ABS, Traction Control and Brake Lights all ON

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by worldaven, Oct 13, 2014.

  1. worldaven

    worldaven Member

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    Hello,

    I currently have a 2010 Prius with 43K miles. Driving home from work today, all three lights came on and the brake pedal was very soft. (see attached photo)

    I tried to search this issue on the forum and have gotten a range of possibilities from 12v battery to the master cylinder ($3,000 in repairs). The service department at the dealer is already closed so I'll have to take it in the morning.

    Anyone else had this issue recently? Could it be anything else...I'm trying not to freak out about the $3k repair especially since I have 11K left in payments for the car!! It feels like master cylinder failure.... :((

    If it ends up the latter, can I take it to a regular import dealer to have them do the work...?

    Thanks! 2014-10-13 18.26.23-3.jpg
     
    #1 worldaven, Oct 13, 2014
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    absolutely. anyone can do the brake master cylinder, and you can get them a lot cheaper than the dealer charges. all the best!(y)
     
    #2 bisco, Oct 13, 2014
  3. worldaven

    worldaven Member

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    Here's the damage (so far) as itemized by the local Toyota Dealer....Other things might show up when they look at the brake caliper....
    • "Perform World Class Inspection" $49.95
    • "Brake Pedal Very Soft--CK and Advise $48.00
    • "Add fluid and inspect read pads to see if slides are sticking
    • found fluid low and popping in left rear" $57.50
    • "Vehicle has ABS light on" $95.00
    • "Perform Front Brake Caliper Service (clean and lubricate, Brakes are squeaking when applied)" $56.26
    • "Clean and lubricate brake caliper slide $56.26
    • "Replace Right Rear Speed Sensor" $647.49

    They also said I needed new tires, plus alignment $562.75
    and License plate bulb $21.94.

    Bullet points underlined are one's that I approved...

    I'm going to see if I can get the ABS sensor replaced at an independent mechanic....Tires will have to wait, unless I can find a good deal at Costco or somewhere....

    What do you think of the repairs and the prices?? Fair or not fair?
     
    #3 worldaven, Oct 14, 2014
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    doesn't seem too bad if your codes all went away. how many miles a year are you putting on her? i don't see why your brake fluid would be low, but i can understand the brake issues in the harsh environment you drive in.
     
    #4 bisco, Oct 14, 2014
  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Don't understand this:

    "found fluid low and popping in left rear"

    Is that a typo in your posting? Or could be mistyped on your invoice, by the dealership?

    (It's generally not a good idea to top up brake fluid, if there's no leaks. Fluid level naturally falls, as pads wear, and should go back up to the full line when pads are replaced, and pistons pushed back to accommodate them.)
     
    #5 Mendel Leisk, Oct 15, 2014
  6. worldaven

    worldaven Member

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    Hmmm....interesting observation. Here's a copy and paste from the invoice " add fluid service and inspect rear pads to see if slides are
    sticking (found fluid low and popping in left rear)"

    So it looks like they did what you suggest they should not do....I'm not sure, but maybe "CARspec" can give us his expert advice...? Did the dealer mechanic screw up?
     
    #6 worldaven, Oct 15, 2014
  7. worldaven

    worldaven Member

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    Had an independent mechanic in town fix the ABS sensor, and charged almost exactly what CARspec said $490 ($487.31 to be exact). And from the drive and feel of it, looks like they solved the problem. While I hate the fact that this problem came up in the first place, very glad I was able to keep $161 by going independent.

    Next up, four new tires. The IM confirmed what the dealer saw--tires starting to crack. However, dealer wants to charge me $563. I think I can do better elsewhere...Don't you?
     
    #7 worldaven, Oct 16, 2014
  8. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Not enough information: what tires?
     
    #8 Mendel Leisk, Oct 16, 2014
  9. The Critic

    The Critic Resident Critic

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    So what was the cause of the lights - the bad hub?
     
    #9 The Critic, Oct 17, 2014
  10. worldaven

    worldaven Member

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    It was for Michelin Energy Savers A/S
     
    #10 worldaven, Oct 19, 2014
  11. worldaven

    worldaven Member

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    It was a bad right rear ABS sensor. Replaced the hub.
     
    #11 worldaven, Oct 19, 2014
  12. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Maybe there's no way around it, but incorporating the ABS sensor into the hub, so that if one or the other fails the whole thing needs tossing, seems not the brightest idea.
     
    #12 Mendel Leisk, Oct 19, 2014
  13. DaneH5

    DaneH5 Member

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    I think it is a ripoff and charging for Micro repairs and troubleshooting
     
    #13 DaneH5, Oct 19, 2014
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  14. robomoto

    robomoto Member

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    I had these lights come on intermittently. I wiggled and tightened the rear wheel speed sensor connectors and cleaned the front speed sensors and put them back in. That seems to have fixed the problem.
     
    #14 robomoto, Jan 10, 2022
  15. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    It is easy to get the trouble codes when these three lights come on, which is how you find out why the brake ECU has put those three lights on. It's approximately useless to base anything on just "had the same 3 lights" because those are the only 3 lights the brake ECU has to alert you to problems with, and it uses them for pretty much all one or two hundred reportable issues.

    If you don't have a scan tool, you can still get the trouble codes using nothing more than a short piece of wire, and counting the blinks of the lights. There are a lot of posts here on PriusChat on how to do that.

    If you retrieve the trouble codes and the ones you get are about wheel speed sensors, then that would give you a good reason to at those sensors, as robomoto has done here.

    If you retrieve the codes and the ones you get are about something else, then you would probably skip fiddling with the wheel sensors so you could spend your time checking out whatever issue is really being reported.
     
    #15 ChapmanF, Jan 10, 2022
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