2007 Prius has C1253 AFTER dealership replaces Brake Actuator

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by eelfner, May 5, 2023.

  1. eelfner

    eelfner Curious Dude

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    My 2007 Prius recently had brake issues with codes: C1256, C1253, C1252. Took to the Toyota dealership. They said need to replace Brake Actuator. Total price after taxes ~$3600. An out-of-town shop would do it for $2200, but too difficult to manage the logistics. I pretty much assume the car is not worth this with a variety of body and paint damage and 175k miles. But, I said ok because car has been trouble free for years.

    Upon pickup of the car, the dash warning lights were still on: BRAKE, ((!)), ABS, VSC.

    Now dealership wants another $500 to do further diagnostics. They did say the car was "Safe to Drive". Unsure if I believe them.

    Seems time to cut my losses. I have read many posts here on this brake actuator and know that it can be problematic. I may try to recoup some of the spent money.

    Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! TIA
     
    #1 eelfner, May 5, 2023
  2. ColoradoCrow

    ColoradoCrow Senior Member

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    WOW that much much and all the lights are still on? Ridiculous. I would talk to the service manager. Then the guy that owns the dealership.

    Did they also change out the large resistor under the left side of the dashboard? It protects the voltage going to the Brake Accumulator.

    See Mr. B's video here.......


    Or maybe they "forgot" to reset the codes after they completed the work. The bottom line is it is NOT REPAIRED.
    TRY AGAIN guys. They should pay for it.
     
    #2 ColoradoCrow, May 5, 2023
  3. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    The resistor provides the "low" speed of the pressure pump. One of the pump relays supplies the pump through the resistor, and the other pump relay supplies it directly.

    Resistor matched to the pump may provide the quietest "low" pump speed, but I don't think is otherwise critical.
     
    #3 ChapmanF, May 5, 2023
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  4. eelfner

    eelfner Curious Dude

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    Thanks! Future is unclear, but I guess things could be worse...
     
    #4 eelfner, May 6, 2023
  5. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    What a shame. Sounds like they didn't fix the problem.

    I did 2 of these jobs recently, one a couple weeks ago on a black 2008 and one this morning on a driftwood pearl 2008 using salvage yard actuators and the jobs went flawless. Not the best way to spend a Saturday morning, but feels good to bang it out, do the brake fluid flush, linear valve offset relearn and yaw reset, and then have everything work!

    A dealership, using a brand new actuator can't get it right? wth? That's pretty disappointing.
     
    #5 TMR-JWAP, May 7, 2023
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  6. douglasjre

    douglasjre Senior Member

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    I find very often on these we're not getting the whole story. There's not enough information for me to pass judgment on this one. Please provide more information
     
    #6 douglasjre, May 7, 2023
  7. eelfner

    eelfner Curious Dude

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    I feel the same! Although I'm a DIY kinda guy, this work and understanding is well beyond my preference. Frustrating as hell to communicate through a "customer advisor ".
     
    #7 eelfner, May 7, 2023
  8. douglasjre

    douglasjre Senior Member

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    The learning curve in this car is incredibly steep and if you don't have the basic knowledge as a mechanic before entering into this project you will not be able to learn this car in my opinion. There's too much to learn like basic diagnostic techniques. First you need to understand principles. I understand that mechanics school is now 3 and 1/2 years long. For good reason in my opinion.

    I was a mechanic in a power equipment repair shop that did light duty equipment and small heavy equipment. Things like bobcat and Kubota. I worked on CVTs and hydrostatic drive systems and the like. We had a service manager who was a terrible mechanic but he was able to translate a customer complaint onto the work order pretty well. For commercial customers I would just meet with them individually rather than deal with the service manager transcribing something.
     
    #8 douglasjre, May 8, 2023
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