car stopped running, 4 codes pulled

Is the plastic pieces under the steering wheel all held together by just clips? I have to remove that to get to the switch. I only see one screw to remove, next to the SKS button. I don't see anymore screws. I tried taking the pieces apart but I feel a little resistance around the left corner. I don't want to break anything. Can someone tell me how this comes apart?

Found instructions at autobeyours...........

 

I got to the brake switch, are both of the nuts on either side mounting the brake switch suppose to move freely? It's pretty tight under there and I can't seem to loosen any of the nutss. The nut facing the brake pedal side seems like it may have been welded tight too.

 

This is a hard part to find. All the dealers locally have to special order the part.

 

It's the brake light switch....I got it out of the car. Damn I wonder how much Toyota charges to do this job, if you have big hands, it would be very hard to do.

 

OK, I'll report back Monday after I install the part. The part is a special order, won't have it til tomorrow. I probably won't mess with the car til Monday, it'll be family time!

 

Very interesting Tim, I read through your whole thread and noticed your problem occurred after a long drive. On this car I'm working on, it too was driven for a long drive, hundreds of miles and these codes came up. I wonder if the long drive has anything to do with triggering the Transaxle codes.

 

Patrick, thanks for the heads up. I will do that right now.

 

I had a little time in between football games and decided to install the brake switch. Brake switch is installed and initially the warning lights were off for a good 5 minutes but then came back. The same 2 warning lights, the red triangle and the one that's related to the brake.

I erased the codes and restarted again, same thing the warning lights appeared back but in about 1 minute. I could't understand why these lights took so little time to appear this time. I erased the codes and repeated the process. This time I moved the car a little in the parking lot, the lights reappeared but at a different time again, about 2 minutes. I finally did this multiple times and the same results happened over and over again.

I then decided to take it for a drive right after a reset. I noticed there was a roaring noise when I braked. Like the electronic brakes had a whine/roar coming to the stop. This noise never went away. The transmission also shudders a bit at take off, but after take off, it was pretty smooth.

The the most amazing part so far.............while the car was being driven, no warning lights came on. I drove for a good 10 minutes all around the block and no warning lights. It seemed to have appeared only as I was stationary.

I didn't have anymore time to spend on the car today so I shut down and went back to my family football time! To be continued on Monday.

 

I tried to start the car this morning but again it would not start. No warning lights on the dash but it won't start. I used my OBDII to clear the codes again and that seemed to have worked, the car started.

At this point I don't think I can do anything without re-scanning the car with a proper scan gauge to get the new fault codes. I believe the code for the brake light switch is gone, that's why I'm experiencing other symptoms from the other codes.

 

The braking sound I was hearing is not actually braking sound. When I drive it, I hear it as a sound similar to driving in 1st gear. I know this car has no gears so there must be another issue with the transmission. The roaring noise is the 1st gear sounding noise.

I will change out the Transaxle fluid next, just to see if it improves.

 

Yes it could be described as an engine sound. I thought it was related to the brakes as I hear it near the front right side. But it could be from the engine itself.

The sound is there when I accelerate and take my foot off the accelerator. I don't have to press the brake. It's like driving in 1st gear, but I'm able to speed up.

 

I thought it might be the bearings but I don't think bearing sound is like that. Also about 20,000 miles ago, the front bearings have been replaced.

 

Took it to a shop and replaced the transaxle fluid. Had them scan again and still got code P0AA6. The noise I was hearing when driving as though in 1st gear, the shop confirmed it's a transmission noise. Not sure what to do now.

 

I was reading a blog post from Luscious Garage, the following is for GenI Prius but it seems like everything I'm experiencing.

First generation Prius are prone to transmission failure. 99 times out of 100 the issue is a bad MG2 stator. Winding insulation degrades, creating a short between turns and/or phases. Heat from the short (high current) burns through surrounding insulation, broadening the affected area. Common symptoms can include:
1. Shudder during takeoff
2. Louder whine during regenerative braking
3. Temperature warning light (red thermometer)
4. Master Warning Light (red triangle)
5. Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs):

Will replacing the transaxle fix these problems?