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Shudder on acceleration and braking

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Rivieraman71, Apr 2, 2020.

  1. Rivieraman71

    Rivieraman71 Active Member

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    Hey everyone so I have a slight shudder When I accelerate and when I’m coming to a stop. It happens at 18-21 mph and seems to be coming from the driver side. I’m not feeling it in the brake pedal or the steering wheel I’m feeling it through the seat. My first thought was CV axles but I checked both sides and there’s no play. I took the motor mount off of the passenger side and gave it a look over and it’s good, the dog bone mount is good also. Haven’t been able to get a look at the drivers side transmission mount because it’s under the inverter. Ball joints, wheelbearings and lower control arms are good also.
     
    #1 Rivieraman71, Apr 2, 2020
    Last edited: Apr 2, 2020
    NortTexSalv04Prius likes this.
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    how many miles on her?
     
  3. Rivieraman71

    Rivieraman71 Active Member

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  4. Rivieraman71

    Rivieraman71 Active Member

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    Also when I’m coming to a stop if I put the car in neutral it doesn’t shudder.
     
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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  6. Rivieraman71

    Rivieraman71 Active Member

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    So I had my fiancé put the car in drive and reverse with her foot on the brake while I watched and felt the transmission mount and it’s bad. So now my question is has anyone changed it without taking the inverter out? It looks pretty tight in there.
     
  7. SRQ

    SRQ Member

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    I had a shudder with my vehicle that occurred only in hot weather; it went away after I changed the oil, transmission fluid, ICE & inverter coolant, changed the PCV valve, and cleaned the throttle body.
     
  8. Rivieraman71

    Rivieraman71 Active Member

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    Mine has been going on for about a year now and have been chasing it and could never figure it out. Have changed all that you listed except inverter coolant but put my hand on the transmission mount while I had someone put the car into drive and reverse and I could feel a lot of play in the mount and I mean a lot!
     
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  9. SRQ

    SRQ Member

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    Might be something else then, because my shudder was engine-related and went away on its own after that maintenance.
     
  10. Rivieraman71

    Rivieraman71 Active Member

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    Mine you can feel it on the drivers side and when I checked for play in the mount you could see it too. It’s pretty excessive. Can feel how much the rubber bushing is moving around. I’m trying to get away with leaving the inverter in to change it but I don’t think there’s enough space.
     
  11. Rivieraman71

    Rivieraman71 Active Member

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    So I removed the inverter and replaced the transmission mount. The old one had a small hairline crack in the rubber and after replacing it the shudder is completely gone. Crazy how that small crack caused it 4523864E-F038-4365-889E-A29853174A44.jpeg
     
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  12. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    No doubt the crack is contributory, but what I first notice is how bent out of shape the rubber bush is.
     
  13. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    I replaced all motor and transmission mounts in an older Suzuki and it truly transformed the shifting action on what I thought was a worn out trans (had already done a fluid change plus additive which worked "OK"). Also once had an old Mazda 5-speed with worn out mounts and you could actually watch the shifter move about when reving the ICE. :LOL:
     
  14. Rivieraman71

    Rivieraman71 Active Member

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    Had an S10 that you could watch the shifter move when you hit the gas cause of a broken mount.
     
  15. Rivieraman71

    Rivieraman71 Active Member

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    I took the pic at an angle, that might be why.
     
  16. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    Ah, that is a shadow, then. The picture makes more sense, now.
     
  17. trailblazer

    trailblazer New Member

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    I owned a 2009 Prius for more than 11 years already. The second owner since it is off lease. It is always trouble free thus I really didn't have much opportunity to get my hands on it. Busy with work and family so it is always my wife who took it to mechanic next to his workplace for oil change. More recently though, probably since 134000 miles, it started to have intermittent shuddering before completely stop or starting at full stop. The issue would cured on its own the speed goes up more than 10 MPH, or if we turn off the car and turn it back on during the stop.

    The shuddering can be very bad. In the worst occasion it was like plowing the road and doesn't move at all but keep on shuddering during starting from complete stop. There's no diagnosis lights on dash except in such kind of worst scenarios the skidding light could come on flashing.

    The only thing that I can recall is that it had a broken wheel bearing at the passenger front during a road trip about 2000 miles before the issue developed and that was diagnosed and fixed right before this shuddering. This shuddering is still infrequent enough so dealer couldn't diagnose. Instead their technician came up with a recommendations that pretty much covered all the moving parts and tens of thousands of dollars to start with, even on places they previously inspected during oil change and found in great shape. So I understand why people upset called them stealership. : - )

    I have a OBD II scanner and couldn't find anything. A mechanic cleared the data approximately 1000 miles ago in diagnosis and there's no new data (DTC) to read. I'd prefer to start with the most likely and step-by-step to identify and fix the issue.

    Thank you all for suggestions!