brake, (!), ABS, and VSC lights on

Welcome to PriusChat!!

How many miles are on the odometer?

Are there lights on the dash still?

Have you read the codes -please post them here when you have a chance.

 

Yes, you need a skinny stiff wire, thin paperclip, or the like, and you need to be able to identify the right two positions (Tc and CG) of the sixteen-position diagnostic connector under the dash, and connect those two with the wire. When you then turn the car IG-ON (two power-button pushes without pressing the brake), you should see some of the dash lights blinking. The brake computer is in control of several of those lights: the red BRAKE, the ABS, the yellow brake or ((!)), and the skid/VSC. They can be blinking out different codes. (Keep track of which codes you wrote down from which lights; they are in different lists in the repair manual, if you look in the wrong list you can get the wrong interpretation for a code.)

The codes blink out as two-digit numbers, something like blink blink (pause) blink blink blink (longer pause) blink blink blink (pause) blink would be a 23 and a 31. They will keep blinking as long as you have the ignition ON and the jumper wire in place. When they circle back to codes you've already written down, you know you have them all.

Some of the other dash lights might be blinking too (the brake computer isn't the only one in the car that can do this trick). Any computer that has nothing to tell you will just be doing a fast steady blink with its light.

Here's a post with more info and a diagram of the connector to find the right pins.

I'm sorry you went through that ... it's becoming a sorry state of affairs on PriusChat lately where it's easier to find the threads talking you into spending time and money on battery replacement for whatever ails ye than it is to find the threads on actually reading the information your car is trying to give you about the problem.

But anyway, here's how you can do that ... better late than never ....

-Chap

 

Well, you could look at this post here for some thoughts on what that is telling you, but keep in mind that post was about a Gen 3. On Gen 3, the pump/accumulator and the actuator are in separate assemblies, so there's a strong incentive to figure out which one's at fault before grabbing the wrenches, because it could be either.

If you've got a Gen 2, though, those bits are combined in the same assembly anyway, so there's less mystery. You would still want to rule out simple leakage issues not in the actuator, and confirm what the pressure sensor reading is doing, all as described in the manual, but if you don't find a cause elsewhere, there's probably an actuator replacement in your future.

-Chap

 

These are the brakes ... look for the manual that will give you the most dependable information and the best chance of a successful repair. Online at techinfo.toyota.com will be easiest, as only one volume of the paper set is currently in stock at Helm.

The key to making the Repair Manual easy to understand is to also make sure to look at the New Car Features manual (same place, under the "NCF" tab). That's what explains what all the stuff in the car is and what it's for and how it does it. The Repair Manual volumes assume you've already looked that over, so people sometimes complain about them not explaining enough, who haven't looked at the NCF first.

-Chap

 

There is a generic Gen2 brake actuator issue that we had extended warranty coverage to Dec-2017 (last month sadly).

 

Ok, here's another tip.

While signed into techinfo, look under the SC tab for any service campaigns (recalls, warranty extensions, etc.) that Toyota may have announced regarding the brake actuator assembly. This is not just to find any that might still be active and cover your cost (though, if you do, you just earned back your techinfo $15).

Any service campaigns you find about the part, read them, whether they are still in force or not, in particular the letters addressed to dealers advising what to look for and how to proceed. Look for any service bulletin numbers (T-SB-something) that they mention as containing the instructions for the repair.

Go to the SB tab and download those. They will often have instructions substantially more detailed and helpful than even the Repair Manual itself (because the RM has to tell you "enough" about everything, but when there is a recall or service campaign, they work hard at developing a detailed, reliable procedure for techs who will have to be doing the same specific thing dozens of times, and that will be what you find in the SB).

I wrote this post to help with finding one's way around on techinfo. (Oddly, I didn't mention the "Library" tab, which is way up toward the top of the screen, not with the service information tabs in my screenshot. The Library is where you can find the course materials for the University of Toyota technician courses ... if you feel like going through a module or two of the brake technician course before diving in, those are all there too.)

-Chap

 

That's the kind of thing I was thinking of where it's worth looking up the special service campaigns on techinfo. I'm not sure which clips you mean, but if you look up T-CP-D0H-A510-D.pdf (it's for a Gen 3 service campaign, but could still give you ideas), they show on page 4 a couple special "tube remover" tools ("large" and "small"). You can't get the official Toyota ones, but the pictures show you enough to whittle your own, and page 13 shows what to do with it:



Sometimes the simplest little things make a big difference, when they know their techs are going to start getting flooded with a bunch of identical jobs.

-Chap

 

Ryan, Are you still in same situation since your last post? I wish we can get some youtube videos of how Japanese techs swap out ABS Actuator on their Prius..

 

This is a bummer. I will be in same situation in next few months here... I am searching for local hybrid shop that can do this type of work as well... OR ... just let PrII go to hog heaven.

 

When you say "Techstream won't bleed the system", what do you mean, exactly? It clearly has menu options for bleeding the system, so what is it doing/not doing/saying/not saying when you use them?

-Chap

 

Interesting thought- how little traffic we get on this site from Nippon.
I am thinking Japan laws favor buying new vehicles and the older ones are exported.