Squeaking sound from wheels during rolling start/Brake Noise (merged)

Interesting! So, have you tested their (the dealer's) theory and removed your plastic hubcaps for a period of time and noticed that the squeaking has not returned? Please let us know!

 

I've had mine for about five weeks, and I recently put the wheel covers back on as part of a mileage check to see if they increase MPG. I started noticing the squeak this week and really heard the one-RPM squeak this morning on the way to work when I stopped for coffee. The squeak only occurs at low speed - it goes away as one speeds up above 10 mph.

I'll wait 'till I hear the noise again, then I'll stop and pull the wheel covers off & see what happens.

 

There ya go! You ARE the man! Thanks for getting this news to us. So it "appears" that the squeaking may in fact be from the plastic wheel covers. Please keep us posted on this.

Also, was there any significant change in mileage with the wheel covers removed?

Thanks again!

 

Yes, same with me, between 1 and 10 mph is when the squeaking is audible. Over 10 mph and the noise goes away.

Also, the "plastic wheel cover" theory would explain why the pitch and rhythm of the squeaking changes if you turn the wheel from side-to-side as the squeaking occurs.

 

Just wanted to re-itterate what he said. All braking systems accumulate lots of rust on the rotors, on most cars daily use grinds it off daily. The Prius brakes really don't get much use. Except in panic stop situations they will usually only engage at under 7 MPH not giving much of an opportunity for them to grind off the rust. Chances are if you hear them you probably have a drive with less stop and go and more highway use. In this case it would be a good idea to find a hill on your route and shift into neutral and ride the brakes down the hill. If you shift the car in neutral while driving do it at under 41 MPH (I don't recall the speed where you can over rev the MG1 and it may be 5 MPH higher in the gen 3).
(the reason for shifting into neutral is because the car is unable to regen from braking while in neutral.)

 

back in the old days metal hubcap used to make noises where the tabs held them on.


either use a little grease or maybe try some felt.




ps. if your hubcaps fall off don't blame me

 

the same noise occurs in my prius as well, i'd like it to go away but just plan to ask my dealer regarding it

 

Please share with us what your dealer tells you. Many of us have been disappointed with the dealers take on this problem. My dealer, who has been great diagnosing problems with previous Toyotas I have owned, couldn't find a thing because the squeaking did not occur while they had the car. (...and of course, a few hours after I left the dealer the squeaking started again...ugh!)

 

Folks, it's the brakes. I had the squeak this morning, stopped & took off the wheel covers & the squeak persisted. I then tried the brake cleaning approach raised earlier in this thread of speeding up, shifting to neutral and performing a rapid (not emergency!) stop. A couple of cycles of this made the squeak go away.

So, the tentative prescription is to do the "brake clean" process about once a month or when low-speed, 1 RPM-ish squeaking is heard.

FWIW, I learned that I had to do a few panic stops on gravel in my Integra every few months just to exercise the anti-lock brake system. This avoids a rather expensive maintenance for cleaning/clearing the valves in the system. This wasn't in the manual, just something that could be done by a knowledgable owner to maintain the vehicle. The Prius brake clean process falls into that same category.

 

I have had the wheel covers on my car since the day I bought it. I have not heard any squeaking from them until yesterday. I was driving out of the parking garage at my work, and the squell started... I opened the moonroof and the noise seemed to be coming from the passenger front. After driving more "traditional" cars for the last few years, the squeaks sound exactly like the noise emitted from brakes when they are rubbing against the sensor pads. Like others, the noise only seems to happen at low speeds and goes away after about 2 minutes, or above 15 MPH.
As this was the first time, it was quite shocking... especially from a new car. I'll have to listen again today to see if it happens.

 

Your description is consistent with disk brake squeal.

Tom

 

Yeah... it's definitely coming from the brakes. I heard them last night and then again this morning on my commute in, although this time it only lasted for about 30 secs. Like Hansgrason said, if I take it to the dealer, they probably will not be able to diagnose the problem as it seems the car has to be stationary for a good amount of time before the brakes act up. I guess I could try the "brake clean" technique, but that almost seems absurd for a car with barely 1000 miles on it to have a brake squeak issue... Maybe it's Toyota's way of adding a warning system on the cars for pedestrians.
Has anyone been able to have their dealer fix or address this issue?

 

The "brake clean" technique seems to do the trick .... but it only seems to be a quick fix in that a few days later the squeaking starts again! UGH!

 

no matter what vehicle you drive the rotors (brake discs) will always rust, they are metal that is how they are designed. In traditional cars the rust is always being sanded off by the brake pads every single time you hit the brakes. In the Prius they only get sanded off when you are under 7 MPH and hitting the brakes giving them less opportunity to clean them off.

If you don't drive daily your best solution would be garage parking, but that wont eliminate it.

 

A couple of "panic" stops in neutral aren't enough. I got rid of my squeal by going down a half-mile steep hill in neutral at 15 - 20 mph. I could just barely smell the brakes when I got home shortly thereafter. No squeaking brakes for the past few days.

 

I drive daily, on average 50 miles a day, from garage (home) to garage (work)...and I'm STILL squeaking every single day!

 

Yes, but you are driving a Prius, which means the amount of driving is nearly irrelevant. In normal operation the Prius hardly uses the friction brakes, so if you want to clean the brakes you need to force the issue.

Tom

 

Oh, I hear ya', and I do the "N" brake cleaning several times a day during my commute. It seems to be a short term fix -- lasting just for the remainder of the day (or less) ..

And still, the next morning "SSSQUEEEEEEAK!"

 

All of my Honda cars did this. I lived in a humid area on the coast, and the brakes would have a good coat of rust every morning. Being a normal car, the rust would wear off in the first few stops, but the next day it would be back.

Tom

 

Yes, I had also noticed (and mentioned in an earlier post) that humidity "seemed" to be a factor, as it gets very humid in the Washington/Maryland area during most of the summer months. I'm hoping that things will change as it gets colder in a few months.