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Undercarriage Cleaning

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by priusFTW, Apr 20, 2007.

  1. priusFTW

    priusFTW Gen III JBL non Nav

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    Hello!

    Yesterday i put my vehicle up on ramps to check my BT plate install and while it was up I thought i would give the undercarriage a good cleaning with a garden hose. There are two plastic panels, probably about 1/2 foot wide more or less, that run under the front and rear doors on both driver and passenger side. When I tap them with my hands, alot of sand and small pebbles came out, probably from the sanding of our roads in winter. Does anyone know how to give these a good cleaning to get that debris out? It appears there is a locknut washer attached, but I don't want to remove without asking here first. Any thoughts?
     
    #1 priusFTW, Apr 20, 2007
  2. bobc

    bobc New Member

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    They do come off rather easily. Be careful with the bolts as they are plastic and I seem to remember that they are not 10mm precisely so, the socket will spin...

    It is a losing battle tho. They pack up again with sand after the next snow/rain storm. I have resigned myself to just putting the hoze nozzle in at the end of the panel and a couple of the drain holes to rinse things out. Not too worried about the sand sitting on top of the plastic but more so the salt on the metal that's being covered up.

    Maybe I'll look at cutting a couple of holes in the plastic a key places to get the hoze nozzle in there...

    Cheers,
     
    #2 bobc, Apr 20, 2007
  3. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Another spot you might want to clean is in the rear wheel area. There are two "problem" spots that tend to love sand.

    1. If you look forward of the rear wheel, you'll see this plastic thing sticking out perpendicular to the wind flow. In front of it, you'll see a joint (not sure what the parts are). Shoot the water there and you'll see brown water.

    2. Inside the rear wheel well towards the rear. (near the mudguards if you have them installed). Shoot water in there and the water will come out the bottom of the rear skirt. If you haven't done so in a while, it'll take a good 15-30 secs before the water turns clear.

    Oh and and another is if you look at the rear skirt, you'll see a hole close to the rear wheel. Jet water up there and see how much sand comes out.
     
    #3 Tideland Prius, Apr 20, 2007
  4. priusFTW

    priusFTW Gen III JBL non Nav

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Apr 20 2007, 01:37 PM) [snapback]426834[/snapback]</div>
    Hey thanks guys for the response, it is greatly appreciated. I love to keep my car looking clean and running great! Kudos!
     
    #4 priusFTW, Apr 20, 2007
  5. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    wow... glad to know my post was clear lol. Oh and one more thing. What you're doing to the undercarriage near the doors, do the same for the wheel wells (front and rear). Of course, wear gloves cause there's a lotta crud in there.
     
    #5 Tideland Prius, Apr 20, 2007
  6. priusFTW

    priusFTW Gen III JBL non Nav

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Apr 20 2007, 02:04 PM) [snapback]426862[/snapback]</div>

    Well, I don't know if it is clear, lol, I am picturing it in my mind. Later tonight I will examine the areas you noted to make sure I'm perfectly clear.
     
    #6 priusFTW, Apr 20, 2007
  7. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusFTW @ Apr 20 2007, 12:07 PM) [snapback]426907[/snapback]</div>
    alright, sure!
     
    #7 Tideland Prius, Apr 20, 2007
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