Only 38mpg and lights on the dash related?

I appreciate the links for the part sources. It's bizarre that the 2010-15 Prius skid control ECU is basically unsearchable on the internet. It turns out it's part of the brake actuator assembly (thanks ChapmanF).

I now know the brake actuator/booster might be subject to this new "customer support program" which looks like a recall to me, applying to my year of car. I don't know if they'd replace the brake actuator/skid control at the same time though.

 

FIXED:

So here’s the epilogue to this: Finally took the car to the dealer (an Autonation Toyota) to see if the ZJB customer support program applies. First time ever having one of my cars repaired at one, and I’ve been driving old cars almost 25 years. Well, it worked.

They said my car didn’t have any of the 4 brake codes covered by the program but since it had another code that applied to the brake booster/pump, they would replace it anyway. That was a major relief. Anyway, they replaced those parts (which the brake computer “skid control” module is built into) and everything works!

We now have regenerative braking for the first time ever while owning this car. Wife and I had gotten our average up to about 43mpg in mostly city use before the fix. I’ll report back how it does the next few tanks.

Moral of the story: get your car checked for the ZJB program. Even if you think it might not apply, they might fix your car for free.

Shout out to Eddy (who was right on the money right away about the regenerative brakes being offline), Chapman, McCoalroller, Mendel, Ray and everybody else who helped me on the way to fixing this.

 

Mendel, Yeah I’m a big fan of Robert Carlyle. I appreciate the suggestion.

Dig4dirt, yeah my suspicions definitely peaked when I drove my friend’s Prius.

Just so everyone knows, if your regenerative brakes are working, you should be able to max out the charge bar to the left. If it’s not working, on deceleration it’s only going to barely move to the left.

 

Holy hell you again...

1) Yes, every single time you hit the brakes the charge bar is going to move and usually a lot. In 100 miles of driving since fixing the regen I have yet to experience a condition where I can’t max out the charge bar with the brakes.

2) If your regen is broken and you’re coasting to a stop from any decent speed the charge indicator will light up slightly from the momentum of your car putting some charge through the motor.

I literally have driven the car in these conditions, regen broken and working, in the past week.

Sam, you need to stop doing this contrarian thing, man. Literally every reply you’ve made in this post is either intentionally pessimistic, needlessly condescending or just plain factually wrong. I’m beginning to wonder whether you have a Prius.

 

? Car’s running great now

 

Yes the charge zone, the one that moves to the left when you hit the brakes. I wasn’t talking about the battery level indicator in any way.

 

You misread what I wrote and then twisted it to act like I was "wrong." I was talking about the CHG zone, not the battery state of charge indicator.

I was talking about the charge indicator moving to the left (hence my use of key words such as “charge” and “to the left”), not the battery level (hence my having not used the words “battery level” or "state of charge" at all).

I thought that referring to the charge indicator moving to the left (since it’s literally the only gauge on the MFD that does that) was enough to be clear but it appears I was mistaken.

I just put that in as an aside to help other Prius owners and you turned it into an opportunity to be condescending again, and you weren’t even right. I don’t get what your deal is but you aren’t a helpful person.

 

There's no HV quick charge happening. The vertical battery level (or charge level) doesn't fluctuate very quickly. I was just talking about the horizontal gauge that goes left (CHG side) to right (PWR side). I was talking about how the brake causes it to move. I'm talking about the CHG in that picture up there moving when you hit the brakes.

To further clarify, there is nothing wrong with the car right now (I literally just got it back from the dealer and posted a comment about how everything is working now), and I was just putting that aside on the end of my comment so that other Prius drivers would know how to diagnose inoperative regenerative braking.

 

Yes it always showed a little charging whenever I decelerated just from the momentum of the car