ABS warning and Brake Light

See techinfo.toyota.com which is a subscription website.

Mini VCI is the best approach to obtain the power of the Toyota Techstream diagnostic software.

 

Another option is a Toyota Intelligent 2, Hand Held Scanner made by Denso.

I picked mine up off Ebay. It's pricey; $250 is the least cost I'd seen. It also lets you exercise various parts of the vehicle as well as turn off warnings that some scanners won't touch as it's Prius specific. I was interested in bleeding the rear brakes at the time. It's come in very handy. In it's last two uses it has more than paid for itself in saving me from dealer charges. I'd recommend one.

 

Umm...

As antilock brake systems powered by an accumulator pump go, you could probably call it pretty standard, and it is less complicated than the Gen 2. If you're thinking of an old pre-ABS "standard" setup, then no.

Simple bleeding of a bit of air at the wheel cylinders can be done without Techstream as long as there is no air in the pump, master cylinder, or actuator, and you make very sure not to let any get in - see this post for more.

-Chap

 

I've read the forums for a while and it has led to good information for repair of my 2005. I finally joined to ask about the Brake actuator and bleeding the brakes. I'd like to accomplish the work myself as the cost to have it done is more then the car is worth. I've seen that I can get a salvaged actuator for $130-230 (brand new being $1300) and I know that I would need a hand tool to bleed the brakes. The last forum a read on this was 4-6 years old. What is the best device and the best way to accomplish this with out a repair shop?

 

With 2G, you will need Mini VCI running on a Windows XP or Windows 7, 32 bit OS laptop so that you can follow the procedures in the Toyota repair manual to bleed the brakes. It is not as simple as Classic.

See techinfo.toyota.com to find the brake bleed procedure, which requires opening the various valves within the brake actuator assembly.

 

Thank All of you for the help over the years. I knew from previous discussions that it was not a classic bleed. Two things I'm stuck on before making the move to do the work. I only have a Mac at home is their a Mini VCI version for Mac or equivalent? Second, How do you add the fluid back in? This should also be computer controlled but does the VCI software have that as an option?

 

No, there isn't. But, you can set up a virtual WinXP or Win 7 (32 bit) machine in Boot Camp, Parallels or VMWare Fusion and it works fine.

 

I posted separately about my experience using a MacBook Pro with Mini VCI and Windows 7, 32 bit OS. It works well except my McAfee antivirus SW reports a trojan.

I suggest you subscribe to techinfo.toyota.com to obtain the brake fluid change procedure using Techstream, which Mini VCI emulates.

 

Yesterday was the first time the abs light, brake light and the high pitched alarm came on. Outside temps 21F and I turned on the car and drove it out of the driveway right away but the lights and sound freaked me out and the brakes did not work well. Soft and did not really work. We called local garages but the were not familiar with our issue and this site helped us figure out what the problem could have been. I did not go shopping and pulled the car back in the driveway. Turned it off and back on and nothing changed. So I left it running and it eventually stopped and lights went off. I drove it and no problem. We are thinking the pump line must have been too cold to drive immediately. I hope the lights and sound do not happen again as I don’t want to have to replace the brake motor pump. My car is a 2005.

 

welcome!

how many miles on her?