2013 Prius – odd "electronic" clicking from rear interior

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by IHaveAPrius, Sep 7, 2023.

  1. IHaveAPrius

    IHaveAPrius New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2023
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    Location:
    Washington State, USA
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Hi all!

    I have a 2013 Prius. It has been running great, but a couple of days ago an odd thing started to happen. There is a repeated "clicking" sound, which seems to be coming from the back hatch (I believe it's coming from the battery compartment or somewhere in that area). The sound is a kind of "double click" – two clicks within about half a second. This repeats about every 10-15 seconds. It happens whenever the car is on, whether it's in park or drive.

    I've called around and no local shops seem to know what's going on, nor can they get me in for several weeks. Any ideas? I'd love to know what this might be, whether it's something I can address myself (I am not very mechanically inclined), and whether or not it's safe to continue driving the car.

    Thanks so much for any help!
     
  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2020
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    Location:
    Durham NC
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    Base
    Is the car having any charging problems You probably don't know sounds like relay clicking usually it's close to the hybrid battery You can verify this by getting out while this is going on in the cars in park but ready and putting your ear back there with the hatch up and narrowing down where it's coming from and take a picture and somebody will probably tell you exactly what's happening but it sounds like some sort of a relay clicking those relays I don't think should be clicking when the car is running they should click when the car starts. So maybe there's an issue possibly with the hybrid battery a loose connection something a good information scanner connected to the car can look at freeze frame data and what have you from those relays throughout the vehicle they're all controlled by various and sundry computers so somewhere there should be a record of the clicking now it won't just say clicking relays in the software It's not that simple but I don't think there should be clicking going on with the car just sitting there or while driving once the car is ready the clicking should stop and the car is ready to go unless there's something wrong then relays could open and close because they can't be held open because of the power problem or something. So get back there and have a look while it's clicking take a small video and it can be narrowed down very quickly. Good luck