I own two Priuses, a 2005 Gen II and a 2010 Gen III. I have had problems with the 2010 experiencing brake bark; took it into the dealer and they said they never heard of it and claimed they fixed it by tightening a loose lug they left on a tire they rotated at the previous oil change. It only does the bark intermittently, after a hard brake, so I am waiting to take it back (again!!!) until I am sure that it will reproduce for the dealer. Now my 2005 Gen II has three lights on constantly: the emergency brake, ABS light and exclamation point. Two weeks ago, the car was dead in my driveway. Appeared to be a dead 12V battery. I got the car jumped, drove to the dealer, and paid $300 for a battery change. The car has 53K miles on it, so it seemed a pretty likely normal (though very expensive) maintenance issue. But less than 200 miles later, the brake light issue appears. This time I have the car towed to the dealer, wait 4 hours, and they tell me that it is the ABS actuator. And lucky thing that I paid for the seven year warranty -- because it would be $2990 unless I haggled with Toyota Customer Care. But I'm pissed, because if I didn't invoke the warranty, I could get my money back in 2012. I have several questions: 1) Is the ABS actuator on my 2005 different from the brake actuator that may be causing the brake bark on my 2010? If my 2010 doesn't get fixed under warranty, am I looking at a $3K repair bill for it down the road? 2) Is this a common enough problem that Toyota ought to be fixing it outside of the warranty that I paid for? 3) Is this really a TEN HOUR repair, which they claim it is? and 4) Would it be to my advantage to have the brake pads replaced during this repair, since they already have the car taken apart -- or is the actuator just somewhere completely different? Thanks P.S. This forum is extremely helpful -- I knew that this was going to be a big deal before I even called the tow truck.
I'm not technically qualified to answer but I will say that I don't trust a dealer that wants $300 ($160 labor) to replace the 12V battery in a GenII Prius. I did this just last Thursday and I shopped 3 dealers, which battery aside quoted me $185, $110 and $28 for the exact same labor. I also wonder if the safety provided by the ABS system altogether is worth $3000 to start with. Did the dealer tell you what codes they pulled from the engine that told them it's the actuator?
On your 2005 Prius have you ever replaced the Dot 3 brake fluid. I would replace the brake fluid and hopefully the problem will go away! Dot 3 fluid has a habit of collecting moisture. I have a Honda product as well as a Prius and Honda specific brake fluid change every 3 years. Something for you to consider. Hal
It's intermittent and sometimes sounds like a honk and other times similar to a dog barking when you're on the friction brakes. It's definitely audible when stationary and might (don't recall that well) be audible at low speeds, again, only when on the friction brakes. I've personally heard it in mine, numerous times and heard it in usbseawolf2000's 2nd gen. He definitely knows about it. I can't speak to 3rd gens...
The "bark" is caused by air bubbles passing through orifices in the brake actuator. It can usually be cured by bleeding the brakes, but if the air is getting into the hydraulic system via the actuator the repair can be expensive out of warranty. The TSB on the subject came out in 2005 and was reissued in 2007 so it covers 2004-2007 Prii. At some point it should be expanded to cover later models as well since there have been reports of the same problem in those as well. JeffD
I have a 2007 Prius with 142k miles, the brakes lights came on then went out a couple weeks later they came on and stayed on so I took it to the shop. They diagnosed it with a bad brake actuator $2700. I authorized the repair and when they were test driving it after the repair the main battery light came on and they told me I needed a new $3000.00 battery!!!!!!!!!!!!! The car is not in great shape and I did not want to spend that much money on a new battery so I found a place that sells rebuilt batteries for 450 installed . After the battery was replaced all was good for about 2 weeks then the battery died and so I had it towed back to the repair shop that put the battery in. Does anyone know of any correlation between the brake actuator and the main battery dying?
I know of no direct correlation between the brake actuator dying having anything to do with the HV battery dying. Legal Disclaimer: I'm not an expert.-I could be wrong. But my suspicion would be, your current failure probably has much more to do with " a place that sells rebuilt batteries for $450 installed". That's at least a $2550 dollar difference in investment. I've never heard of anyone replacing Hybrid Batteries so cheaply. I don't know if I would have high expectations for long term success, or even relatively short term success with a $450 rebuilt and installed HV Battery. The adage, you get what you pay for, rings in my mind. Best of luck.... What does the repair shop that installed the battery say the issue is now? Or what do they plan to do to resolve it? Any written warranty?
My wife's CT200h is starting to "Bark". It doesn't happen every time I brake but it is definitely doing what the OP has described. Her's is a 2012 CT so it's not under warranty. Perhaps I should have the brakes bled??? @usbseawolf2000
I'm guilty of not noticing this from time to time, but the OP's post was made in 2011. So whomever let the dogs out on his brakes...is long gone. Post #7 was made on the 27th of 2018.
