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Slight friction/grinding noise at moderate speed and slight left turn

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Eug, May 18, 2011.

  1. Eug

    Eug Swollen Member

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    Around the 100000 km mark I got my car serviced. They did work on the brakes at that time.

    Shortly after that I started noticing a very slight grinding / friction noise, but only when I had the steering wheel in a very gradual left turn, at moderate speed, say 20-60 km/hr. It was very intermittent and at times it was completely absent. I took the car in and they said they couldn't replicate the noise, but nonetheless they looked at all the brakes again. When I got the car back, the noise was gone... for a couple of weeks. It's back again, but milder. I only notice in gradual left turns at moderate speed, not at slow speed and not when turning right.

    At times I almost wonder if it sounds like wheel noise, but I suspect the noise is coming from elsewhere, some sort of mechanical friction noise.

    Anyone have ANY idea what I should look for? The first thing I'll do is top up the tires to 37 PSI all around just remove tire noise as a possibility, but I suspect it will do nothing. I will bring the car back in but I'm worried they'll just again say that they can't replicate the issue.

    I want to keep this car as long as possible. It's a 2004, but only with about 103500 km on it. However, issues such as this worry me as the car is no longer under any warranty.
     
    #1 Eug, May 18, 2011
  2. seilerts

    seilerts Battery Curmudgeon

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    It always pains me to read stories where an unnecessary repair was made, and the car was made worse in the process. Keep taking it back until they fix it.
     
    #2 seilerts, May 19, 2011
  3. striker308

    striker308 Three time Prius owner

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    sounds like a wheel bearing starting to go to me, when they put it up on a lift to look it over it took the tension off the wheel and let it move a bit away from the bad spot. my wifes buick was doing the same thing fro over a year before i found the problem. I'm not deaf but close acording to her but she has hearing like a dog so I didn't find the noise until much later and then had to eat crow for telling her she was nuts or hearing things.
     
    #3 striker308, May 19, 2011
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  4. Eug

    Eug Swollen Member

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    Hmmm... Is 100000 km early for wheel bearings?

    If it does have to get replaced, should they be replaced in pairs (right and left)?
     
    #4 Eug, May 20, 2011
  5. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    It is not necessary to replace wheel bearings in pairs. If the problem is a wheel bearing, the noise will get louder and become very obvious soon enough. It is certainly possible for a wheel bearing to fail at 60K miles although that is a short service life.
     
    #5 Patrick Wong, May 20, 2011
  6. Eug

    Eug Swollen Member

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    It came back with a vengeance and I took it in and wouldn't you know it, it became much, much less noticeable as soon as I got there. The mechanic came out for a test drive with me and wasn't sure he could hear it, until I had him drive the car. Then he noticed it.

    You guys were right. It was a wheel bearing.

    BTW, I didn't just hear it. I could actually feel it in the ride of the car when it got bad. When I got the car fixed again it actually felt smoother.

    P.S. The mechanic was the first Prius guy in the area (since a dozen years ago) and said he trained on a right-side drive Prius from Japan, which he got to drive on our local Toronto highways.
     
    #6 Eug, Jun 8, 2011
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