Hello all! I had a heat shield replaced on my 2011 Prius. Driving the car since, I have noticed a noise when hitting bumps in the road. When I looked underneath the car today, there was a metal piece hanging down. It looks like screws are possibly missing at the end. What is this? Could the dealership have forgotten to reattach whatever this is? Clearly, I’m not going to drive the car around like this over long distances, but is it dangerous to drive the car at all?
That looks like the frame cross piece that sort of stiffens the car. You might get more informed responses on the Gen 3 forum rather than the Prime forum. Just click the "Report" button on your original post and ask a moderator to move it.
I would not drive the car till that's fixed: it'll only compound the damage that's already occurred, and it could fly off, be a liability, a danger to other cars on the road. Do you have a floor jack and safety stands, ramps, tools, what's your situation?
looks like they forgot to tighten the bolts after replacing the heat shield. i think they owe you one
^ This. Could be the brace is ok, just a little scraped. But there's more'n likely at least 2 bolts missing. Was crawling around under ours yesterday, rust-proofing, took this pic:
Interesting how pristine it looks; I've never put anything on it either. Maybe cus it's amidships, gets less salt kick-up?
Just crawling around, eh? I know I take pics when I’m doing that under the car. Very nice pic and condition of the piece in question .
Thank you so much, everyone! Sorry that the post is in the wrong forum. I went for a run Sunday morning. I heard the noise while driving and was posting from the park - so, my cellphone. The cellphone view of the forums isn't optimal and I didn't notice that I put the post in the section for the wrong type of car. I didn't expect the Toyota service center that "repaired" the heat shield to be open on Sunday, but they were. You all are correct. They said it was the "exhaust bracket" and that the mechanic forgot to put the bolts in (!) No charge.
The brace is item 16 here I think: Floor & Rails for 2011 Toyota Prius | Toyota Parts Description: Front Floor Pan Brace Part number: 57533-12010 $46.29 (USD at McGeorge, typ) Also shown here: FLOOR PAN & LOWER BACK PANEL. 2011 Toyota Prius Hatchback HYBRID | Toyota And the bolts are indicated at the second link as part number: 90119-10943 (4 required) $1.13 apiece
Yup. I even had the service manager from my preferred dealer call me back and admit he was wrong when discussing a recall. I had said it had been extended and he originally said there were no changes. After talking with his master technician, he changed his mind.
