Pumping brake pedal at stop and flashing traction control light

There should be a charge, for asking a question that is clearly answered in the owner's manual. YES, its boring, and at times poorly written. But the answer was there.

OP, you don't want to be like these people b/c you were "too busy," to be bothered to read the warranty booklet. Ignorance can be expensive as these people found out. Do yourself a favor and read.
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Is this an option or is it present on all v's? I remember reading about it in my manual, not being able to get it to work and I wasn't sure if my 2015 v level 3 had it. After reading this thread, I tried pumping the brakes hard but it doesn't seem to be activating.

 

Hill Hold activation requires a single, progressively harder push on the brake pedal, about double the usual effort.

 

Reread your owners manual, carefully. Reference post #6.

The manufactures directions appear straight forward to me:

"To engage, push further down on brake pedal while at a complete stop until a beep sounds and slip indicator illuminates. HAC holds for approximately two seconds after releasing brake pedal.”

1) Already be at a complete stop w/ normal brake pedal pressure.
2) Depress the brake pedal further until a beep sound is heard AND slip indicator illuminates.
3) HAC holds the brakes for ~2sec.
4) Release brake pedal, step on gas, HAC deactivates.​

 

Ok, I've tested more and reviewed the manual. The hill assist does work- it locks brakes for a couple of seconds and releases when I hit the accelerator but it doesn't appear to activate the traction control light on my 2015 Prius v level three. I think this may be why I was wondering if it was working. I also played with turning traction control on and off and I don't see a light for it being off. Does it seem like something could be wrong with my display system?

 

All the dash lights should light up, for a few seconds (maybe upto 5sec), when you make the car IG-ON (foot OFF brake, press POWER button twice). If you do not see that slip indicator light: 1) IDK, maybe your trim does not have it as a light? 2) the light bulb is burned out; most likely.

 

Good idea to check to see if the light ever works like when powering up. I've wondered about the trim level but manual indicates that I have those lights and especially the one when I turn traction control off.

 

You will have to do the IG-ON check.

If no light, then goto the dealer for warranty repair. The new car warranty of 3yr/36K mile will cover this repair. If you are over 3yr/36K mile, maybe some other warranty will cover it, or ask for Goodwill Service/Gesture from Toyota Customer Care.

 

My brakes are already "mushy" on my new Gen4.

Wuzzup wit dat?!

They've never felt the same, after my wild screaming adventure down that long hill... at 94 mph.

Did you know a Prius is hard to stop when going that fast? Downhill? You guys never told me a Pre-Eye has wimpy brakes!

(Forgot to shift into the "B" mode. My PWR got away from me. )

 

How would we know the Prius has wimpy brakes, we bought it to get good gas mileage and drive like we want to go forever. You save some gas if you brake gently, you save all the gas if you avoid braking at all.

Mushy brakes got so hot they boiled and have air in the lines. If it was me, I would bite the bullet and have the dealer bleed the brakes. They have the software for that, it will be a lot of fluid. Prius brakes are complex.

 

NOW you tell me, Jimbo. Prius brakes are complex? I don't doubt that, and they seem good in every-day normal driving. Breaking "gently" is doable in Southern Ca traffic, but the long "glide slopes" I find to be impossible, in busy traffic.

Good gas mileage? You bet. Amazing, for me, because I drive it like a Corvette and still average 64.7 from a full tank. In fact, it's so good I don't even keep track of MPG's anymore. One of the reasons why I bought a Prius, is so that I would not have to be concerned with gas mileage, and not have to keep checking it. (I guess I'm a non-typical Prius driver. I just get in, and enjoy the drive.) 64 MPG is plenty.

Did you hear Hillary at the debate? She said "the United States is totally energy independent" now. So hopefully, when I go buy my Mobil Synergy gas, the oil is being drilled and refined right here in the good ol' USA. (Somehow I doubt that though.)

 

Now you know when to use B and the benefits of it.

Since your car is likely still under warranty, go back to the dealer to have the brakes rexamined. Pay for a complete brake fluid flush, $100 plus/minus a few dollars seems to be a fair dealership cost. I would insist on watching them perform the flush to make sure it is done correctly.

EDIT: The inspection fee would be covered under the new car 3yr/36K mile warranty. The likely required repair would not.

 

Mis-using and overheating the brakes to the degree that they fade-in-use due to a fluid boil is hardly a warranty issue.

Persistent pedal softness afterwards is evidence of either flexible brake line damage (due to heat) or glazed/otherwise compromised pads, again, not a warranty issue.

 

Hill-start assist control is discussed in the 2016 Owner's Manual; but it does not tell you how to activate it. I have yet to be able to get it to activate. It might be we lost it for 2016 or it works so automatically that it determines when the hill is steep enough to need it.

Has any 2016 owner used the Hill-start assist control feature successfully?

 

Reread posts 6 & 24.
User Iris figured it out in post 25.

 

This is from a Gen 2 not a Gen 4, but you get the idea, all 10 of those relays need to be in the correct position to bleed the brakes.

 

Holy Smoke! Definitely complex. Thanks, Jimbo.

 

I will have to check the 2016 owner's manual again. Does anybody have the PDF version handy?

Mine seemed to work fine, Don, on a fairly steep hill. It was automatic. I didn't "activate" it. But I've only tried it once.

I know one thing, there was no assist when I needed to reverse up a hill. The car kept rolling forward. I had to apply the parking brake, juice the gas pedal a bit, and then quickly release the parking brake.

 

No heel-and-toe in the Prius?

 

Not that hard, @NutzAboutBolts has a video on it, doable DIY by setting the car in "invalid" mode. I have a couple of pint bottles of Toyota DOT3 fluid, hoses with bleed caps, a hypodermic with tube extension (to act as baster) and a Kirkland mayo jar with a hole in the lid. I'm ready, just waiting for when I put the snow tires on, easier to do with the wheels off.