VSC, ABS, (!) and emergency brake light on

Thanks very much Patrick. I'm dropping it off tomorrow to the backyard mechanic who did the rear brakes last spring. It was the right rear wheel that had a bad spring which was replaced. I'm thinking maybe I should just take it to the Dealership instead, but I'll at least let him look at it and see what he says.... Edit, on the phone he says it's got to be the piston...

 

I strongly suggest that you remain present to observe the source of the fluid leak. If this is due to a loose bleeder valve, that displays incompetence on the part of the servicer.

 

I edited post #61. Mechanic over the phone tells me it has to be the piston that is leaking. Is it common for a piston to leak in a Prius? I've done some searching and can't find any...

 

It is not impossible, but uncommon for a Prius brake wheel cylinder to be leaking. This will be very apparent when the brake drum is removed.

 

I took it to the mechanic today. At first he didn't want to take the drum off while I was there because he was busy, but I insisted that I wanted to see it, so he quickly pried it off. He told me the insides were going to spill out and he was going to have to put new shoes in. Anyways when it finally came off there wasn't really any noticeable shoe left, the drum was well worn inside, and it was leaking from the cylinder which was not attached to the shoe any longer. He tells me that this excessive wear on the shoe which was only replaced last spring was because the brake fluid ate away at it, being highly corrosive. He is saying that both shoes have to be replaced now, and that it's normal for a car this old with this much mileage on it to have a cylinder go bad. I'm thinking I might have been had... He also says he's going to bleed it manually, but I told him only Toyota can do this. He thinks otherwise....

 

how many miles on her?

 

I think you should replace the rear brake shoes on both sides of the rear axle as well as the drums and the one brake wheel cylinder, using the correct Toyota parts.

 

not sure i buy the corroding brake fluid theory.

 

+1. And ... either doing it yourself, or with the assistance of a different mechanic ....

I'll join bisco's skepticism about the shoe-eating corrosive brake fluid. On the other hand, if really worn shoes were allowed to plow out the drum long enough, I could maybe see them spreading far enough apart for a cylinder piston to extend past the seal.

I once saw a disc brake where the pads were allowed to wear so far there was nothing left of them but backing plates, which eventually became thin enough to fold and be thrown from the caliper, whereupon the piston came out into direct rotor contact ... it was kind of a mess.

-Chap

 

Hi Bisco, it has 242k km's, I told a friend at work this and he laughed "Sounds like a backyard mechanic alright". It's frustrating because if I go to the dealer I'm going to get hosed. Now he's saying he can fix it all up for $230.

Hi Patrick, It looks like I'll be taking that route... Again.

Hi Chap, the mechanic thinks it's been slowly leaking out over time, but I don't think so, The warning lights would have gone off much sooner than just a couple of days ago. I'm insisting that I be there to see the other brake when it is exposed. I think I may have been had. I looked up and found other people on internet reviews complaining about him, and he has an F grad at the BBB. Live and learn....

 

No need to spend any more quality time interacting with that guy. Cut your losses, bring the car home, get the brake parts and some wrenches and put them on. They won't be that expensive, even genuine Toyota ones, the work isn't terribly difficult, you'll learn some, and you'll have the security of knowing how the work was done. (Being cheapskates isn't the only reason a lot of us DIY....)

A week ago you might have resisted DIY because you were convinced you couldn't do the job as well as a Trained Qualified Professional you hired to do it.

Still convinced?

Cheers,
-Chap

 

Good afternoon, everyone

We have a 48k miles Prius Gen 2 (2007), whose VSC ABS and Emergency Brake lights turn on only in hot weather (say over 90ºF). Once the car has been garaged, cooled down, (or both), the lights turn off. This has happened probably three times in the last two years, and only in hot weather.
The car has had its inverter pump replaced twice (because of the Toyota recall). I don't recall having this symptom with either of the previous pumps. The only issue there was excessive noise from the little motor when putting the coolant back in the thermos. I didn't ask the dealer to replace the pump because of the noise.

The current pump seems to operate normally; with the car READY I see the coolant and fishes being very happy in their aquarium.
The 12V battery is OK, 12.7V with the car off or in accessories mode, 13.9V in READY.

If I remember right, the last time the pump was replaced was about 1 1/2 years ago.

How can I better diagnose the current reason for the lights going on and should I ask the dealer to investigate or should I attempt repair myself? I have no OBD / CAN code reader, nor a friend / shop to get one from.

My theory is that the current pump doesn't cope well with hot weather; however, isn't a fan / radiator's job to cool the fluid down, and if so what influence could the pump have? It doesn't make the coolant flow fast enough?

 

Hi virgilg,

There is always an answer #1 to any question like this; after a while, you'll know it so well you never need to ask it again. The trouble codes are absolutely key. There are hundreds of them, compared to only a few lights on the dash, so there is just really no way you can string together other information (I'm getting these dash lights, only at these temperatures, under the full moon, carrying passengers wearing green ...) to convey as much information as the codes would. However you get them, getting them is key. Without them, it's not even possible to be sure a problem you're having this week is or isn't the same as one you had before.

The good news is, for the brake/ABS/VSC, that computer has a way to blink codes at you over the dash lights, so you don't even need a code reader of any kind, just a short piece of wire to trigger the blink mode. The blink codes are two-digit, sort of reader's-digest versions of the five-character full codes, but often they are enough to be helpful.

We can come back to questions about the pump if the reports from the computers end up pointing that direction.

-Chap

 

I got the car back. This mechanic did put all new shoes, drums, and cylinders this time for sure. The brakes work good, but I can't get the warning lights off. I took the neg. battery cable off, and I jumper wired it and pressed the brakes down eight times to no avail. I plan on immediately taking the car to the dealership for a brake inspection. They charge $25 for this. The question is, do I have to get them to bleed the brakes as well? Can I drive the car? This mechanic said he bled them and I didn't have to worry about it, but I'm concerned if they're not bled correctly I could damage the actuator or something else in the brake system. Thank you...

 

If the mechanic released the car to you with the skid control ECU warning lights still on, then he obviously does not have access to Toyota Techstream.

If he does not have Techstream then there is no way that he would have been able to correctly bleed the brakes, and you must assume the braking system is impaired. Under those circumstances, it is up to you to decide whether the car can be driven at all.

 

Not sure if this is the right thread but my 2007 Prius with 157000 just pulled these blink codes.

i circle 61
abs 42
vsc 45
(i) 22, 42, 66

From what I can tell 42 and 45 come on everytime there is an issue. Any thoughts on the other or a link to a manual where I can see the codes?

 

welcome! have you checked the 12 volt battery health?

 

my 2007 Prius with 175k miles went into emergency mode at 60 mph. power steering and brake worked minimally, accelerator gave almost no power, no engine. got it parked safely off the road. all the warning lights on the dashboard were on again like the last time these lights came on a few weeks ago when tried to start it after it had worked fine. After letting it sit overnight in both cases, came back and it had reset itself, no warning lights and seems to be fine. Now no codes or warning lights. starts and runs fine.

Tested battery, seems perfect. Is 3 month old Duracell Ultra Platinum AGM Group 51 Battery.

Looked at inverter coolant reservoir. Is very good flow with small waves. Is that turbulent enough?

I think key fob battery is almost dead. Was in car but not stuck in dashboard. Could that cause a problem?

I have a code reader, and codes from first incident but not latest incident. Those codes were all over the map and gone after incident.

I got it for my daughter to drive to work but don't trust it.

Not sure how to proceed. I really like this car and want to learn to keep it working smoothly.

Only other potential clue is my son was in the back and said he heard a vibrating sound in vicinity of rear axle like a diesel truck far away, then got quiet when warning lights all came on. But he is not sure it even came from the car.

 

problem ?

 

Spudh Posted that in 2010 and has not been seen on PC in 3 years. I wouldn't hold your breath hoping for a response from Spudh.