TSB Issued for Buzzing rattle in dashboard

There’s a sensor under the dash - middle close to the windshield- that vibrates against the underside of the dashboard under certain conditions. Early build 2016 prius. Including my car. It’s annoying. It would also be very difficult to fix the problem - take apart the entire dashboard to put a foam damper on the rattle. There are posts on priuschat about this issue.

 

When its 32 degrees out my wipers rattle on the windows its annoying but you can but on the defroster and heat and it does go away.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Anyone get this rattle/buzz in their Gen2 Prius?

Any fixes for this? Searched the forums, but could find anything...

 

Have you checked there is not a CD or foreign object stuck in the player as it sounds a bit like something is trying to rotate but can't.

EDIT: Ignore above as in your other post you mention it is connected to heater controls.

 

Thank you for this, I have the same problem in my 2018. I tracked it down to that trim piece, but would never have figured out it's something underneath without your post.

 

I had this problem, turns out it was my metal sunglasses in the holder near the ceiling vibrating and the sound was just very deciding.

 

We had the same problem with our 2016 and I was very persistent in making the dealer fix it. It helped that I gave them recordings I had made with my iPhone on the drivers side floor on the left. They removed the dash twice and tightened all bolts. It took 3 trips to the dealer and leaving it with a service manager to drive many miles, but they finally found the source. It was a loose emergency brake cable. Once the slack was removed and tightened, the sound was gone.

 

What @CoolPrius described starting in post #39 appeared to be what I was experiencing, so I dug in. Yup! That's where it was.

What I noticed, though, in my case was that there didn't seem to be anything that could rattle, but there was a bundle of wires (which you can see in post #43, bottom picture). The heavy wrap on the wires was rubbing on the corner of that black plastic housing and it was making what sounded just like a rattle. So, to cover both bases, I put a pad on top of the housing like CoolPrius did, but I also wrapped a piece of wide, industrial velcro loop material around that wire bundle sheath. I did that about a month and a half ago and haven't had any rattles since.

 

Jerry - how did you get to the wire bundle? Did you take apart the dashboard, or go in from the side?

 

I only had to lift the top of the dash. But that involved removing both end speaker covers and the speakers as well as the A Pillar covers that hide the air bags on both ends. Those air bag covers are easy to pop loose, but hard to completely remove due to a hard to reach plastic retainer. I used a plastic spud to pop stuff off, but still managed to crack one of the clips that hold down the right end of the dash. If you go back to CoolPrius' entries in this thread, he has pictures showing the locations of those clips.

 

Thank you for the explanation, and yes Coolprius’ post is excellent. Kudos to you for being brave enough to pull the top off the dash. Those plastic retaining tabs are easy once you get the hang of it (removing them) but I’m afraid of breaking tabs and having a dashboard that makes more noise after the repair.

 

It was pretty nerve wracking as I pried at it. I guess I figured that the worst that could happen was that I'd end up buying a new top for the dash. But I was determined that I was going to stop that buzzing rattle. Thankfully, the crack in the one tab didn't have any negative impact once I reassembled everything. But I sure hope I don't have to do that again, because that tab would be unlikely to survive next time.

 

I have had several issues with vibration On drivers side left and rattleing in center of dashboard, The dealer took off the dash and fixed the center rattle, but was never able to fix the vibration , im so glad i read about the secret recall TSS issue on the vibration on this chat because it drives me crazy, and obviously the dealer had no idea about it. I will call them asap and relay the info and finally get it fixed.

 

can you share that link.

 

Also had an incessant rattle from front dash. This may not be your solution, but the dealer found it was our garage door opener. When that was moved, rattle was gone!

 

I see this thread has been going on for quite a while. I will add something to it.

I had a loud buzzing / rattle behind the dash in my '16 Prius Touring since I bought it new in late '16.
It would present itself intermittently at any speed and seemed to be related to the tire tread of the low profile tires the Touring model uses and the road surface - if I could feel the grit of the road's surface in the steering wheel, generally, the buzzing / rattle would be present too.
From the driver's seat, my sense was it was coming from the central dash area, but down low (like near the center console but below the touchscreen).
I first asked the dealer to look for it at its first maintenance (7.5k miles), and they couldn't hear it.

After 35k more miles (the car has about 41k mile on it now), I found this thread and thought the TSB and some of the suggestion might help the dealer find it.
I made the appointment and he asked a tech to take a ride with me while the tech sat in the passenger's seat. We had to go about 5 miles at various speeds and roads before we started hearing the buzzing / rattle. It was intermittent, but it was enough for him to get a bead on it.

It turns out it was the plastic cover over the collision avoidance camera behind the rearview mirror. As soon as he touched that, the buzzing / rattle stopped. He let go, and it came back.
We went back to the dealer's shop, he removed the cover, added some "foam" behind it and reinstalled it.
That was it. No charge.

I drove back and forth to UC Davis (about 300 miles on 101/680/80) twice in the last 6 days and never once heard the buzzing / rattle at all at any point.
In past trips, driving this route would be accompanied with constant and sustained buzzing - it would drive me f***ing crazy. There is something about the pavement on 680 going through the Sunol Grade and into Pleasanton that was creating the perfect resonate frequency for the plastic cover. Then it would happen again on 80 through Cordelia and up through Vacaville and Davis.
This time, all there was was the car's audio. No buzzing / rattles. I hope it's gone forever..

So, add this to the list of potential "fixes".

 

Thank you for this! 3 zip ties later and I’m rattle free. I was going borderline insane try to figure out where this was coming from while driving down the road. That’s the only time it would rattle! Never would have figured this out. Thanks!

 

I'm pretty sure that is what I hear in my 2017. It only happens when certain low-frequency bass hits. I have a 10" sub in my back hatch and it causes that rattle.

 

Could that sound like relay opening and closing quickly

 

I have also found a buzzing noise at certain ICE RPMs. For me, it is the speaker grills. The left one started about a year ago, the right one within the last 6 weeks and much worse than the left, to the point that I will adjust how hard I am accelerating to make it stop. I want to spray the whole damned thing with gorilla glue!