Prepping for ABS Actuator Replacement

I've been experiencing that rattlesnake sound every approximately 10 seconds for the last few months, regardless of if my brake pedal is depressed. So I went ahead and picked up a used actuator and I'm getting ready to replace the old one.

I've watched a couple of YouTube videos showing the replacement, but still have a few questions..

I'm not great with gauging torque. I even use a torque wrench when changing oil. Does someone have the torque specs for the nuts/bolts that would be involved with this procedure? Any tips on how much to tighten the brake lines as it won't be possible to use a torque wrench on those.

Has anyone here successfully performed a manual bleed without a scan tool after replacing the actuator? This YouTube video claims that a manual bleed with car off and pedal depressed should work fine. If I can hear the actuator pump functioning during this procedure, is it possible that all the valves inside the actuator are open, allowing for a good bleed? I just managed to install Techstream on an old laptop, so if this manual bleed doesn't work, I'll try the Techstream option.

Any other tips related to replacing the actuator is appreciated!

 

Well tonight's the night - I'm going to start taking things apart - my plan is to at least get the inverter out of the way. Then I'll have time to finish up the old actuator removal tomorrow afternoon and Monday if needed. I'm going to take it really sloooow as this is probably the most difficult job I've tackled.

If anyone has the torque specs for all the bolts around the actuator, that will be really helpful. Otherwise, is there a general torque recommendation for engine compartment 10mm and 12mm mounting bolts. I found the specs for all the inverter bolts. Then for the brake lines, someone suggested tighten until snug and then go 1/4 turn past that. Any other suggestions?

I didn't end up purchasing a Thinkdiag scantool. I'm going to take a chance that the VCI cable I purchased works. If not, I'll order one.

 

That was difficult but I managed to get the actuator removed. I did break one of the plastic clips (see attached pic pink square) holding the brake line - should be okay to just zip tie it right?

Also, I the videos I watched didn't suggest removing the upper brake line completely. Not sure why but this seems like a good idea - green square is where other end connects. I also zip tied the main group of brake lines together and worked them under the triangular actuator bracket before working the bracket loose. I wrestled with it for about 20 minutes, seemingly making no progress. Then, I realized that the bracket was catching on the actuator frame bolts in the rear - so it was necessary to pull it forward (maybe up a bit too) to first release the actuator from those two bolts. Maybe this detail helps someone in the future - it should have been obvious, but it took me a while to figure out!

Hopefully, I didn't bend the brakes lines too badly. However, I think I may have lightly scuffed the flared part at the end of one of the brake lines. Post mortem tomorrow. Also, still hoping someone posts those toque specs!

 

Hmm, when I was doing my research, I recall the Thinkdiag Mini as just being a basic code-reading scannner, not capable of bidirectional control. You want the regular Thinkdiag (about $75 on Ebay or $100 on Amazon) or the Thinkdiag 2 (about $20 more). Note that these are OBD2 units that communicate with an app on your phone. The reason I decided not to go with Thnkdiag, is that multiple reviews said that using the app was confusing.

 

You were actually one of the sources that seemed to indicate Thinkdiag was confusing, "ThinkDiag works but their language translation makes it difficult to follow. ("take the key out of the slot then put the key in the slot" - you have to guess which key {old or new} is used when)."

Have you tried it for bleeding brakes on the Gen 2 Prius?

 

New (well used) unit is in! I found it more difficult to get the replacement in compared with removing the old unit - most people seem to have the opposite experience.

Tightening the brake lines was a a bit of a guessing game. I followed a suggestion I found online to snug up, back off, snug up again then go 1/2 turn further (I could only comfortably rotate 1/4 turn)... and repeat a few times. No clue if I over-torqued - I guess we'll find out tomorrow when I bleed the brakes.

Another concern was after tightening the horizontally aligned front entry lines, another online video suggested leaving the top line loose and adding brake fluid until it started seeping out of the top line. This didn't work for me... I added some fluid, the reservoir level dropped, I repeated but the reservoir level stabilized without any fluid leaking from the top brake line.