Pronounced Front End Clank Over Sharp Bumps...ANYONE ?

Agree with you that the loose caliper pins are design defects that warrant a repair. I am new to the forums, but are you saying Toyota knew about the problem with caliper/bolt in old Prius' and fixed it? Do you have the specifics on the service bulletin related to this issue, for example bulletin number, model year, etc? Hope DaveShep posts his information soon.

 

Do you have a Prius v wagon? Your user info doesn't seem to indicate so yet this is a Prius v wagon thread.

 

Sorry for the delayed response. Had to work graveyard shift all weekend.

Picked up my v Saturday afternoon. Neither the tech nor my service guy was working. When I got the call Friday, saying it was ready for pick up, the service guy told me they replaced all of the pins/bolts for the calipers. He said this is not a new solution for my issue. He said they verified that the clank is no longer there but told me if it returns (as I suspect it will) Toyota will have to work on a permanent solution for this issue. I think they used a heavy grease and may or may not have changed the pins/bolts. The receipt, for the service, is very vague about the issue and just says it was resolved.

Not much help but I think that if enough of us bring our v's in, at some point, they are going to have to come up with a permanent fix. Like the spacer fix on the standard Prius. Without a doubt, I did not spend this kind of money to hear that crap when it's warm out and my windows are down. Plus, metal on metal is going to wear and fatigue the parts which I believe would lead to a safety issue.

Wish I had more info for everyone,
Dave

 

We have a v with 3600kms on it. Same clanking here... my initial thought was that a bushing had been defective and ousted by our lousy Montreal roads.

At the very least it sounds like it's not serious, even if it "sounds" serious. I don't like the thought of having a car making noise over bumps but I can live with it. It might also not be so noticeable if the v weren't so quiet!

 

I have mine doing the same thing and I had it checked at 15K and the dealer did not want to even check it out since I have new lower suspension springs. They are saying that it is not cover by warranty. I did not want to fight it at the moment but I had my new 17" wheels and lower springs done about a month ago and this issue was even before this upgrade but according to them I never complained about it. It only does it a lower speeds, aprox 30 - 40mph and when the bumps catches the outer side of the tire.

At the begining I thought that the noise was coming from the wheel covers, so I took them out but still the same noise. Now with this letter from Toyota I can go back and tell them what they do not know. Thank you for posting the PDF file

 

You are right I do not have a V wagon. Does it matter? My Prius IV was having this noise problem and when I searched this was the thread that I was sent to. With this thread I was able to fix my problem and that's all I care. There are a lot of things that a V wagon and the regular Prius share and this one is one of many.

 

I have the same problem with my Prius v. I heard the metal noise multiple times during my 1st month ownership.

Before the Prius v, I had a 2010 Prius, and it had the same noise. I took the cars to service few times at 2 diiferent dealerships, and they finally fixed it. It was before Toyota releasing the TSB.

How can Toyota letting the same problem happen again? Unless, this is not the same problem. But, both happen under the same condition, and the noise sound the same.

Now, I wonder when should i bring my vee to service. If I do it early without the new TSB, it may take them long time to fix it. Or wait for TSB, which took them more than 2 yrs for the gen iii prius.

 

Ours is getting worse by the day. The reason I was so nonchalant about it earlier was that our "v" is a corporate lease and, really, just a long-term rental.

It doesn't mean we abuse it, far from it, but I do worry I'll get hit with a bill that isn't our doing upon return.

I do have to head into the dealership to fill in some hybrid-related government rebate form and I'll bring up the issue along with this thread and see what they say.

At this point though, it sounds like an old delivery van over Montreal's rotten roads and has only 5.5K km on it.

 

My similar noise goes away if I ride the brake over a bump. Does it sound like the same sort of problem as described in earlier posts?

 

Anybody have their Vee check by Toyota service for this clank noise? I still hear the noise everyday with the window open.

 

My 2012 v has 2600km on it and I noticed this noise only when going over speed bumps at the mall/parking lots. Roads in general are pretty smooth round here, so haven't noticed any noise in normal driving around city streets/highways at speed.
I first noticed the noise when i rolled over a big speed bump at around 25kmh. After that I slowed down to a crawl(5kmh) when going over speed bumps again and i did not hear the noise, only seem to hear it when the front end has to react quickly to a sharp bump. I will mention it when i get my first service at 8000km and see what they say.
Like others have mentioned if they get enough complaints about this issue maybe Toyota will be forced to fix it proper.

 

Find a spot in the road or a parking lot near the dealer where you can take the service manager or mechanic for a ride and show them the sound. Even an honest competent tech is likely to not get the car to make the sound based on an owners description of the sound.

 

Just a quick update on this "issue". Took my car in for its first service today, mentioned the clunk in the front end over speed bumps. I was pressed for time and the dealership was very busy when i was there so didn't bother to ask to show the tech the problem personally.
So my car is going to be in the shop all day as i am getting the windows tinted at the same time. Because of that i requested a loaner car for the day as i have some errands to run. I ended up with a 2013 Venza with 250km on the odometer.
Coming out of the tim hortons drive thru a few minutes ago it occurred to me, why not try hitting that same speed bump that made my prius go clunk and see what happens in the Venza. Well turns out i get the exact same harsh "clunk" at 15kph as i do in the Prius, except this time i got a loud clunk front and back, maybe cause i was going a little faster than 15kph when i rolled over the bump so the back end took the bump pretty hard too.
Like i may have mentioned before if i slow down enough there is no clunk so i'm guessing its just normal and perhaps the clunk i am hearing is just suspension noise and different than the noise everyone else is experiencing. Never heard of the venza having brake issues?
Regardless of my findings, if the techs find anything related to the issue i will report back, otherwise as far as i can tell its a toyota thing in general, drive it like your 80 years old and you'll be fine.

 

Just picked up my car. As I suspected they did not find anything wrong with the front end after doing a test drive trying to replicate the problem. They did notice a slight rattle in the hood latch, which i never noticed, and they fixed that.

 

As far as I know, grabbing brakes is a very common issue of a Prius since the beginning. It is not a problem with the car itself and arises due to non-use of physical brakes. Most of your braking is done by the regen so rotors do not get used and accumulate surface rust. Just put the car in neutral and use the brakes once or twice when you need to brake next time. This will disable regen and brake pads will remove the rust from the surface of the rotor.

This is usually more noticeable at the start of your driving and also during cold mornings or when it is humid/rainy. There are several threads about it if you search the forum.

 

I have this clanking noise too but it sounds like it is coming from the rear, not the front. Could this be from the same problem you guys are describing?