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Need help getting blink codes

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by SuzyGS, Aug 15, 2022.

  1. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    My mother practically lived at Tuscaloosa Toyota she loved it over there and they loved her when we moved to Birmingham things were quite different and quite different charges and the whole nine Not as bad as they can be further up to East Coast and North Carolina in places but it got kind of ridiculous I might could find you a person that could do your actuator swap for you in the Birmingham area I need to make some calls I still have family there and I'm used to be back and forth pretty regularly but it's been about 2 years. My family's over in mountain Brook
     
  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    The Toyota dealer should just be able to give you a printout of the main codes when they run the test they should be able to send it to your phone whatever it's not rocket science and from there even if they've lost their hybrid expert they should have somewhat of a clue and if you can get that on your phone from them and post it here you'll get a myriad of answers so don't let the break actuator worry you too much if the brakes are working fine you're okay mine worked with the lights on for 2 years and then all of a sudden the brake pedal got as hard as old breaks without a brake booster or power brakes 2 ft Flintstones action. But if you don't have that yet just keep driving it's not going to come on and scare you like that you'll find this out like backing out of the driveway or pulling into park all of a sudden you need two feet to stop the car going two miles an hour and then you might want to park it but you could get it home I've done in a million times is it dangerous in Birmingham probably not too much.
     
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  3. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    The brake system is kind of complicated and a lot of different things can happen to it. That's why it has around 200 different trouble codes, though they all light the same warning lights on the dash.

    The best predictions of how Suzy's brakes will behave would come from comparing the experience of other people who have Suzy's trouble codes, not just who have the same dash lights on. There won't be many of those necessarily; Suzy's C1241 / C1257 combination isn't one I've seen here a lot.

    The combination suggests that there might be an electrical supply issue that might be fixable short of actuator replacement. If it can be, I think the car is likely to be better to drive with it fixed.
     
  4. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    At least she has brakes like my '09 did for 2 years whereas the '04 went out and had the rock hard pedal in one instance. So gives her some time. Getting someone in BHam to look over connectors for signs of scrapes tears etc should not be to hard . I'm calling a friend today or tomorrow.
     
  5. SuzyGS

    SuzyGS Member

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    How kind of you and how lucky I am you know some folks! Also very happy for your family members who live in Mountain Brook!;) I'm about to leave to go to Bill Penney Toyota and I'm literally bringing this thread with me so I can tell them I expect them to check out the wiring first. I have little hope, but you never know. I'll report back later when they inform me of their diagnosis!
     
  6. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    We have a contact at Franklin's on Acton road in Birmingham I'm trying to find out who that is My mom has been over there three or four times with the Camry when she moved from Tuscaloosa or T-Town to Birmingham and that place gets five-star reviews all the time they are a smoking place
     
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  7. SuzyGS

    SuzyGS Member

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    I just looked up Franklin Automotive, five stars all the way! They are only a few minutes away from where my daughter lives. Thank you so much for the referral; it will be so great to have a local shop that can work on my daughter's car.

    The Toyota service tech is already predicting "actuator." $3,600. I told him to please fix the wiring and check to see if that fixes the problem. I don't know if I have much hope. He said that if it is the actuator and we replace it, its design is such that it should not fail ever again. Maybe the design has been updated since the car was produced...? That was my impression. Also, they want to charge a SEPARATE $158 diagnosis fee for the TPMS! I told them to skip that; we would just make sure the tires are filled with air. I can't figure out why they would charge a separate fee, but it's a moot point since I'm not paying it. Plus ChapmanF predicted a tire shop could help with that should we choose to fix it.

    He also told me they have the best hybrid mechanics in North Alabama (which might mean they have the ONLY hybrid mechanics in North Alabama) and they were extremely skilled. I'll believe that when they fix the wiring and say the actuator isn't necessary.
     
  8. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    If it were my car, I'd certainly start by pursuing that angle, and stick with a simple fix if I found one. It would still be possible to go through the troubleshooting and end up at the actuator anyway. I wouldn't necessarily write them off as unskilled if that happened.

    I just wouldn't want them jumping there first.
     
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  9. SuzyGS

    SuzyGS Member

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    Exactly. I did ask the Toyota dealer to PLEASE see if the wiring could fix it. I called the Birmingham shop recommended by Tombuk2 and they said they look at all the cheaper options on the code "flow chart" before recommending the most expensive. It may be more time-consuming analysis than a dealership would want to do. He charges a separate diagnostic fee because he didn't trust a different mechanic to go through all the options the way they would. I could see how that makes sense, and he did verify that Bill Penney Toyota is the only qualified shop to do Prius repairs in North Alabama.

    He has the exact same diagnostic equipment as Toyota. Even if we somehow don't go to him for the repair (we probably will, though), I'm so glad we now have a mechanic in Birmingham that knows how to work on a Prius. My daughter's going to live there at least another year, and who knows? Maybe five more if she's accepted to grad school. This shop said they definitely were not the cheapest - they were staffed with master mechanics, but that they wouldn't be as expensive as a dealer.
     
  10. SuzyGS

    SuzyGS Member

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  11. SuzyGS

    SuzyGS Member

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    These are the codes from the video:
    C1241
    C1256
    C1391
    C2121
    C2123
    B1421
     
  12. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    No surprise at all I was waiting until we could get the thing up on that screen those are the exact codes that I had on my '09 what is it guys 3 months ago now and I had no wiring scrapes no damage anywhere to the car had a brand new battery HV in it so I knew all this was straight I bought a used actuator from what I thought was a reputable supplier installed it and if not looked back I was able to bleed the car without using the computer and the pedal is just like it was when I got the car. Susie if you want if you guys are ever in t-town down near the University of Alabama I have a guy there locally that could probably swap out your actuator for you I'm going to guess for 250 bucks labor and then probably includes bleeding it and what have you giving you back the car with the brake pedal working and the lights out there are a couple of places that you can buy these things and if you're careful it may work out right and cost you a total of $800 possibly a tad less maybe considerate or if you have the 3000 or whatever and that's doable like my brother who has plenty of money then by all means.
     
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  13. SuzyGS

    SuzyGS Member

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    Thank you so much for your concern and help! I did really like the Birmingham shop you recommended; it will be interesting to see if they are significantly cheaper. I had insomnia last night thinking about this situation, thinking about safety and the future. I talked to my daughter yesterday and told her if we are spending all this money I would hope that she would plan on keeping the car through grad school, since it should last for another 100K miles (it has 159K miles). She agreed and that makes me think maybe I should bite the bullet and get the whole thing new so it will last longer. I'm pretty sure we couldn't hold a candle to your Mountain Brook relatives, but although I am thrifty, I do have savings and I guess sometimes you have to use them. The service tech gave me the impression that the new actuators have been re-designed and don't fail anymore. Who knows if that's true, though? My research indicates that the 2008 Prius has ABS actuator issues, for sure, but I can't tell whether the part has been re-designed (still Googling this).
     

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  14. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    I don't know about a redesigned part but I do know if you find 07 to '09s like I do with silly low mileage like 84,000 down here in the south in the junkyard or heading that way you can usually buy that break actuator off that car like from LKQ if I'm there to get it 35 45 dollars never more than 65 matter of fact I have one sitting on the shelf here I guess I could consider selling it because I don't have another Gen 2 to put it in it.. is ruined. But anytime I see LKQ or on the Facebook marketplace I see a lot of these Spanish towing places are pulling these things in with small dents in them that have been totaled out by I guess the insurance I just stripped a blue car with 90,000 look like a little old lady's car had the rear shade in it for the trunk and everything was pristine had the guy not sold two doors off the one side for $200 I'd have kept the whole car had a brand new hybrid battery in it this does happen pretty regularly in these times
     
  15. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    They're hydraulic systems with electromechanical valves that move. I don't hold out great hope for anyone to miraculously engineer one that never wears out.
     
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  16. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    150 something thousand? Your car is not even well broken in yet keep the oil up and like me you probably take it to 666,000 miles actually pretty easily wheel bearings and brakes and hub bearings in the rear all relatively cheap stuff to do maybe your daughter's boyfriend after grad school will be able to handle some of this stuff or if they going into those kind of careers they'll be going straight to Ev or something. The Gen 2 is a great car even if it's the ugly brown with the crappy velor interior when you get semi done with it makes a great work vehicle for many more years I use mine all the time in my business Friends of mine are driving around in the vans getting 12 miles to the gallon and stuff it's ridiculous. Enjoy it just look at the new ones primes and whatnot $25,000 and stuff and more You're driving the same technology for two grand or something minus a few bells and whistles.
     
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  17. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    No they'll be none of that especially for a vehicle this old but I did notice when I was out and about in the junkyard last week that some Jesus what was it I think corolla's and the couple of other cars use a very similar if not same plug going to a very similar if not the same actuator pump assembly whatever that thing is it's just that it sits at a different angle so it's turned sideways and right side up or hours is laying flat etc etc not saying that this would work but it seems there are a lot of very similar ones in other Toyotas so that tells me that my buddy's over on toy mods could probably come up with the way to make one of these squeeze off the brakes and a Prius and then in other countries our Prius is called the I think it begins with an A don't remember the model name but those parts seem to be plentiful online without shipping being too crazy
     
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  18. SuzyGS

    SuzyGS Member

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    I love how positive you are! I think it's a good car. Plus it has the leather (Softex?) interior.
     
  19. SuzyGS

    SuzyGS Member

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    Anything mechanical will eventually wear out, right?!

    Update on the car: yesterday I found out that the Birmingham repair place would charge $200 less than Bill Penney Toyota for the ABS actuator, but they would have to add a $150 diagnostic fee, so the difference was $50. Many thanks to Tombuk2 for giving me the peace of mind by suggesting the dealer in Birmingham. I decided to have Bill Penney fix it since they already had the car here in town. They had quoted $3,600 at first but then came down to $3,000, which was a little surprising. Maybe they thought I was doing comparison shopping!

    Anyway, ChapmanF, I want you to know that after picking up the repaired car from Bill Penney Toyota, I dropped it off at the tire shop to replace the front tires that were balding, and asked them about the two tire pressure sensors. I told them you had said a tire shop could probably figure out which two tires were involved. They offered to diagnose which ones and replace the two sensors for $100 total, including labor. Bill Penney Toyota was going to charge me a separate $158 diagnostic fee jto figure out which tires were affected, BEFORE charging me for parts and labor. So thank you for suggesting having a tire shop look at it. I don't EVEN KNOW much money I saved! SO thankful for your advice!
     
  20. SuzyGS

    SuzyGS Member

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    By the way, I thought you might want to see a photo of the young student (my daughter, Holly) that you have helped. She is VERY grateful for everyone's advice as well!

    Holly photo.jpg
     
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