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Strange Humming Noise from Driver's side

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by harky, May 18, 2016.

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  1. harky

    harky New Member

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    Hi
    First time Prius Owner (Four) and bought this car 5 days ago. I'm hearing a strange humming noise with little rattles while driving the vehicle and it seems the sound is coming from the driver's side, but can't pinpoint out exactly where. The noise is like low pitch, constant (sounds like blurrrr....??) and lasts about 4-5 seconds then goes away. Most of the time, the car drives smoothly, but I hear this noise time to time. I don't know if this is a normal for a hybrid vehicle, but I'm starting to get little bit annoyed. The car is great and I couldn't be happier. Does anyone have a similar experience or know something about this strange noise? Should this be a big concern?

    Thanks
    Kev
     
    #1 harky, May 18, 2016
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  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    welcome! should be your brake accumulator. is it the same sound as when you open the drivers door?
     
    #2 bisco, May 18, 2016
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  3. harky

    harky New Member

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    Hi Bisco,

    What do you mean by ".. open the drivers door?" Do you mean when I shut down the engine and hearing a little motor sound while opening the door? If so, no. The sound I am hearing is more like low humming w/ slight vibrations (it's very difficult to describe but like something is spinning). It only happens when I'm driving on highways either accelerating or hyper-milling.
     
    #3 harky, May 18, 2016
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    do you think you could record it?
     
    #4 bisco, May 18, 2016
  5. 'LectroFuel

    'LectroFuel Senior Member

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    You probably wouldn't want to, but you could go for a drive with a Toyota service guy so he can tell you what is making the sound. Everything is under warranty right now, so it's better to get it fixed now than later.
     
    #5 'LectroFuel, May 18, 2016
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  6. harky

    harky New Member

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    Quick Update:
    I went to the dealer this afternoon and the service technician also heard the strange sound. He said this was not normal. I'll drop off my car tomorrow and they will check the car. Hope everything is ok
     
    #6 harky, May 19, 2016
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  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    thanks, please keep us posted. all the best.(y)
     
    #7 bisco, May 19, 2016
  8. Ben Little

    Ben Little Junior Member

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    I think I am also hearing the same sound. Appears to originate under or behind the steering column rather infrequently. I am not sure what it coincides with maybe acceleration but I'm not sure if it is acceleration with EV or the gas engine. At the moment I'm just chalking it up to some loose plastic in the dash. I drive the standard Canadian Technology level.

    I would be very interested Harky to see what your dealer found out.
     
    #8 Ben Little, May 21, 2016
  9. marcpablo

    marcpablo Junior Member

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    Easily fixed by dealer. Was causing a vibration noise. Here are the notes from the service report:

    CUSTOMER STATES THERE IS A VIBRATION NOISE COMING FROM THE FLOOR VENT ON THE DRIVER SIDE PLEASE CH ~|~CUSTOMER STATES THERE IS A VIBRATION NOISE COMING FROM THE FLOOR VENT ON THE DRIVER SIDE PLEASE CHECK AND ADVISE ~|~. ~|~2245 UNABLE TO DUPLICATE VIBRATION NOISE ON TEST DRIVE. FLOOR VENT UNDER DRIVER SIDE DASH RATTLE WHEN TAPPING ON VENT, ADDED SOUND DEADENING FOAM AND VERIFIED NO DUPLICATED NOISE REPAIRED
     
    #9 marcpablo, May 23, 2016
  10. Coast Cruiser

    Coast Cruiser Senior Member

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    I must be blind as a bat! Where exactly is the "floor vent on the driver''s side" located? Is it way up under the brake pedal, out of sight?
     
    #10 Coast Cruiser, May 23, 2016
  11. randomwalk101

    randomwalk101 DYI'er

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    I also would like to know. Need to tape it up :)
     
    #11 randomwalk101, May 26, 2016
  12. Coast Cruiser

    Coast Cruiser Senior Member

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    I meant to say: is the floor vent way up above the brake pedal? It's gotta be inside that lower dashboard area.
     
    #12 Coast Cruiser, May 27, 2016
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  13. Elt31987

    Elt31987 Active Member

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    Ditto
     
    #13 Elt31987, May 27, 2016
  14. soldierguy

    soldierguy Active Member

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    If it's the same vent that was making a buzzing sound on mine, it's a white plastic piece just to the left of the steering column, under the dash. Very easy to see if you get your head down there. A little foam tape on that, plus some between the smooth piece that covers the airbag, and the textured piece that surrounds the smooth piece, and all is quiet.
     
    #14 soldierguy, May 27, 2016
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  15. Ninobur4

    Ninobur4 New Member

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    Has same problem.
    I have happy news to report.

    I crawled under the dash on the drivers side. There is a black panel under the dash held by 2 screws and 2 clips. Those come loose easy and I let it dangle.
    The white plastic duct is made of thin plastic . I stuck some foam tape on the sides of it. The outlet is bifurcated into 2 ducts ( holes). I put some more tape in between the outlet holes. I buttoned it back up. The whole process took 10 min.

    I think that the thin plastic on the end of the duct was vibrating and the upper vent duct was acting like a horn amplifying the sound.

    At this point the vibration is gone!

    Dave
     
    #15 Ninobur4, Jun 20, 2016
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  16. Ziziwh

    Ziziwh New Member

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    Hmmm I have the same hum/buzz a d brought it in and service manager told me it was "normal" as there's so much going on in that area of car. Basically said it was typical of hybrids. Felt like he dismissed me because I was a new owner of a hybrid. It's worse now after three months and makes me dislike the car even though I'm happy with it otherwise, will ha e to check out this solution! Thanks!
     
    #16 Ziziwh, Aug 25, 2016
  17. Autoist

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    I get a slight buzz at times from the seat belt shoulder height adjustment mechanism. I can get it to stop by moving the plastic bits (around where you raise/lower) forward or backwards slightly, there is a very small amount of play.

    I also put a paper napkin in the sun glass holder to stop it from rattling.
     
    #17 Autoist, Aug 26, 2016
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  18. harky

    harky New Member

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    Latest Update
    My apologies for not providing any update since my last post. The dealer could not reproduce the same noise during the test drive in May 2016 so I decided to continue to monitor and hope that it would just go away.
    However, the noise is getting worse and I left the car to another dealer today and let it with them overnight. The noise is coming at certain speeds (30-70 MPH) when I'm slightly accelerating or maintaining speeds. The noise seem to be coming from the Driver's side dashboard/air vent area. The noise comes on and off, but lately, it is getting more frequent. One thing I notice that the noise appears after car is driven at least 10-13 miles. I've recorded the noise in my Iphone and I just uploaded them in Youtube if anyone is interested to hear the sound
     
    #18 harky, Jan 12, 2017
  19. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i couldn't hear much. could it be suspension related, or even the hvac vent doors moving?
     
    #19 bisco, Jan 12, 2017
  20. RCO

    RCO Senior Member

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    Sorry, couldn't detect the hum on either clip.
     
    #20 RCO, Jan 12, 2017
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