Toyota Camry Hybrid Rattles, Bumps, & Squeaks
When starting from a dead stop, my new TCH begins in silent/smooth battery mode, but almost immediately I experience a faint rumble, akin to going over a set of small washboard bumps or a cattle guard. I've duplicated this over and over in every attempt to repeat it, BUT it only happens immediately prior to the gas engine kicking in. If I am careful to keep it at a crawl, utilizying the battery alone, this does not happen, and then when accelerating from this crawl it also does not occur when the gas engine kicks in. It is so subtle, that my wife had to point it out to me, but now I am sensitive to it as well. I would be real curious to find out if anyone else is experiencing this.
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Cheers from Victoria BC Tom
I hesitated to respond to this since what seems an anamolity to one is insignificant to another. Previous postings have talked about a "lurch" on the interstate at high speeds. Does my car lurch? No. But I do sence when the engine kicks on and off. If you simply go by what it "feels" like you may want to call it a lurch, however the car is moving smoothly, there is just some vibrations to be felt.
As for your rumble. It indeed may be a problem, however, I don't know how you were trying to accelerate. If you were really taking it easy trying to take off under battery power alone then you may be at the point where it's borderline if you will have the engine kick on. Your slow speed merely highlights the fact of when the engine does kick on. Were you to go ahead and accelerate to say 20 mph and immediately let off the gas to go to EV mode then you will have the same sensation I believe, but it will occur more rapidly in succession and probably not as noticable. If you have a NAV system watch the energy screen as you do this and see what is happening with the ICE. My understanding is that the "starter" for these spins the engine at 1000 rpm. I can see where trying to start the engine while creeping may cause some "rumble"
Again, what's a rumble to one person sounds like the engine starting to another. I believe the slower you are going the more you will notice this. If I am "gliding" through town on EV and the engine kicks on at 20 mph, it is more noticable to me than when it kicks on and off at say 50 mph.
Unless you are on very flat, or down sloped terrain when you start out it will be seldom that you can start out with just battery power alone. I believe you indeed can in a lot of cases (I have), but the people behind you won't like it. It takes a lot of torque to start a 36oo# mass from a dead stand still and accelerate it. Unless you (and the people behind you) are patient you'll want your ICE kicking on most of the time and then you can let off in just a second or two once rolling.
If you don't think the "rumble" is very noticable at speed and your ICE kicks in and out normally as you lift your foot from the accelerator (watch the screen) then I don't think you have a problem.
I don't know how many miles you have on yours yet, but I'm over 4000 and I have yet to discover just what all the (subtle) noises are.
Anyways, on all three toyota camry hybrids, I did notice a faint rumble every time I started off from a dead start. During one test drive, the sales person told me this was the gas engine kicking in... so it seems pretty normal if you ask me!
Does anyone havea rattle in the sunroof when open and driving in excess of 40 mph? I notice one that is annoying me so I need to take it in anyway.
Other than that, this is a fabulous car that I am very, very happy with.
You’ll notice the slight rumble when your backing up and the ICE turns on. Also, you may notice the slight rumble when the ICE shuts down as you let off the gas pedal.
The first time I drove a TCH it didn’t seem to have much power, which scared the crap out of me since I had already bought it! Well, it turns out my foot was low on the gas pedal and I wasn’t getting any leverage on it. The position of the gas pedal was different than that of my Expedition, so for the first few weeks I had make sure my foot was squarely on the gas pedal with the ball of my size 13 foot near the top of the pedal.
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Looking forward to anyone who has had this serviced.
But hear is my main point on this post. I'm not sure if I expect to much but I think the wind noise is higher than I'd like and I'm not sure if I have a real problem. At 60 or so on the highway, I definitely hear outside wind noise. I have crained my neck all over to try and see if its any actual leak or whistle and it does not seem to be anything specific coming from a window or door on the driver side - I haven't had an opportunity to check passenger side but it doesn't seem to be a problem. It just seems that the car is relatively quiet but with no ac and radio off, you definitely hear the wind. Seems like most people feel the car if very quiet. Can anyone comment on whether they mean that the engine and operation is quiet, which I agree, or whether they mean the ride is silent at highway speed. I know its an unfair comparison but a high end car like a lexus is definitely silent even at highway speed. I guess I shouldn't expect that - but if others think its comparable and silent, then maybe just my car has a problem that I need to get looked into.
If you want near silence, at $90,000+ Mercedes is an excellent choice. Notice that the glass in the Mercedes is nearly 1/2 an inch thick!
I think you are dwelling on a small thing, maybe...
I did have my window down the other day while backing out of my garage and was surprised at how many "unfamiliar" or nontraditional noises this thing makes. I'm not sure some of the rattles and noises I hear while driving are squeeks and rattles but rather actually just all the gee-wizardry going on under the hood and some of that makes it back into the cabin. Obviously it was a concern for Toyota or they would not have made the windshield thicker.
I wonder if better tires would make a noticeable difference?
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Seriously, if the tires are a bit overly inflated, they could cause a bit harsher ride, making for some additional squeaks and thunks.
This thing is sprung so softly I can't imagine solid tires making it rough
Is it possible that this is the case on your car? Also check the rubber weatherstrips all around each window for folded or bent sections. My brother in law bought a new Avalon, and one part was folded under glass on the drivers door. Rolled the window down, and unfolded it, and ran the winodow back up. Now it is fine.
This car is quiet on the freeway. I have taken the car (briefly) up to some high speeds and haven't noticed any significant wind noise.
good luck.
tom
I did take it all apart when I installed my XM Radio kit but that seemed to have only made it worse. hehe. Guess I won't tell the dealership about that when I take it in to get the squeeking looked at.
My dealer offered the same solution, but I didn't want them to take out to whole panel. Did they take abunch of panel apart to install the felt?
I may still take the storage compartment out and try placing a few of the felt tabs around to see what happens. :-)
Thanks again!
Thanks
Where did you put the felt pads to stop the console squeak? I'm trying to find the source of that noise also!
I haven't taken my car back to the dealer yet but usually they don't fix the noises and I end up fixing them myself anyway.
tom
I brought it back to the dealer, and they said they cleaned out the window track and lubricated the weather stripping. That took care of it for a day, it's back again.
If I lower the driver's door window a little bit, the rattle goes away. I'll probably bring it back to the dealer when I have time.
Also, has anyone noticed a louder whine than usual when letting off the gas at, say 50 mph? I have a much more pronounced high pitched sound of a radial saw when it is winding down - This would be when it is charging and the motor is disengaged. Something is unusual that I have not heard before.
Do any of you have carpet issues???? I noticed it in the back first. The carpet looks kind of loose, when I press down in some places the carpet falls inward, like there is a gap between the carpet and frame. This is apparent in the front as well. Please let me know, I need to bring this up when I go in to have console switched out.