I hear the "clunking" sound and it is related to the brakes depressurizing.

This sometimes occurs ~5 min after the engine is shut off.

If you had the car in EV for 4.5 minutes prior to turning the key off, you could hear this 30 seconds after exiting the car, when normally you don't etc. This time is approximte. I've not actually measured it, and may vary a few minutes either direction.

My point is:
The brake depressurize is not always 5 minutes after turning the key off.
It is sometimes much sooner in my car.
-John

 

I don't think they are describing the brake noise... they talk about a thunk that is repeated and gets softer over time... The brakes make a thunk or two and then quit. I'm pretty sure they are referring to the fuel in this case don't you think.

 

I've noticed this noise. It happens when the tank is full or nearly so and is really noticeable at a stoplight in idle stop mode. It's more pronounced if you stop more quickly than normal.

I'm really familiar with the other noise. If you are still near the vehicle a few minutes after shutdown, there's a fairly obvious clunk - whir - hiss - clunk as the brake system depressurizes.

 

I have it in my 08. I can also get the noise by rocking the car when it is sitting & the engine is off. The deler put in a new tank but no fix. THE NOISE WILL LAST FOR 40 SECONDS. will take it in next week.

 

Fuel slosh is totally harmless. The danger of something else getting messed up when the tank is removed would make me tend to just ignore it. Mine does it, too, BTW.

 

I ignore all these sounds too

 

Its fuel sloshing in the tank... they can't "fix" it. The only reason its so evident is because your engine is off in EV and the car is so darn quiet in those times....

Just ignore it.

 

Ditto here too. My 08 FEH makes the same sound when the fuel tank is near full. Harmless.

 

Interesting. I have just recently noticed this sound, as well. The sound I am hearing is definitely, NOT fuel sloshing. This is a mechanical sound, not a liquid sound, almost like a heart beat. The volume of the sound stays steady for a while before it starts to fade out. The first time I heard it was after pulling into the garage very slowly in stealth mode. I walked all the way around the car but couldn't really tell where it was coming from, as it seemed just as loud near the front of the car as it did in the back. Somewhere underneath in the middle. It started fading out just before I was going to lie down on the garage floor and listen for it. I just figured it was some kind of pump (it sounds like an an old fashioned gas pump) and just one of the many odd hybrid sounds this car makes. Doesn't do it every time I stop, just once in a while. Mine is a 2008 4WD FEH.

 

I think what you are hearing is caused by the fuel in the tank as it bounces off the front and rear walls of the tank.