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14 Prius c humming noise...

Discussion in 'Prius c Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by me_go_fast, Jun 26, 2019.

  1. me_go_fast

    me_go_fast Junior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 2, 2016
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    Location:
    Illinois
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius c
    Model:
    Two
    A have quick background.. for about 30k miles my car has had a slight humming noise from the front end. It started out barely noticeable, but now I can even hear it over the music. It is only audible above 55mph. It gets louder the faster you go, however the frequency does not speed up relative to speed. It has stumped me a several mechanics...

    I've done a lot of searching, but mostly found info saying a humming from the front end is likely a wheel bearing. However, my car has been taken to the dealer and they put ears on each wheel bearing and they say they're all still good. They're now telling me it's the tires, however about 8k ago I got new tires... Thinking that was the problem. There's no abnormal wear on any tires. Does anybody have any ideas? Similar problems? I ready it could be mg2. How can I diagnose that since the dealer doesn't seem to be wanting to head that route.

    Oh the car has 80k and has had all the routine maintenance it's whole life.

    Any advice, comments would be appreciated!

    Thanks,
    Dave
     
    #1 me_go_fast, Jun 26, 2019
  2. iceman13

    iceman13 Member

    Joined:
    Feb 15, 2017
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    Location:
    US
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius c
    Model:
    Three
    Try rotating the tires so you can definitely rule them out if the noise is still there. About the bearings, they can sometimes be tricky to diagnose, I had a bad rear hub bearing but it wasn’t noticeable when hearing it while the vehicle was in the air. What I mean is that the bearing made the noise only when it was under the weight of the car rolling down the road. I just replaced it and that was it.
     
    #2 iceman13, Jun 27, 2019
    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller likes this.
  3. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 12, 2018
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    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    Vehicle:
    2018 Prius c
    Model:
    Two
    I have to agree with wheel bearing diagnosis. I've dealt with a few that were total ventriloquists- the bad part was on the rear, yet everyone swore the noise came from the front.

    Tires can change sound as tread wears and rubber hardens. Normally I wouldn't rule it out, but if you changed tires recently I feel even safer calling this a wheel bearing.

    EDIT: adding:

    Wheel bearings used to be a very long-lived part of a Japanese car. Lots of 1990s cars rolled on the same WBs for 150k miles plus without incident.

    Something changed, and they aren't building them like they used to.

    My 2006 Subaru can't seem to go more than 60k miles without burning a rear wheel bearing. These are permanently greased cartridge bearings, the same type Toyota uses in most of their cars. It wouldn't shock me if our Prius wore out some wheel bearings on the low side of 100k.
     
    #3 Leadfoot J. McCoalroller, Jun 27, 2019
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2019
    iceman13 likes this.
  4. iceman13

    iceman13 Member

    Joined:
    Feb 15, 2017
    134
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    Location:
    US
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius c
    Model:
    Three
    I replaced both rears on my C at 66,000mi.
     
    #4 iceman13, Jun 27, 2019
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