So I think this is going to be a true test of the PriusChat hive mind. I noticed a squeaking in my 2007 Prius and when I investigated I found the part shown in the photo below. The part was loose (not attached to anything) and sitting where indicated in the other attached photo. The photo shows the underside of the car centered between the front wheels in line with the front axle. The part is cylindrical with a hole in the center. It is primarily solid steel with a rubber covering on the top portion. Anyone have any idea what this part is? Thanks for your help.
Tuned mass damper. It was attached to that hole in engine mount bracket that the arrow is pointing at. Second tuned mass damper is still there. That's the rubber block in front of where the missing was in the last picture. It's designed to reduce driveling vibration in a certain situation. In this case I wouldn't worry about it missing. When car gets old the rubber in mounts changes so damper is not probably correctly tuned anyways. And small vibrations are probably not going to cause problems.
Thanks so much valde3! Now that I know a little better what I am looking for, I see you have addressed this same condition in a previous post. Sorry I didn't see that before. Regardless of its importance, I would be interested in replacing it. I was unable to find the part by searching for tuned mass damper. You don't happen to know the part number do you?
Damper is not a separate part. It's attached to engine mounting bracket. Part number for that bracket is 12313-21030
