Ok, I did search for these questions and did, in fact, find a few answers, but I was wondering if anyone could elaborate on a few things for me. Yeah, I'm a noob, but hey, I'll freely admit it. 1) My brakes makes a strange sound every now and again, especially when I'm simply using the battery power to cruise towards a stop. Is this buzzing-type noise normal? I don't notice it if I'm using the gas engine. 2) The car drifts ever-so-slightly to the left. I'm assuming this is simply due to it only having eleven miles on it when I bought it and I'm guessing they didn't check it once it got off the truck at the dealership, but I just wanted to see what others thought (if this is a fluke). 3) (Last question for the night, I promise). When I tap the touchscreen icon for "Maintenance", it usually sends me to the nav system. If I go back and do it again, I'm can access "Maintenance" no problem. Hiccup in the system? Thanks again for all the answers! This forum is really great!
Yeah, I did that. The tires are good. I'm taking it in on Monday so they can check it out, just to be safe.
call it strange sound, but are you sure it comes from the brakes? In "B", while coasting, the electrical motor reverses to a generator and yes it is noisier especially at higher speeds. I noticed it but took it as normal. I don't think the brakes would sound different, though... Did I get that right? frosh
Well, I noticed it once when I hit the gas, too, but mainly using the brakes (not the "B" mode). It's nothing major, just a kind of gurgly-buzzing sound. As for the "Maintanence" icon, I just read the Nav manual and that's normal. Odd, but normal.
That is the brake actuator pump and it's normal. No worries. If you do a search on the forum you'll see that it's also a very common question from new owners. As for your Prius veering to the left, it's not uncommon for new cars to go slightly out of alignment during the cross-Pacific transit. Take it to your dealer and have them correct it. My brand-new Prius had an off-center steering wheel (the alignment was good, but the steering wheel was tilted slightly to the right when the car was tracking straight). I brought it back to the dealer the following week and they fixed it no questions asked.
If the dealer aligns the car, they will most likely find it is aligned just fine. The most likely cause of a pull on a front wheel drive car is either a radial tire pull or tire conicity. Either of these cases can be corrected by crossing the front tire (swap right to left) or if necessary, reversing one tire on the rim. Radial pull is when one tire has a higher rolling resistance than the other creating higher drag on one wheel. Tire conicity is when the tires edges have slightly different diameters. A cutaway view of the tire would look cone shaped. No tires are perfect. If two tires are mounted with the cone shape facing in the same direction, it causes a pull. Reversig one tire causes the cones to canceleach other out and keep the car going straight.
Interesting. I'll mention that when I take it in. It still pulls slightly to the left, but again, it's nothing major.
Digressing for a moment: "B" should not be used in normal driving because it will decrease MPGs. It should only be used when going down a long downgrade to avoid riding the brakes.
Wrong. In "B" mode, in addition to the automatic "generator" braking at is on in "D" (and can only be turned "off" in "N"), "B" mode adds engine braking, spinning the engine to slow down the car with engine friction.
R U sure? ever switched from "D" to "B" while coasting and watched the energy display? I was the opinion, "B" stands for battery mode, not additional friction... frosh
I am utterly surprised, I always thought "B" should regenerate more energy. I even was reassured by thinking I heard the generator howl, but indeed its the engine... Thanks for your comments, and RTFM, frosh!
Now you've got it :_> "B" = "engine Braking", not "Battery". It would not be very convenient to have to shift in order to get regeneration; most drivers would not bother.
Yeah, don't drive around in "B." In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that in Virginia you may never need "B" mode as long as you own the car. Here's some reading for you: http://www.techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/b-mode.html
while it allows you to regenerate SLIGHTLY MORE (10 amps vs the 5 amps of "drag" without your foot on the brake), you lose A LOT of energy with the engine drag. Btw: Your foot on the brakes lets you regenerate up to 60 amps.
