Constant beeping sound and dashboard lights after stopping in the middle of doing rear brake.

Hello all:

I was trying to do rear brakes on my 2005 Prius, which has over 227,000 miles on it. I did the front brakes with a great success a couple of months ago. Recently, when I was driving on highway, three wheel studs and the lug nuts attached to them on the rear passenger side broke, so I had to open the rear brake to install the wheel studs. When I opened the brakes (i.e., the drum or circular iron lid), I noticed the adjuster screw (the thing that we move up and down with a screw driver) to expand and contract the break shoes was slightly bent and one of the springs was off the hook and was hanging. I also noticed oil leak to the wheel cylinder, which I will replace.

It has gotten dark and I couldn't complete the brake job. I want to do my own research and complete the brake job when I find time. I have to admit that I have many questions that I need to find answers to. I do not want to invest a lot of money in this Prius and do not want to take it to a dealership. This is my first time doing rear drum brake job on any car. I am not sure if I can do my own research and complete the rear brake job myself.

Here are the issues. The circular iron lid will not close and the adjuster will not move down and so the brake shoes will not move in or contract to enable me to close the iron lid. So, I put the tire back on the Prius without closing the lid. I am not driving the vehicle until all the issues with Prius are fixed.

When I turned on the engine, the following lights in the picture showed up on the dashboard and a constant beeping sound when the engine is on, as you can hear in the below video.

Will the constant beeping sound and the lights will go away after I finish the rear brake job, which I plan to do in the next couple of weeks? Or is it going to be a major problem that will continue to give me a headache?

Any advice or input is appreciated. Thank you in advance for your time and help.

 

Yeah, whatever it is, I figured the drum brake wheel cylinder is a toast and I need to replace it. I have bought a new drum brake wheel cylinder and did the research on how to replace it. I think I will be able to replace it with a new drum brake wheel cylinder. I will also bleed the brake fluid and air bubbles afterwards, before driving the car.

Yes, I figured that, as well. I was not able to push the adjuster downwards with a screw driver, and consequently the brake shoes will not move in or contract, to put the drum back on.

No, I did not do that. However, I left the keys away from the car, before starting the rear brake job, which was what the youtube uploaders suggested me to do.

Is there a fix? Will the constant beeping sound and dashlights go away after I finish the brake job? I am planning to disassemble the entire rear brake system and put all the parts and springs back together. I know it will take a lot of time.

Thank you for your reply.

 

If anyone is wondering what that loud engine noise is, in addition to the constant beeping sound, in the posted video. I will need to replace the Oxygen Sensor (O2S), a fifty dollar job, and the loud noise will go away.

This Prius is giving me a lot of issues. I owned a 1999 Corolla before for 20 years and it never gave me any issues, other than oil changes and tire changes and rotations. I loved that Corolla, as it was a rock solid car, and I could trust it to take me to a city 3000 miles away.

 

I have driven cars for about 20 years, and never once had a personal experience of a wheel stud breaking while driving, on any of the cars I owned or drove. This is the first time happening to me. I am thinking of two reasons (1) the wheel studs had probably gotten old and rusted and became weak to snap off, or (2) the guy that rotated my tires screwed the lug nuts to the wheel studs too tight. Can't think of anything else.

Same feelings with the spring in the rear brakes coming off loose and hanging and the adjuster (star like screw) becoming bent, when I opened the drum; the car is probably too old. Again, I drove a trustworthy Corolla that was more than 20 years old, which was a solid car and ran like almost a new car with hardly any problems. This 18-year old Prius is giving me problems after problems. When I try to fix one problem, it gives me another problem, and weird sounds from the car and weird messages on the dashboard, that I don't even understand. I am thinking if this Prius is even worth keeping and worth my time it is taking to fix the problems that are compounding one after the other.

 

Good job. No need to use techstream to bleed the brakes. Bleeding brake fluid is a simple process. While the engine is off, loosen the bleeder valve, you can even put any container (don't even need a hose and catch bottle, but having a bottle helps to see the air bubble, I guess), push the brake for a minute or two (sometimes, even 30 seconds is enough), and let the brake fluid fall into the container, and tighten the bleeder valve after you finish this process.

Thank you for the replies, people, as always.

 

Can you? I can't. I never said I can.

 

What city in Indiana do you live in? Do you fix Priuses or cars, even as a hobby, to help friends and/or family members?