Err... I think I broke something

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Tideland Prius, Mar 20, 2006.

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  1. hdrygas

    hdrygas New Member

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    Exact thing happened to me with an old Minivan several years (10+) ago. Car would not move forward or back. Put in reverse stepped on the gas (glad I was outside) boom and the Van is sitting on the front lawn! Frozen brakes it was like 20 degrees that morning. Scared the heck out of me. I made my wife follow me into the mechanic and that was his diagnosis. I also had a Ford Explorer have the transmission linkage freeze up could not take it out of gear. No reverse, No neutral just drive. I was in Yellowstone and it was October. Started off in the AM with temps about 36-37 and dropping. First cold wet snow and lots of slush on the road. Then dry snow. Temps ended up around 20 that day. Drove to the nearest Ford Dealer thinking I was going to need a new transmission. What a fishing trip. Major bummer. Stopped the car near the Ford Service entrance so I could pull it in when I started it again. The service writer smiled said no problem he would fix it. Walked out to the car. They had an outside hose with hot water. He turned it on let it get hot, sprayed under the car in the area of the transmission and said "try it" Worked fine. He said it was a known Ford problem and I should just take it through the car wash and get the rest of the frozen slush out from under the car and I would be fine. Worked like a charm. If I would have known I would have splashed my hot coffee on it and gone fishing that day.
     
    #21 hdrygas, Mar 21, 2006
  2. Betelgeuse

    Betelgeuse Active Member

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    I agree with Jack (even though he wasn't talking to me :p ). It sure sounds like frozen/rusted brakes, but you should take it to the dealer and see what they say. You never know what might have broken.
     
    #22 Betelgeuse, Mar 21, 2006
  3. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Yeah, I should take it in. My front brake rotors are still exceptionally clean. Cleaner than it has ever been. I hope it isn't in light contact with the pad while the car is in motion.

    There's only one problem. The dealership I bought the car from doesn't have a competent Prius tech. No offense but he didn't even know about the manual release for the hatch. When I took it for the update, my ECU got fried, my 12V died, my dashboard was reassembled poorly, my A-pillar trim was loose, there was grease in various places, my driver's side vent for the small window has a scratch and there's dielectric grease on the rear tonneau cover. Oh and he broke the battery cover and positive terminal cover (the red plastic).

    So... ya. lol. Hence my reluctancy. Maybe i'll try another dealer.
     
    #23 Tideland Prius, Mar 21, 2006
  4. spindoc

    spindoc New Member

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    #24 spindoc, Mar 21, 2006
  5. Schmika

    Schmika New Member

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    I have had this happen in other cars right after a car wash in the winter. I vote frozen brakes.
     
    #25 Schmika, Mar 21, 2006
  6. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Brake lightly. Do so and you'll never see shiny rotors again lol. 8mph isn't fast enough to give the rotors and nice once over.
     
    #26 Tideland Prius, Mar 21, 2006
  7. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    you cant totally avoid friction braking unless you have a reinforced front bumper.

    even sudden braking at speed with engage friction brakes for a bit. but as many have mentioned, you can easily preserve your rust by light braking and max'ing regen if braking is necessary.

    now, fellow Prius owners will soon start eyeing other people's front rotors in order to judge what their average gas mileage might be
     
    #27 DaveinOlyWA, Mar 22, 2006
  8. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Alright, I took the car in to get a quick check. I was gonna take it in to book an appointment but my Prius Tech was there so I thought it'd be better if I ask him to do a quick check before I make an appt. I told him what happened and he took out the scannner. After a min or so, it started giving out error codes... like "Immobiliser NG" and stuff like that. It's either an "OK" or "NG". He kept mentioning some cable thing. Anyway, I'll take it in on Tues and we'll see what he says.
     
    #28 Tideland Prius, Mar 25, 2006
  9. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Alright, took it in and according to the printout, they reprogrammed the HV ECU. It didn't say what codes were found and what they meant.
     
    #29 Tideland Prius, Mar 28, 2006
  10. hdrygas

    hdrygas New Member

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    Get the codes if you can please!
     
    #30 hdrygas, Mar 28, 2006
  11. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    will do, asap.
     
    #31 Tideland Prius, Mar 28, 2006
  12. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    ok... here are the codes

    B2796
    B1200
    B2286

    HV ECU.

    Apparently, they only updated the engine ECU for the TSB but forgot that the HV also needed updating.

    In short, I took it in for that clunk and came away with another solution solved lol.

    Now, I heard that clunk again. This time, I was braking from 70km/h using the friction brakes cause the traffic light turned red because a car went over the sensor (I was on the highway). After I started, I heard the clunk and I felt something on my left foot, which was on the dead pedal. Again, my brakes, which started to rust again, are sparkling clean (could be that 70km/h stop, could be the brakes lightly rubbing the rotor after the clunk, who knows).

    Anyway, after school I turned the car on, engaged EV mode, opened the window and listened. I can hear something squeaking when I move. Now to find if that squeak is the brakes or something else. It's consistent when I'm in motion but random when I'm accelerating. I was in the parkade so the closed walls made the sound louder and easier to hear. After I got home, I did the same experiment and I heard nothing.
     
    #32 Tideland Prius, Mar 30, 2006
  13. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    okay. time to work closely with your mechanic on this one. (and preferably not the one who did that number on your hatch compartment trying to get at the battery!)

    ask for a diagnostic guy. they're much better at pinpointing sounds.

    take him for a drive, then maybe see if you can drive circles around him in the parking lot at the dealer. i don't care what anyone says, if it's a noise that occurs during driving, it can be found and taken care of. it just takes one hell of a talented tech.
     
    #33 galaxee, Mar 30, 2006
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