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Metallic crackling sound left side

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by cttime, Aug 5, 2014.

  1. cttime

    cttime New Member

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    Hey everyone

    I have had my 07' Prius about a month now and have noticed a odd sound coming from the left front of the car when accelerating.

    When I accelerate I hear an off metallic crackling sound. It almost sounds like marbles swishing around. The sound is coming from the left side of the car in the engine bay. If I had to guess it sound like it's coming from under the invertor area. The sound only happens when I am accelerating at a moderate pace.

    Any ideas?
     
    #1 cttime, Aug 5, 2014
  2. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Maybe the transaxle has a bad bearing within. I suggest you have your car checked out.
     
    #2 Patrick Wong, Aug 5, 2014
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    welcome to priuschat! how many miles on her?
     
    #3 bisco, Aug 5, 2014
  4. cttime

    cttime New Member

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    107k. Is a bad bearing in the trans common? I haven't found anything that sounds to me like the sound my car is making. It happens under part to medium throttle.
     
    #4 cttime, Aug 6, 2014
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    no, it's not common at your mileage. it could just be something touching and rubbing that vibrates on acceleration.
     
    #5 bisco, Aug 6, 2014
  6. Mike500

    Mike500 Senior Member

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    It could be a developing "stress crack" in the unibody sheet metal.

    I had a 1977 Camaro that had a cracking sound on the right side front. It took 11 years, until the sheet metal failed and left the lower control arm hanging.
     
    #6 Mike500, Aug 6, 2014
  7. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

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    If you turn your wheel all the way to the left and go forward slowly, do you hear a clicking/thumping sound?
     
    #7 usnavystgc, Aug 6, 2014
  8. Hokie-Dave

    Hokie-Dave Member

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    Since it is when you are accelerating, and you said it sounds like marbles in a can. The first thing that comes to my mind is that the engine is detonating (pinging). That is what I've always heard bad detonation sound like (at least in my other cars with much larger V8's). Does it happen at full throttle as well? If so, a can of good fuel injector cleaner couldn't hurt. I'd assume the Prius has a fuel filter also, although I've never changed mine (135,000k miles), it could be clogged from some bad gas.

    This is obviously just a guess since I'm not a Prius genius.

    dave
     
    #8 Hokie-Dave, Aug 6, 2014
  9. M in KC

    M in KC Active Member

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    Another potential source could be an exhaust system heat shield. When you reach the right resident frequency it vibrates/rattles (i.e. specific load or acceleration point on the ICE).

    .02
    M
     
    #9 M in KC, Aug 6, 2014
  10. taylor_priusII

    taylor_priusII New Member

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    Bad ICE H2O pump bearing.
     
    #10 taylor_priusII, Aug 7, 2014
  11. cttime

    cttime New Member

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    thanks everyone for the answers... seems like this is all over the place for what it could be. I'll try using some higher grade gas and fuel system cleaner and look harder for something loose. I guess besides that Ill have to wait for a failure.
     
    #11 cttime, Aug 8, 2014
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