 2014
    Jeffrey Jessup and PriusInParadise like this.
  8. tv4fish

    tv4fish Member

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    GOOD news for sure :)
     
    #8 tv4fish, May 14, 2014
  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Perhaps post the name/location of the dealership that finally resolved the issue?
     
    #9 Mendel Leisk, May 21, 2014
  10. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    I don't think he's from the USA but it would help others who uses the English Pound.
     
    #10 JC91006, May 21, 2014
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  11. julian chance

    julian chance New Member

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    that's right I'm in the UK. The issue was fixed by RRG Toyota in Denton near Manchester. As a Toyota dealership they supplied the car with a 1 year warranty.
     
    #11 julian chance, May 27, 2014
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