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Tire noise/squeak following service

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by pycnanthemum, Oct 13, 2005.

  1. pycnanthemum

    pycnanthemum New Member

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    I have a 2005 Prius with just over 10K on it. Yesterday I got my 10K service (oil change and tire rotation). The service guy did a visual inspection of the brakes and said the front brake pads were worn about 50%.

    Tonight on a drive home we heard an intermittent, sort of metallic grinding noise coming from the front right tire area as we stopped at a light. It seemed to go away but then came back a couple more times, and we heard it again in the driveway but it was slower.

    My real problem is that I suspect this is related to the service that was done, and unfortunately I live about 45 mins from the service place (it's right by where I work). I would prefer to drive the car to a local Toyota service place (Framingham, MA area), but I wonder what my recourse would be if one Toyota service place says the other service place caused the problem, especially if it costs a lot of $$$ to get the problem fixed. I am starting to worry that I need to find a service place where there is a Prius specialist even for simple maintenance work.

    Any advice?
     
    #1 pycnanthemum, Oct 13, 2005
  2. IFixEm

    IFixEm New Member

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    I'd bet my next paycheck you have more than 50%. More like 85 or 90. these buggers are as hard on tires as they are light on brakes. It is possible but unlikely that he bent a backing plate and it is just barely touhing the rotor now and makes a light metalic cyclical scraping noise. Get a flashlight and look thru the wheel. the shiny 10 inch round thing behind the wheel is the brake rotor Look closely at it's circmference. just behind this is a thin dark stamped steel dust/debis shield. This is the backing plate. Take a long screwdriver and place the tip on the edge of the backing plate and push GENTLY towards the center of the car. Do this in about 5 or 6 spots. If you go to far it will not hurt anything but may deform it enough that now rocks can lodge between the rotor and backing plate. Now thats a noise! There should be about 4 or 5 mm clearance between the plate and rotor.
    BEFORE YOU DO it though there is a possibility that some brake dust or rust is trapped between the brake pad and rotor. The tech might have inadvertantly done this if he cleaned the surface with a blast of brake cleaner. Any other car would quickly purge the debris. These thing are so easy on brakes they actually develop surface rust on the rotor faces here in western Wa. especially the Gen 1's with their aggresive regen. stops. On a prius you need to force a stop with mechanical brakes only. to do this you simply drive it at 25, foot off gas, shift to N, modestly firm stop. Repeat 2 more times. I do this to many of them while on my road tests for other issues. Preventative maint so to speak.
    Regards, Mike
     
    #2 IFixEm, Oct 14, 2005
  3. pinball

    pinball New Member

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    IFixEm - You da maan !
     
    #3 pinball, Oct 14, 2005
  4. pycnanthemum

    pycnanthemum New Member

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    This morning we tried both things that Mike (IFixEm) suggested, and we can't hear the noise anymore. My husband thinks whatever it was may have dislodged during the night or when he poked (gently) at the brake shield. It's been raining here for about 5 days straight now so perhaps water had something to do with things getting stuck when they normally wouldn't.

    Thanks Mike.
     
    #4 pycnanthemum, Oct 14, 2005
  5. DanMan32

    DanMan32 Senior Member

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    Gen 1 (classic) always used SOME friction brakes. That might explain the apparent aggressive brakes. This was improved with Gen 2 where friction brakes is applied later in the braking force curve.
     
    #5 DanMan32, Oct 18, 2005
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