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Weird noise after 5000 mi service

Discussion in 'Prius c Technical Discussion' started by maverickf, May 20, 2012.

  1. maverickf

    maverickf New Member

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    Got my car back from dealer for 5000 miles service. On the way home I heard there was some weird noise under the hood. It sounds like some very thick heavy motor oil dripping on the pan intermitently. Anyone had the service and had this weird sound?
     
  2. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    Check to see if there is a water bottle under the seat.
     
  3. maverickf

    maverickf New Member

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    This is my first Prius, anything I didn't hear in my old gasoline would get in my nerve... Sorry my question sounds silly.
     
  4. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    It is not a silly question but I think we all need a little more to go on. I can't see how you can hear this kind of noise while in motion.

    Check underneath and make sure they fastened the under-cover/oil change door properly.

    My previous comment was tongue and cheek as a member's wife left a metal water bottle under the driver's seat and caused him to think there was an issue with the breaks. :)
     
  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    Maybe the OP can describe that noise a bit more. From the current description, maybe some sort of heat shield expanding with temperature and pinging a bit?
     
  6. maverickf

    maverickf New Member

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    It's been four days and I still hear the weird sound intermittently, (It just sounds like motor oil dripping on a pan). So far, I can confirm the sound coming from the passenger side under the hood. I tried to capture the sound but the quality was really bad, I will try different way later.

    I took a look underneath the car but saw nothing. I will check more carefully later when I have time. Can somebody tell me more about the heat shield thing please? I'm not sure what it is and how it looks like. Thank you.
     
  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    ^ I was just grasping at straws, based on your sound description. There's at least one heat shield around the muffler. I was just thinking it's fasteners might make some sort of noise as the engine/muffler warmed up. But actually I don't see that as viable: why would it suddenly start happening due to a service.

    Sorry, stumped.
     
  8. maverickf

    maverickf New Member

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    Update:

    I brought my car to the dealer last Saturday. The service adviser took a look at the car, asked me what was going on,
    I explained to him about the weird sound as much as I could, he knocked the wheel caps couple times and told me they would check it out. After two hours, he told me the mechanics couldn't find a problem but remounted the caps. So I wasted my two hours and drove back home with the noise.

    The noise actually was getting louder and I couldn't stand it anymore. I took it back, talked to the same service adviser. At first, he told me to wait in the car and we would talk to the mechanic. Then, he called me to go to his desk and told me the mechanic knew what was happening and just didn't have time to fix the problem on Saturday. WHAT THE!!! I couldn't believe what I heard!!! So, the cause of the noise is from the bended backing plate. They said they fixed it by repositioning the plate.

    I left the dealer without saying a word after the truth. And I'm writing to the corporate to express how unsatisfied I was.