2005 Prius dashboard sound during hot day

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by John Skyline, May 20, 2026.

  1. John Skyline

    John Skyline Junior Member

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    Hi all, my lovely car makes this squeaky sound and it seems to come from the part where the windshield meets the dashboard. I can't pinpoint the exact area, has anybody fixed/solved this before? The car drives perfectly fine so i just want to make it more perfect. Much appreciated, thanks in advance.
     
    #1 John Skyline, May 20, 2026
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    This probably is a servo motor sound, not locking into position. Stripped internal gear. They all do that over time, although yours seems really loud.
     
    #2 JC91006, May 20, 2026
  3. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Does it change when you move the HVAC controls from your feet to face etc . Fro tecirc to fresh . Hot to cold as in lo to hi . If you hear any of this change as you enact control changes you getting to issue. Many times moving the controls rapidly through their paces May make issue stop . Then you have your answer and you know what can help prolong the pain . Things are hard to get to . Etc . Not costly parts today it's the labour .
     
    #3 Tombukt2, May 20, 2026
  4. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Take a look at this thread:

    No, that wasn't a mouse in the heater | PriusChat

    There are three such servo actuators, so first you have to get your eyeballs down there and pin down which one is doing it. We'll hope it isn't the one for fresh/recirculate (that's the hardest one to get to).

    In my experience, though gears can strip, that's not usually what's happening here. The actuator's position sensor gets electrically noisy. The ECU wants to hold the actuator in one target position, so when the position signal coming back bounces around, the ECU responds by moving the actuator.

    For a gen 2, be sure to scroll down to the later posts on page 2 of the thread, which give tips for the trickier access in gen 2 compared to gen 1.
     
    #4 ChapmanF, May 20, 2026
  5. John Skyline

    John Skyline Junior Member

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    Thanks Chap, yes that was a different time before when i heard a weird clicking sound and after reading your post, it was actually the servo actuators. Instead of cleaning it like you suggested, i switched the airflow and recirculation controls back and forth until the sound disappears. Thank you JC and Tom for your similar suggestion too.

    However, this time the sound isn't coming from the servo below the steering wheel. It seems to be coming from the edge of where the dashboard meets the windshield, and it only squeaks when the car drives through uneven/rough roads, and only during extremely hot weather (~>95f). What should i do? =/
     
    #5 John Skyline, May 21, 2026
  6. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    That sounds like it might be an actual dashboard squeak then. I hate those. Which is kind of the easiest thing to do about them.
     
    #6 ChapmanF, May 21, 2026
  7. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    I've taken apart this dashboard a few times and don't remember how that can squeak, unless you have a center speaker (JBL system). Did someone fix your combination meter recently? Maybe some screws were not put back in
     
    #7 JC91006, May 21, 2026
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