After Four Dealership Visits, Toyota Owner Finds Answers From Independent Repair Shop
After four dealership visits, the owner of a 2013 Toyota Avalon was only able to resolve an infuriating noise coming from his car after seeking out help from an independent technician, according to Auto Evolution.
The problem lied with a rattle sound that the owner did not know how to get rid of. A customer of Toyota’s dealer network for 12 years, he opted to take his Avalon there. He made four visits, with service techs telling him each time that the sound was normal, and there was nothing they could do.
That’s when the Avalon owner found David Long, owner of Omega Auto Clinic, as well as an automotive YouTuber with over a million subscribers. The driver traveled all the way from Arkansas to Newton, Kansas, to seek out Long’s services.
Long went right to work, popping the hood and seeing nothing was loose and not seeing anything out of place underneath. He inspected the tie rods, ball joints, sway bar links, bushings, and the guide pins on the brake calipers, but to no avail.
Stumped, Long did some research of his own on rattling sounds in Toyotas, discovering that many vehicle owners online had encountered this same problem and found it stemmed from the electric power steering damper. Sure enough, Long inspected the steering column and saw that was the problem.
Upon dismantling the power steering motor, it revealed green rubber pieces: the spacer of the electric power steering star-shaped damper, now torn up inside the motor and causing the rattling noise.
The fix was simple: Toyota sells kits supplying the damper and the spacer, with prices ranging between $8-$10. Replacing those components can take hours, but hopefully, Long’s experience may save other shops and vehicle owners from wasting their time diagnosing the same issue.
