Here in the Finger Lakes we have only had one day so far this month where the temperature went above freezing and stayed above freezing all day... It hasn't gone above freezing in 13 days... So, with that as a bit of background, this morning I get in the PiP to drive to church, push the funny little button used to start computers these days and the ICE fires right up (It was 7°F out there). So far so good. Suddenly there is a huge clunk and then a grinding noise coming from the engine compartment!!! I immediately reach up to kill the whole thing but before I could finish, the sound stopped and everything was OK. Now I'm wondering if I should even try to drive it, but since I had to Usher this morning, I decided to give it a chance. No problems at all on the 1.1 mile trip to church and no problems driving home on EV. I'm thinking that somehow with the many days of below freezing temp somehow some ice built up somewhere in the power transfer case and caused the noise. Any thoughts?
yup. the gift that keeps on giving. i don't think there's ever been any known damage, but who knows what long term ramifications might be. search 'engine knocking" and you'll get more threads than you can possibly peruse.
The grinding noise sounds wrong for the known rough start problem. Let us know what a visual inspections shows, and read up on the rough start issue. Can you remember what you and the Prius were doing when it happened (cruising, accelerating, turning, stopped)?
... which was supposed to be fixed in 2011. While the report rate has fallen, it hasn't gone to zero.
I've never heard of it, and never experienced it with the 2010 we had. Sounds nasty. Hopefully it's "all bark and no bite"?
Drove it 8 miles out to my son's house tonight. Ice ran most of the way due to the cold and the fact I felt like getting warm... ICE ran most of the way home. Finished the last 3 miles on EV. No problem, everything seems fine. Can any of you lead me to a thread on the Rough Start Problem? As I said it was a big Clunk and then a grinding or grating rough sound.... Only lasted a few seconds. Thanks!
Thanks, El Dobro! Watching the videos in that thread, I am pretty sure that is the problem I encountered this morning. I will see if it repeats itself during the rest of the winter. I will also make sure I let the ICE finish warming up which will be a pain as many of my trips around town are too short for a full warm up. If the car doesn't compete the warm up cycle I will force it too when I go back home or to another place... (This is where I am running an errand in town and may have several short stops.)
