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Skid Control ECU

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Mark_, Jul 7, 2010.

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  1. Mark_

    Mark_ New Member

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    Skid Control ECU failure - brake failure

    Hi

    I am new to this forum and am from Auckland, New Zealand. I have a 2004 Prius. It has nearly 200,000 km on the clock and is obviously outside of its warranty.

    Last week I was driving at 50km, as I approached a round about I went to apply the brakes and they did not engage. What did happen was the brake light came on, the ABS and warning light came on, a red triangular problem light came on - but no brakes - to avoid hitting the car in front of me I had to swerve up on to the footpath.

    I had it towed to a Toyota dealer who also services the vehicle. They told me my Skid Control ECU had failed and needed to be replaced. Cost NZ $5000, then a revised price of NZ $3,500 + labour.

    The part number I have been given for the Skid Control ECU is 89540-47050 - I have been unable to source a second hand one.

    This is the second time this has happened to me. Two years ago I was driving at $100Km when the same warning lights came on, although that time I had a loss of eletrical power and ended up in a ditch.

    Locally toyotas response has been there is no problem you are a one off and you just need to pay the money . I don't believe i am a one off, googling seems to suggest a lot of people are having similar problems.

    I am holding off from paying toyota as twice now i have narrowly avoided serious accidents (or worse) due to what I perceive is a design fault of the car.

    I would specifcally like to hear from other drivers who have had the same Skid Control ECU failure as i would like to present a case to toyota here in New Zealand.

    Two weeks later my car is still off the road with the dealership so if anybody would know how I could source a second hand skid control ecu (part number 89540-47050) or could even advise if it is possible to get these repaired.

    Would appreciate any advice or feedback

    Cheers

    Mark
     
    #1 Mark_, Jul 7, 2010
  2. djasonw

    djasonw Active Member

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    Sorry to hear about your mishap(s). I have a 2004 but have never experienced anything as you described. I am not sure how business is conducted in NZ with respect to escalating your claim to a higher ranking official at Toyota. Here in the States we would probably contact a regional manager and take it from there. In your instance, you may want to refer to your owner's manual which will have information on possibly who to contact. Good luck and please keep us posted.
     
    #2 djasonw, Jul 8, 2010
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  3. Mark_

    Mark_ New Member

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    Re: Skid Control ECU failure - brake failure

    Thanks for your reply. There is an independant arm of Toyota in NZ called the Custome Dialogue Team and I have been liasing with them. While there seems to be a lot of concern as to what happened, because the car is at 200,000 kms and out of warranty, they are saying there is nothing they can do and that this is an isolated case - which I don't believe it is. We have an automobile assoication in NZ, so I will go to their technical team and talk to them as well.

    My concern is around not only the cost of replacing the skid control ECU but the seriousness of the result of it failing - and this seems to me to be a design fault?

    The dealers service manager has an ECU guru coming in to look at the Skid Control ECU this afternoon to see if they can repair it - rather than replacing it - which may work out considerably cheaper.

    Still interested in hearing from other people who have had Skid Control ECU failures

    Many thanks
     
    #3 Mark_, Jul 8, 2010
  4. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-prius-main-forum/11798-brake-failures-04-prius-5.html

    You might want to read the entire string. My posts #48 and #54 are relevant to your issue. I bought the 2007 from my dad when he bought a 2010 earlier this year.

    It is interesting to see that your car has a different skid control ECU with a higher part number, although it is three years older.

    I would agree that your case is "isolated", in the sense that the number of cases is less than 0.01%. Let's say there are 800K 2G Prius worldwide. 0.01% equates to 80 occurrences.

    The Prius is extremely complex and as the 2G population ages and starts to suffer from wiring harness issues, flaky electronics, etc., I'm sure that we will see these random events occur more frequently.

    I would be very surprised if it were possible to repair the ECU by any means other than returning it to the factory where it was produced.

    Here's another relevant string:
    http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-prius-main-forum/19415-brake-failure-2005-prius.html
     
    #4 Patrick Wong, Jul 8, 2010
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  5. RobH

    RobH Senior Member

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    The difference may be because the NZ vehicle has rear disk brakes, while the NA version uses drums. I'd expect the difference to be firmware only, but who knows?
     
    #5 RobH, Jul 9, 2010
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