2009 Gen3 Prius Requires New Steering Column

It'd definitely be under more stress on taxi duty. I was taught to never steer while stationary, but it must be almost unavoidable for you.

Did the rattle sound like it was in the wheel or in the column?

 

The intermediate shaft was a problem on 04-06, subject to a recall, and has been a problem on other Toyota models in the past as well. If it is an issue across the fleet, it may take some time for it to show up as a recall. Over here, if enough people report the same problem to the NHTSA, then a recall can be forced, but it usually takes a few years. I don't know about over there, but over here, any dealership repair carries a 1 year, unlimited mileage warranty.

 

What gave you the clue that they used the wrong oil?

For a more positive indication, instruct them to only put in 4 litres and to give you the 5th litre bottle so you can top it off yourself when you get home. That way you get to see what they actually used.

You can also put a nice bright "0W-20 only" label on your oil fill cap.

 

hopefully, you just got a defective part and it's not a major problem. my son just had to replace the altenator in his camry at 85,000 miles. unusual i think, and not under warranty. but, sometimes you just get a lemon.

 

As posted above, the intermediate shaft is a big issue on a lot of Toyota vehicles, as well as other makes. My '06 Rav4 has a clunk from it, my parents both have Saturn Auras that I had to replace the shafts in, all of the GM Silverado/Suburban (C/K) series trucks have this problem as well. It's not uncommon and actually not that expensive in comparison to what other items could be making the noise. Glad to hear that you're getting it done under warranty though.

 

It's not uncommon for dealers or other service shops to use the wrong oil. Most of the techs are of the "it comes from the oil gun, it's the right oil" state of mind. It's kind of hard to prove, so there's no sense in fighting it right now, but what you can do is ask to see the bottles that the oil came out of. Since 90% of the Toyota vehicles see at the dealer use 5W30, that's what they have in the guns. They will pour the 0W20 from 1qt bottles. That's what I suggest.

 

picked up a new lawnmower from a local family owned shoppe that has been selling them for over 60 years. they set it up for me and when i got home i checked the oil level before starting it. it wss a half inch above full. i read the owners manual and it stated 'under no circumstances should the engine be run with oil level above the full mark. open the drain plug and remove excess oil before starting.' i took it back to the shoppe and they told me not to worry, it won't harm anything. "they put that in the manual to cover any liability"

 

hey grump did they tell you what the cost would have being????????

 

its doing ok i get some knocks here and there from the front but it did so from the start on some harsh abrupt bumps ! i have 59440 km getting ready to go for service i go to the dealer with amsoil 0-20 in my hands as the toyota dealer cant provide me with anything less than 5-30 i think is what they are trying to pass on to us here in greece hahahaaaaaaa ..
another gen3 owner taxi owner that i know runs his cab on a double shift and has 160000km and hasn't reported any problems with it to me yet he lives across the street from me ! he has it for an extra month than me!! another toyota taxi owner corolla owner pointed out to me not to turn the steering all the way because they break down easy on these models because of some electric ring on the column drive thing heheheee!!!
guess what almost every time i pop a u turn i max out the rack and pinion to a gap sound hahaha a fault habit i have since i was a kid !!! i cant stop doing it this steering is to light i think i am going to putt an even smaller steering wheel on it so there is less turning force generated ..hehehe

 

You might just be the happiest cabbie I have ever heard of.

 

hey grump you sure it wasn't the linkage the cross they call it here in greece my neighbor the othe taxi driver said he changed the cross i assume that's the steering linkage a small part from what he told me !!! easy fix !!! let me tell you what happened to me with that peugeot dealer i used to go to when the car was in warranty they used to claim big repairs even though there was no such thing wrong with the car just so they could claim the labor i guess as income i am suspicious of that , be on the look out ! anyway he also told me some fuse box thing in the back where the battery is also went bad on him indicating hybrid system failure just before 100000 km but he said they told him it doesn't happen that often to the cars .

 

he also told me that if it happens to me to open the back up where the battery is lift open some black cover and play with some orange thing that should allow me to restart the car so i could get to the dealer ... i am going to get him to show me this stuff so that i can get sum illustrations up of that part that went bad on him

 

realy i am not my new minister of transportation is attempting to open my trade rendering the value of the medallion on my taxi worthless,which by the time i am done paying of it will run me 200000 euros !!!

 

Holy Replies batman....

 

I have 30000 km on my Prius III 2009 and I also need to change some part of the steering wheel because when the car is standing still and I move a steering wheel I can hear a sound from it and it feels like it has few degrees of empty space if you know what I mean... didn't expect that coming from Prius. Donno if anybody else had similar problem? Toyota will fix it under warranty this weekend.

 

Either the steering problem or the wrong oil would make me grumpy too.

Have not had steering problems either on my 35K miles Prius or my old 198K miles Corolla (more than a light-second as one of my childhood friends said when his first car passed the milestone).

But that's a sample size of 2. Not very impressive statistically.