Recall for brakes DID NOT fix the problem

ive written this before,,but my 03 prius had the same "problem". i considered it insignificant..ive only had this happen once in my 10 prius..considerably longer and a bit
un-nerving..prior to the occurance, i believed the recall to be unnecessary,,however now i will get it performed.

 

Iv'e had mine updated...felt the sensation twice befor the update...and once after. It's definitely a different feeling after the update- not nearly as "pedal goes to mush"...but you can tell the brakes definitely still feel a bit waffley when it hits.

 

Sorry for the confusion qbee42. I have a GenIII Prius. That was a typo and I went back and corrected my original post from 4-2-2010.

 

It is impossible to respond .... I did not think there was a problem in the first place.

I have never had an issue (10,000 + miles). I did take my G3 to the dealer (along with an oil change) for the ECU update, but I certainly did not think it was necessary. I did it only should I be involved in an accident, I did not want the insurance company to deny claim because I did not have the update.

 

Some drivers are wrongly expecting absolutely no delay between regen and friction after the update, when there should be a shorter delay like found in the Gen 2.

 

Hi there! I just got a new 2010 Prius III (with 600 miles so far), and I periodically get a slipping/skipping sensation when braking, similar to what has been posted in this thread.

Here is how you can recreate the symptom:
1. Drive to 50MPH (make sure no one is behind you)
2. Press on the brake slowly but firmly, like to almost stopping
3. Release pressure a little (do not take foot off the brake)
4. Then immediately press the brake again

You may have to do #3 and #4 repeatedly to recreate the symptom.

The scenario for the above would be if you had a car in front of you, and you were stopping for a traffic light. You may brake firmly to slow down, but then driver in front did not. So you have to release the brake slightly to continue coasting, and then press again to finally stop. The brakes would feel like they skipped/slipped to a stop for less than a second.

My significant other has felt the slipping/skipping too as a passenger when they occurred. It basically feels like the ABS comes on for both front wheels, then they catch to stop the car.

My vehicle has the ECM update:
Job Date Operation Operation Details Pay Type
1 03/31/2010 SAFETY RECALL AOB SAFETY RECALL AOB ~|~UP DATE FOR ABS ~|~CHECKED ECU FOR UPDATE, ALREADY PERFORMED

My independent mechanic has not been able to recreate the symptom today, but he surmises that one of my sensors may have a problem (not sure if he meant me or the car ).

Any ideas? I plan to schedule an appointment with the local Toyota service shop and will drive with a technician since I can recreate the symptom.

Thanks.

P.S. I also own a Gen I Prius, in full working order. Brakes work fine in this model...

 

If your car checks out and you can recreate it, please send me a PM. I'd like to send an accelerometer and ask that you replicate the symptom with the accelerometer recording the data.

Thanks,
Bob Wilson

 

I had experienced the defect several times, but I never considered it to be a safety problem. I did get the ECU re-flashed but it was not something I felt that I had to rush off and do.

Post re-flash, I have not experienced the problem even under conditions where I could reliably reproduce the problem. On the other hand, my wife experienced the problem for her first time after we had the ECU re-flashed. Interestingly, it was at the location where I used to be able to reliably reproduce the problem. So, yes, the defect is still there, though maybe the trigger is slightly different. (And yes, as a software engineer, I do consider it to be a defect...there's something about the input modelling that isn't quite right that's causing the brake dropout.)

Am I going to lose any sleep over it? No, not a wink. Defect, yes. Safety problem, no.

Intellectually, I am tempted to take up the offer of the accelerometer. But I need to see if I can get back to being able to reproduce the problem reliably first.

 

After the update I was able to reproduce the effect, but there was shorter brake drop out then before the update. When I changed to summer 17"/215/45 tires/rims from winter 15"/195/65 ones the drop out is not noticeable or I'm not able to reproduce it. So, maybe the rim size plays some role.

 

If I understand this issue correctly (and I well may not), Toyota:

(1) made a running change while building cars, so that the
cars made after that date didn't need the flash

(2) made a somewhat different flash (vs the new factory
fix) for the cars already built without the factory fix.

First, is the above accurate?

And, if so, how can you tell whether your car was made before or after the magic date when the factory fix was begun.

Does anyone know a VIN number which was the cross-over point, or similarly a date of manufacture which was the cross-over point?

I've guessed that if I don't hear from Toyota about the recall for the flash, then I'd have a build date with the factory fix... but don't know if this is true.

 

Why would you want to take someone else's word for whether your vehicle is on the recall list? Just go to the "My Toyota" site, register and when you log in it will tell you if there are any outstanding service bulletins or recalls for your car. You can also look at all the service put into the system by your dealer.

 

Will do Bob. My appointment with Toyota is on April 24. I decided to wait until my favorite service advisor was working on a Saturday. He helped me on my 2002 Prius hybrid battery problem.

 

Thanks for the tip. I registered and found the data on my car.

I didn't try that first simply because I didn't know about the site, much less what data you could access on it.

 

As I've said here in other threads, the only thing I've experienced was the VSC light below "ready" on the dash will flash briefly sometimes if I go over a pothole or rough spot with one wheel. I read it as the VS system telling me it's working. It does seem to happen at higher tire pressures in the 38-40 psi range. At lower pressures, I haven't seen it, so it has something to do with greater "bounce" at higher tire pressures. I haven't noticed anything unusual with the braking.

 

Both before and after the recall procedure was done on my 2010 Prius, I have felt brief forward surges when braking at slow speeds over bumpy surfaces. (NEVER felt a sensation like this in other cars with ABS.) I saw a number of complaints on aboutautomobile.com from people saying they had the same problem after the recall fix as before. Any reason to believe the recall accomplished anything?

 

Ah yes, the million dollar question... There are those that say it was never a problem. I had it happen to me once (before the upgrade) and to me if felt and acted like a malfunction. Have not felt it since (after the upgrade) but haven't had the same conditions either. Time will tell. In the meantime, the possibility it may happen again is firmly planted in my head and will stay prepared (leave plenty of braking distance).

 

Therein lies the irony of the issue ... doing what one's supposed to do anyway. Being one that LOVES getting high mpg's ... and 99% of the time, alowing for drive times to accomplish that ... the topic is baffling

.

 

You were right in predicting a collision. This happened to us. I posted it on the Gen 11 forum. The 2009s have not been recalled but they suffer from the same problem and I predict they will be. In the meantime we will see if our dealer will take it in trade for a non-hybrid car. We have lost faith after 42 years with Toyota. We bought a Corolla 1200 in Montreal in 1968 and have had a Toyota in the family ever since.

"This is a much larger problem. My wife experienced a similar incident at very low speed at an intersection where a full stop is required. As a result of the brakes not responding, her car was sideswiped by a truck. Fortunately the other driver was able to avoid a more serious smash and she was not injured. His truck went through a fence and was totalled.

THE ROAD IS SMOOTH and WAS DRY at that point.

As a result we won't drive the car and won't sell it privately. There are 60 pages of complaints about the brakes on the 2008 and 2009 Prius on the NHTSA website. I now believe that most of them are real, that they are related to a problem with the ABS software OR the switch from Regen to hydraulic braking, and that Toyota will be forced to recall the Gen 11 as well as the Gen 111 for brake problems"

 

Shame Toyota lost another very loyal customer. This will be my last Toyota too. I feel more sorry for us customers than Toyota so I don't feel bad at all.

 

I've not followed this thread much but if it makes you feel better, and I think it does, no this won't be lost on Toyota. One person, yes, but their PR has sank like an anchor in recent weeks. Just last week a fairly well publicized poll showing that many Americans actually view domestics in a more favorable light than Toyota. This slew of recalls has done substantial and long term damage to Toyota.

FWIW this is the first time I've owned one, though; we got it a month back; took advantage of their desperation on our lease deal