2007 Prius won't turn on after changing Brake Actuator

Figured I'd write this post because I can't seem to find any information on my situation online. Maybe this can help someone out in the future so I will try to update this post throughout with hopefully a solution if I find one. Just a heads up I am not a mechanic or anything. I can do regular maintenance work and this is most difficult thing I've done to a car other than brakes and struts.

So I purchased a used 2007 Prius about a month ago and a week later I started hearing weird noises when I pressed on the brakes all the way. It was a chirping/squeal sound. After doing some research I learned that it was a sign of a bad ABS actuator. They're expensive new so I ordered a refurbished one online for cheaper. Came with a warranty so I figured I would give it a go.

Of course to do any work to the car I had to disconnect the 12V battery and the hybrid battery. I took the old part out and put the refurbished one in and it went smoothly. I connected the batteries back up and opened my car door expecting for the actuator to turn on since that's how it works. I have the smart key feature.

The actuator did not turn on so I decided to turn the car on but not to start the engine. Still nothing the actuator would not turn on. So before I took it all apart again to see if I could find out what went wrong I decided to turn the car on. The car turned on and the actuator turned on as well! Success! I thought.. next I would have to bleed the brakes and I would be good to go.

When I turned the car on there was a bunch of weird lights turning on and there was a constant beep going off which I later learned that it was a brake pressure alarm. If it wasn't for the lights and the beeping the car would have seemed fixed. I was hoping this would all go away after I bled the brakes.

My issue was when I came back to the car I was again expecting the actuator to turn on when I opened the door but it did not. So I tried to turn the car back on and it wouldn't. I kept trying for about 5 minutes and I realized all the electrical things in the car weren't turning on except a light on the power button that did nothing when pressed.

I tried holding the power button and got nothing. I tried disconnecting the batteries and connecting them again and got nothing other than the power light turns green and when I press it it turns red and blinks slowly getting dimmer. Sounds like the battery a bit so I went to test the battery with a multi meter I purchases and barely know how to use and the battery said 8V. That's a really dead battery but how is it possibly that low?

I will be charging it and testing it later tonight or tomorrow to update more on this situation.

If someone can help by pointing me to the right direction on where to check next if it's not the battery I'd really appreciate it. Again I'll keep this post updated since I plan on using this forum to learn more about these cars since it is easily my favorite car I have ever owned.

 

I'm going to have to do some research on batteries. It don't understand enough to make sense of a battery just dying from not being used. I've had similar issues with working on different vehicles and batteries dying while I work on them.

I ordered a techstream kit off amazon with the cable and software. We'll see how that works but so far the software included has terrible instructions.

edit: Also the part was not Dorman it was a refurbished Toyota part. Not sure I believe if it actually is refurbished but the ebay seller had excellent reviews with past sold actuator parts and had a 30 day warranty. They probably just yanked one out of a junked prius.

edit2: Thanks for the welcome! Hope to not be another user that just posts for help lol.

 

I'll keep that in mind next time I work on the car. I'm still learning a lot about these cars.

Update: So I charged the battery and after less than an hour I checked it to make sure it was charging and it said it was at 12.2v. Popped it back in and the car was clearly getting more power. The car door open beep was working and the little screen was working but then it started to quickly started losing power again. I checked the battery again and it read at 9v and was pretty quickly dropping.

Took it to autozone to get it charged and tested and after an hour I learned that it was a bad battery. According to their device that tests it. It makes sense from how it was behaving so I purchased a new one (one of the yellow cap ones) and will be getting it tomorrow. I will update after that.

 

EDIT: I just realized the title is supposed to say "ON". My prius won't turn on after installing the actuator.

Update: Still waiting on new battery. Should be here tomorrow. Is there anything I should know before dropping the new battery in? So it doesn't die again? I still have to bleed the brakes. From what I understand the battery turns the electric parts of the car on and the engine. The engine then charges the hybrid battery and then the hybrid battery charges the 12v battery. Does that mean that I should start the car in order to bleed the brakes? My car has been sitting for about a week.. I feel like the hybrid battery might be drained..

 

Okay got it thank you! Also probably a dumb question but do I connect the battery and the charger directly or from the front (under the hood) positive and negative connections? I've read too many other posts about people trying to jump start their cars wrong and breaking something else so I am trying not to mess up here. I know I'm not jumping the car just being precautious.

 

Did some research and found a lot of people add a trickle charger to their 12v battery in the trunk. So it is safe to charge your battery when it is still in the vehicle. Thanks anyways!

 

Update: Tried using techstream to do the brake bleeding and it would not complete. I kept getting an error message. I did a bit of research and found that the actuator/accumulator assembly was suppose to turn on during the bleeding process and mine was not.

I read that I had to reset the ABS memory and run the Linear Valve Offset service with techstream. It requires the battery to be fully charged so I am waiting a couple hours for the 12v battery to charge and will be proceeding with the service after. Hopefully the actuator/accumulator assembly turns on after that.

IF it does NOT turn on is it due to a bad actuator/accumulator assembly? Or is there anything else I can check before I start trying to take it out and ask for a replacement/refund?

Edit: Got the diagnostic codes: C1203 (Engine Control System Communication Circuit), C1256 (ACCumulator Low Pressure), C1345 (Not Learning Linear Valve Offset), C1392 (Un-Correction of a Zero Point of the Stroke Sensor)

 

I get no whirr sounds. The whirr sounds I'm assuming is the actuator assembly running and building pressure so this should happen when I try to bleed the brakes. It does not happen when I try and bleed the brakes.

I lost communication a couple times but that wasn't my issue my issue was the break bleeding process would fail. I would get an error and it would tell me to make sure the car is on a flat surface, parking break is applied, ignition switch is on and the vehicle is stopped. I am assuming the reason why the procedure won't complete is because the actuator assembly is not building pressure as in it is not turn on.

Let me know if that makes sense. I also watched this video and this is how I learned that the actuator assembly should turn on when bleeding the rear brakes.

 

Update: Let me know if this sounds familiar to anyone. I can't seem to find any more info online on how to get the actuator assembly working.

Using techstream:
I read that I was suppose to reset the memory with the ABS/VSC/TRAC Utility. I double click on Test Mode and run through those instructions. Then I was suppose to the ECB Utility and do the Linear Valve Offset. This is suppose to get the actuator assembly running.
I'm not exactly sure how in all the youtube videos people that installed their actuator assembly just popped it in and it right away started running after putting everything back together?!

Anyways my problem now is when I try to run through the Test Mode instructions to confirm that it had successfully ran that utility I should see the ABS light blink. It does not blink. Techstream does not verify if it successfully completed. It instead says if it does not blink retry until it does. I retried and it does not cause the ABS light to blink. If I ignore that part and continue to the ECB Utility > Linear Valve Offset part during that process is when the actuator assembly is suppose to start running and to show that that utility is working 3 lights on the dashboard are suppose to blink rapidly according to techstream. I tried this multiple times and they do not blink.

I will try it one more time tomorrow and if it doesn't work I am going to try removing the actuator assembly and will try these tests with my old actuator assembly since that one did somewhat work. I will also be returning that part since I believe it does not work and will be requesting for a replacement or refund.

 

The error message was that simple message I posted above. Did not say anything other than "Air Bleeding has failed. Verify the initial conditions: 1 The vehicle is stopped. 2 The parking break is applied. 3 The ignition switch is on. Do you want to try again?"

I didn't post screenshots but I did write down the codes and the descriptions (as posted above)... Got the diagnostic codes: C1203 (Engine Control System Communication Circuit), C1256 (ACCumulator Low Pressure), C1345 (Not Learning Linear Valve Offset), C1392 (Un-Correction of a Zero Point of the Stroke Sensor)

 

Funny that you mention that. I just now starting looking for a list of all the fuses and relays to test them. Purchased a multimeter not long ago for the actuator assembly removal. Will do research tomorrow on how to test all that.

At a quick glance it seems like I will have to test the (fuses) - ABS MAIN1 - 3 fuses, ABS-1, ABS-2 and (relays) ABS No.1, ABS No.2, ABS MTR, ABS MTR 2.

Thanks for the response. Makes me a little less stressed when I understand a bit more of what is happening.