1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Noise, vibration after steering recall

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by climateguy, Feb 17, 2014.

  1. climateguy

    climateguy Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 26, 2006
    65
    9
    0
    Location:
    Santa Fe, NM
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Hi all,

    I finally got around to taking my 2006 Prius in for the steering shaft recall. After picking it up, though, the car is considerably noisier and has a high frequency vibration. These are especially noticeable at freeway speeds.

    Now, my wheel alignment went slightly off a while ago, and since there wasn't going to be too much time until I was going to get new tires, I just let it go. Consequently, the tires are somewhat unevenly worn, but were quiet until the recall work.

    So my questions are:

    1. Does the steering recall work affect alignment?
    2. If the tires are worn due to bad alignment, and then the alignment is fixed (i.e., if the answer to the above is yes), will that cause the symptoms I'm experiencing?

    Basically, I'm wondering if I just need new tires, or if they screwed something up doing the recall work.

    Thanks for any help you can provide!
     
    #1 climateguy, Feb 17, 2014
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
    16,525
    8,428
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    If your tires are worn on the outside edge, an alignment won't do you any good in terms of centering the steering wheel. It will seem off even though it's perfectly aligned.

    If the dealer replaced the shaft on the recall, they probably had to center your steering wheel when done. However if they only replaced the bolt, they would not have to center your steering wheel. Check your dealership paperwork to see what was done. If they centered it, just bring it back and have them do it again. However they may say your tires are causing the problem because they are rounded on the edges.

    SM-N900P ?
     
    #2 JC91006, Feb 17, 2014
  3. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2007
    10,096
    4,817
    0
    Location:
    Clearwater, Florida
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    The steering tsb would have nothing to do with vibration. The only thing they usually mess up is "clear view" or the centering of the steering wheel. Another words if the car is going straight down the road the wheel should be centered to the dash.

    That and alot of posters have seen failure of the clock spring after the tsb. The clockspring is basically the circuit board that all the steering wheel buttons are on with an integrated long tail. If the tech is really bad at this he will not clamp the steering wheel after removing the steering shaft. If not held in position this will allow the wheel to turn endlessly either breaking or really stressing out the clockspring circuit board. Time will tell.

    Now what they probably did do is inflate your tires to there rated pressure which will exacerbate any tire issue.
    Get new tires and a full wheel alignment and then see how it is.
     
    #3 edthefox5, Feb 17, 2014
  4. climateguy

    climateguy Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 26, 2006
    65
    9
    0
    Location:
    Santa Fe, NM
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    They did replace the shaft, but the steering is centered. And it sounds like that's the only thing that might change in terms of alignment? Oh, and it's the inside edges of the tires that are slightly more worn than the outside edges.

    I didn't check the pressures (I will when my wife gets home from work with the car), but I run them at 42/40 psi, so if anything, I would think the dealership might have lowered the pressures.

    There's definitely more (road?) noise, though, and enough high frequency vibration that my feet and lower legs tingle a little after riding an hour or two at highway speeds. (Tingling like you might experience after holding onto a random orbit sander for a while.) This started immediately after picking the car up from the dealership.

    The tires still have enough tread that I'd really prefer to wait a few more months before replacement. I just don't know if the new noise and vibration are due to something they messed up at the dealership and I need to take it back, or if they are a result of a change in the contact angle of the tires with the road and will slowly go away as a new wear pattern settles in.
     
    #4 climateguy, Feb 18, 2014
  5. uart

    uart Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2009
    4,215
    1,202
    0
    Location:
    Australia
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    It maybe nothing to do with tires or alignment. I sounds like they just didn't refit the "column hole cover silencer sheet" correctly.
     
    #5 uart, Feb 18, 2014
  6. climateguy

    climateguy Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 26, 2006
    65
    9
    0
    Location:
    Santa Fe, NM
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Hi uart,

    Yeah, I wondered about that too after reading the recall service description. But it doesn't seem like that would explain the new vibration.

    BTW, I checked the tire pressures...no change from what I always keep them at (42/40 psi).
     
    #6 climateguy, Feb 19, 2014
  7. uart

    uart Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2009
    4,215
    1,202
    0
    Location:
    Australia
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Yeah it might. The audibility could make a big difference to how you perceive it.

    Changing the steering shaft extension doesn't effect either the wheel alignment or the wheel balance.
     
    #7 uart, Feb 19, 2014
  8. climateguy

    climateguy Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 26, 2006
    65
    9
    0
    Location:
    Santa Fe, NM
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Well, I checked the column hole silencer sheet and it was correctly installed. (Though I'm not sure how much difference it makes...there's actually not much too it!)

    I'm at a loss on this one...it doesn't seem like anything they did at the dealership should have affected road noise or vibration, yet it definitely changed (for the worse!). Maybe I'll try rotating the tires this weekend and see if that has any effect.
     
    #8 climateguy, Feb 20, 2014
  9. PriusPower05

    PriusPower05 New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2016
    2
    0
    0
    Location:
    Lehigh Valley
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Has anybody else had this issue? I took the car to my own mechanic after the recall was done because it was vibrating and it felt like it came straight through the steering wheel, the higher the speed the more pronounced with a bit of rattle, too. The mechanic ruled out the suspension and believed it was related to the steering shaft. I will go to the dealership and have them go over the recall repairs. I don't plan on paying them to "fix" anything else.
     
    #9 PriusPower05, Sep 25, 2016
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)