Break lights

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by alicemeade, Jun 11, 2016.

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  1. alicemeade

    alicemeade Junior Member

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    I had the breaks on my 2004 Prius replaced. Recently the red Brake light and the orange ABS Brake lights come on some of the time - but not all of the time. I took the car in to my local repair shop. They said it would cost $300 to diagnose the problem. Any ideas?
     
    #1 alicemeade, Jun 11, 2016
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    who did they brakes? they might not have bled them properly with necessary toyota software.
     
    #2 bisco, Jun 11, 2016
  3. alicemeade

    alicemeade Junior Member

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    I had my local repair shop replace the brakes and look at the Brake lights. They are Hometown Garage in Burlington, MA. Can you give me more information about bleeding the brakes so I can find out if they did this? Thanks!
     
    #3 alicemeade, Jun 11, 2016
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2016
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    what did they do exactly, do you have a write up? and how long/miles did it work before the warning lights came on?
     
    #4 bisco, Jun 11, 2016
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    fyi, a toyota dealer will diagnose it for about half that cost.
     
    #5 bisco, Jun 11, 2016
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    btw, their website says they will read your codes for free. and you have a 2 year/24,000 mile warranty on the repairs.
     
    #6 bisco, Jun 11, 2016
  7. Priusyipee

    Priusyipee Active Member

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    Lived in Lexington for many years... bought my 2005 Prius at Lexington Toyota : ). Not familiar with the shop that you used in Burlington BUT... here is a possible solution...

    Back in the day when my (now) 265,000 mile Prius was at 70,000 miles, I changed the front brakes myself. I bought aftermarket ceramic pads. The originals wore more quickly than normal because I was using the car at the time to deliver a 54 mile mail route. As winter was approaching, I wanted to ensure that I would not have any problems when the temperatures hit -20.

    After a successful install, I took the car out for a drive and the two lights that you mentioned appeared. I brought the car back into the garage and disassembled both front brake assemblies. I found that the metal backing plates in the replacement pads were not cut as smoothly along the edges as the originals. I was able to smooth the edges and reassemble. The problem disappeared. Learned my lesson early on to stick with OEM.

    PS - There was no need to bleed the brakes at all as there was no air in the system and the brake pedal was responding normally both before and after the install. As a matter of fact, I've never had the brakes bled in all the years that I have owned it.
     
    #7 Priusyipee, Jun 11, 2016
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  8. alicemeade

    alicemeade Junior Member

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    Thanks, I will take my car back to Hometown Garage and ask them to look at the metal backing plates. I will also ask them about bleeding. It seems if I just got new brakes, it must be related.
     
    #8 alicemeade, Jun 11, 2016
  9. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    agree, all the best.(y)
     
    #9 bisco, Jun 11, 2016
  10. alicemeade

    alicemeade Junior Member

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    This is very strange. I wanted to take the Prius into Hometown Garage this week to check the Brake lights. I had noticed that the Brake lights don't always come on. Only sometimes. Well, as it turns out, the Brake lights never come on in the morning - when I am on my way to work and can stop by. They don't come on @ 4PM if I leave early and can still stop by. But they always come on after 5:30!! Also, either they come on and stay on for the whole trip. Or they don't come on and stay off for the whole trip. Any ideas what could be going on?
     
    #10 alicemeade, Jun 17, 2016
  11. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    gremlins?
     
    #11 bisco, Jun 17, 2016
  12. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    those dash lights should have set a permanent diagnostic code. if your shop doesn't have toyota tech stream diagnostic software, take it to ira toyota,
     
    #12 bisco, Jun 17, 2016
  13. alicemeade

    alicemeade Junior Member

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    Yes, so why do the lights come on some time (about half the time) but not all the time?
     
    #13 alicemeade, Jun 17, 2016
  14. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    well, we can only guess. maybe when the car is a bit warmer?
     
    #14 bisco, Jun 17, 2016
  15. alicemeade

    alicemeade Junior Member

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    Took the car to Acton Toyota this morning...
     
    #15 alicemeade, Jun 18, 2016
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  16. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    1. How long is the one-way commute, both in miles and in time duration?
    2. Does your evening commute time duration differ if your start time is 4 PM vs. 5:30 PM? For example, is the prevailing traffic much heavier at 5:30 which requires you to use the brakes more, your average speed is lower which results in a longer commute time, etc.?
     
    #16 Patrick Wong, Jun 18, 2016
  17. alicemeade

    alicemeade Junior Member

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    The folks at Acton Toyota said the problem was the ABS actuator. This was malfunctioning. To replace it would cost $2,276. Guess I will have to live with this:(
     
    #17 alicemeade, Jun 18, 2016
  18. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i thought there was an extended warranty, but maybe 10 years. did they mention it?
     
    #18 bisco, Jun 18, 2016
  19. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    did they give you a printout of the codes?
     
    #19 bisco, Jun 18, 2016
  20. alicemeade

    alicemeade Junior Member

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    I'm not the original owner. Does that matter? They did not mention anything like this.
     
    #20 alicemeade, Jun 18, 2016
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