Prius (2010-12) :: Vibration Coming From Trunk Area At Highway Speeds On Concrete Roadways
May 7, 2012
2012 Prius Five- Had an annoying vibration coming from the trunk area at highway speeds- especially on concrete roadways. First thought was the problematic rear license plate/frame that I've read about- so I used some felt pads around the rear plate & frame but still had the annoying vibration ad highway speeds. Over the weekend I had some spare time so I started poking around in the trunk area by rapping in several areas with a heavy hand till I heard the same (or similar frequency) vibrating sound.
Eventually I was able to isolate it to somewhere under the rear deck. I removed the carpet, then plastic deck then even the spare, etc., Found it was actually coming from the sheet metal box that surrounds the connections coming from the car and relays to the hybrid battery box. Seems the metal edges of that small connections/relay enclosure were just touching the battery box metal enclosure just lightly enough to vibrate under certain conditions. But how to fix?
To make a long story short- I disconnected the 12v battery, removed the black exhaust duct over small metal cover, removed the battery cooling fan intake shroud, then two annoying orange lock rivets, then a few 10mm nuts and one 10mm bolt- and finally the metal connection/relay cover came off.
Once off- I used black electric tape to line every seam where that metal cover touched the battery box metal cover or car frame- I then lined the battery box metal cover the same way in the areas where the connection/relay cover mated on it. Reassembly was the reverse of disassembly. Upon ride to work this morning- vibration was 100% gone- fixed!
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So I already changed the Driver Side upper Control arm. But there is still squeaky noises coming from the trunk area, esp at low speeds going over small hills and small pot holes. I saw this is common on our cars and wanted to know which parts were to be replaced. At 110k, is it worth repairing piece by piece or should I do the shocks, ball joints and such at once.
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My new Sonata Limited 2.4 has 17" wheels and Kumho tires. On certain rough concrete, or more often asphalt road surfaces, at highway speeds, this car is so noisy that one can hardly carry on a conversation. It's terribly loud. Dealer has "checked" it, and tire dealer has looked at the tires. No problem has been found. What can be done about this?
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The vibration is coming from the rt front corner of the dash area near the small side window the left side also vibrates at times also seems temperature related the person had found the vibe best i remember it was a thin fender support ..
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I have just over 11K miles on my 2011 and now notice steering wheel vibration & slight shake at 70 mph. The passenger can also feel it.
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I bought 2012 Prius ii around 6 weeks ago. From day one I started noticing vibrations in the steering wheel most noticeable at highway speeds. I can describe this as high frequency vibrations that become very very annoying especially if you drive to work for an hour every day. This car has OEM Bridgestone Ecopia EP 20 tires. I took the car to the dealership twice already, they balanced the tires twice and road force tested it twice. They replaced front tires for me because based on the test results one tire was at 16 lb the other one at 19 lbs.
The new tires are at 8 and 10. They keep on telling me that this is by design and is a characteristic of the vehicle. However the Prius I test drove when I was buying it did not have this problem, otherwise I would never buy it. This vibration happens in any mode and I can even feel it at lower speed now though it is not as noticeable. I had a few people including Prius owners drive my car and everyone feels the vibration. With so many Prius models sold I highly doubt that everyone just accepts it as a feature.
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Having trouble with a shimmy at 65-75mph .....
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The temperature has dropped down into the 30s here and in my 2011 Gen 3 Prius, when I am driving at highway speeds (55mph-75mph), and go over any sort of light bump or rough road (gently rough, nothing significant just normal "imperfect" highway bumps), there is a rattling sound coming from the front of the dashboard where it meets the windshield that can only be described as the same sound that your hand makes when it's rubbing a balloon! Not your normal plastic random rattle, but like "rubbing a balloon with your hand quickly" sound.
I don't mind that other plastic random rattles from time to time (I am not OCD about the imperfections of how much plastic is in the car), but this is obnoxious and I feel like I'm literally driving a clown car. Is there some sort of lubricant or adhesive that is between where the dashboard and windshield meet that has possibly dried out, that the dealership could quickly fix or apply? I'll still under full warranty at 22k miles.
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I just got my new 2013 Persona Prius on Saturday. I haven't put too many miles on it (under 200) but I'm noticed that a feel a stuttering or hesitation when I reach highway speeds. Typically about 65 -70mph. I can't think of a better way to describe this but it feels like the when driving a manual transmission, when you need to shift to the high gear? That kind of stuttering feeling. I'm sure that it's not the same problem but it feels like that. Once I go faster, the feeling stops. Or slower. But going between 65 to 70, it's the same feeling.
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What are the most and least optimal times to use cruise control at highway speeds?
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Driving down the highway I notice the car is fine on asphalt and any flat pavement but on grooved concrete highways I feel the car "wiggle" aka trammel. It has yokohama avids for tires on 15" rims and I am questioning if others have noticed this or if its my tires causing or should I look into suspension issues. This also happens on my Taurus which is heavier and bigger/wider tires and I know the suspension is tight on the taurus.
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I recently parked my 2013 Prius in a concrete parking structure near LAX for 8 days. When I returned, the battery was dead - car was completely nonresponsive. AAA had to "resync" the hybrid system along with jumper cables to get me going. The technician said it was because the concrete drained the battery. I have previously left the car in underground garages for longer periods of time with no problem. Is this an urban legend?
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For a while I had been having vibration at between 60-80mph I think I mentioned it in a thread before too. Well anyway when I got my 30,000 mi check up they told me it was probably due to the tires being unbalanced and that my tires were in such bad shape that balancing them woudln't make a difference. So I got to new tires (and my rims as you all remember) from NTB. I took it back to Toyota to get the alignment done after that I got on the highway to see if it was vibrating still and it was so they told me to bring back in.
So today they told me one of the tires that I got at NTB was bad because they couldn't get it balance within the range of the other 3 tires so I took the car back to NTB got into it with the guy there and they eventually saw things my way and put a new tire on the car. So after that I get back on the high way the car starts vibrating right when it hits 60. So I take back to Toyota, the guy tells, I heard him mention to one of the mechanics that it might be a bad axle.
Around 6:30 or so they call me and tell me they are going to take rims and tires off a brand new Camry and put them on my car and the manager who lives far away is going to drive my car home and then back again in the morning to get a better idea of the problem with the car. And to top that off they wanted to charge me 40 bucks for a rental car, but luckily I can drive my dad's Cam to work.
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On my 09' passat wagon 2.0t: I've been on a couple of long highway runs and noticed that my steering wheel is vibrating slightly at higher speeds. Naturally I went for a wheel balance. They showed me one rim was slightly bent from a pot hole or something, but they were able to balance it and put it in the rear. Still a vibration. Took it back to the tire shop and they checked the balance again.
At this point I was still noticing the vibration and went so far as to swap the "damaged" wheel with another off of a passat with the same wheels. No difference noticed. Is it my imagination or is the steering so light in these passats that im feeling every imperfection of the road? I don't remember the car always feeling like this. I am at 14k miles and have the crappy stock good year tires.
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for the last several weeks, I've noticed a problem that seems to be getting progressively worse... there is a vibration seemingly from the front end (possibly passenger side), and it only appears on the interstate at typical highway speeds (70-75 MPH). facts:
1. It does not happen below ~70 mph.
2. It doesn't appear to be a wheel bearing - no noticeable change in tone or "amplitude" while turning at speed.
3. I use cruise control all the time on the highway, and it is more noticeable going downhill (increases in vibration), when the engine is obviously off-throttle.
4. The car is a 99 V6 5mt.
5. The axles that are presently on the car are Raxles, and have been on it for ~4 1/2 to 5 years.
6. I recently changed over (this past weekend) to my winter/stock wheels and tires, but it was doing it with the summer wheels and tires.
7. It happens regardless if the gears are engaged or not (5th or neutral - I coasted down a hill on the interstate today in neutral to add more info).
8. I've replaced the wheel bearing on the passenger side about 6 weeks ago.
I'm thinking I have an inner CV Joint that is starting to fail. The boots are intact, as I inspected them recently while replacing the clutch/pressure plate/throwout bearing/flywheel. The transmission axle flanges had no play. The vibration was occuring prior to when I changed out the clutch.
Thoughts? Inner CV joint, or...???
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Driving on the highway the other day and I was doing about 80 and I noticed that the front end started to vibrate pretty loud so I slowed down to around 70 and it stopped. I got home and called up the local tire shop had all my wheels re balanced as I heard that could be the cause they were near perfect. Tires have about 3,000 miles on them. so yesterday I took it out to see if it would do it again and I noticed when it starts to vibrate at about 80 and I push in the clutch it stops immediately. Could my clutch be going out? or possibly like the throw out bearing.
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I'm having an issue with my wife's 2008 Camry. We're feeling vibration at highway speeds. Feels like it's coming from the front passenger side. We've had all 4 tires replaced (two of them replaced twice because we got lucky and the shop gave us a set of 4 for free with all the trouble we were having with the goodyear tires they sold us), and added hub-centric rings to her wheels. There are no noises to tell me whether it's a cv axle or a bearing. I've been under the car and the only thing I can find that comes close to loose is that the passenger side axle has a just a little more side to side play (runout - inner cv) than the driver's side.
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My 04 Solara 3.3L vibrates like crazy at highway speeds, but the vibration goes away after a couple of miles, only to return again later, and it isn't a tire balance issue. The vibration comes on quickly, and I have to hold the wheel with both hands, then it slowly diminishes and runs smooth again.
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I have been feeling a vibration in my right rear at highway speeds (70+mph) At first i thought that maybe it was a wheel bearing but that would constantly be vibration and it wouldn't be off and on like it is. The car is on coils and a friend mentioned to check and make sure my right height is the same all around. I checked just by comparing the fender well gaps and it does seem as if the right rear is a bit lower. If this is the case, can ur car being a little lower on one side cause this vibration? if so, how?
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Getting some vibration at high speeds on the highway, and when I changed my wheels, I noted that there seems to be some free play in the ball joint on the end. Is this normal? Can I replace just the end of the tie rod?
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So about 5 months ago I started feeling vibrations in my seat and steering wheel. I got my tires road force balanced and it solved the issue. I just got back from a weeks long vacation in Maine. Before I left I had the tires road force balanced again to ensure a smooth ride up. I left some shaking in my seat so I wanted to get it ironed out.
While driving up my seat and the entire cabin shook when I exceeded 70 MPH, it got worse and worse the faster I went. The steering wheel didn't shake at all. I figured the tech balancing the tires did a bad job so I visited the BJ's in Portland. They re-balanced all my tires, I was present when the job was being done and noticed they were all out of balance.
The BJ's tech said it look like the shop that did the balancing over balanced each wheel (too much weight on each wheel). As soon as I hit the highway the same thing happened, shaking above 70MPH. At this point I determined it was probably a bent wheel. I visited a local wheel repair shop, they checked out both my rear wheels, since the steering wheel wasn't shaking I didn't bother checking the front ones.
It turns out both rear wheels are ever so slightly bent, they attempted the straighten out the more bent one. They tech repairing the wheel said he was surprised I even felt anything at all. So I had my hopes up that the problem would be fixed but as soon as I hit the road the same shaking returned. At this point, what's wrong with my car. I'm thinking of buying 4 new wheels, the car came from the factory with low profile 18 inch wheels which have been a curse.
A few more details about my car:
Toyo Proxes 4 Plus - Ultra high performance tires (Maybe contribute to harsh ride?) 20K miles on them
Installed thicker 20mm rear sway bar 6 months ago (But I never had shaking until now)
Installed front tower strut bar 6 months ago.
Total mileage 32K
I have hit lots of pot holes the past 2 winters lost 2 OEM tires and bent 1 wheel last year which was repaired.
Also I can't drive through it, the shaking doesn't stop with more speed it only gets worse. And the back end has started to feel squirrely over bumps.
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