Brakes Stutter right before the car stops.

For what it's worth, my 05 prius with 34,000 miles has never done this, but my 07 Camry hybrid (4700 miles), does it once or twice a week. It is slightly disconcerting, but not enough of a bother to worry about. I'd rather have the dash and console rattles and creaks in both cars fixed.

The real noise in my Prius is from the anti-lock brake accumulator which screeches whenever it is cold (<40 degrees) and sitting still with my foot firmly on the brake. The dealer has finally admitted the noise exists and stated Totyota recommended bleeding the brakes to resolve. This seemed to work for a few days, but has returned. The service tech stated the next step is to replace the accumulator, which I'm going t o press for as I really don't want to pay for this expensive item.

Anyone else have a screech from under the hood when sitting still with your foot firmly on the brake??

 

My 06 with 18k does it (my 04 didn't).
I can repeat it in my driveway any time. Drive down hill 50 feet and stop. Back up to point car up the drive way. Drive up 20 feet. Place car in neutral and slowly coast backwards, grabby with an occasional sound just before I stop.

 

My 07 Touring does this. My 2005 didn't It's clearly a brake "stiction" issue. Brakes grab and stick at about 5 mph. It makes a popping noise. It seems to do it more when cold, and it's possible to finesse the stops to keep it from happening. It's clearly not the well know transition from regen to friction.

I was hoping it would go away as the brakes bedded in, but with 1500 miles on the car it hasn't gotten any better. I'm wondering if this is an issue with some change in the formulation of the pads?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(narf @ Dec 9 2006, 01:49 AM) [snapback]359652[/snapback]</div>

We have had an 06 since January, and have experienced this problem from early on. I have not seen a report that it has caused damage or injury, but that doesn't necessarily make it less of a problem.

The reason I think it is a problem: It is just like losing "fine motor control" of your fingers. Ask anybody who has experienced "that", and they will DEFINITELY tell you that it is a problem. To say this another way: the braking problem is most annoying & noticeable exactly when you are trying to exercise fine control of the vehicle.

What is also problematic is that this brake-stutter operation shows up early in the life of the vehicle. I believe owners are concerned that the problem may become more prevalent and/or severe over time. Certainly interested future buyers of a Prius (that read PriusChat) are going to come across reports of this problem, and wonder just how severe these problems are. And they will also wonder if the vehicle they are thinking of buying is going to have the same problem.

The problem has been reported by enough individuals on PriusChat to cause most engineering types to sit up and take notice. I wish PriusChat had a way for the prevalence of commonly experienced vehicle problems to be gauged. I am guessing the problem is more widespread than is recognized.

Given the reputation Toyota and their engineers have (mostly deserved, some would say), are they not keenly interested in something which affects the driving experience of one of their "high-visibility" vehicles? I think this is a problem for Toyota in that they would like to keep current owners satisfied, and they would certainly like to engage those that don't already own one of their vehicles.

I encourage any of you that are experiencing this problem, to take a printout of this forum with you on your next visit to your friendly Toyota service department. Let them see that others are experiencing the problem that you are --- even if you can't demonstrate the problem to them on that visit.

 

Mine shudders just before stop but I think it is the motor shutting down.

 

Several people said they thought the problem might go away as the brakes break in. That's the opposite of my experience. When I got my new 07, all my stops were smooth. Somewhere between 700 and 1000 miles, as best I can recall, is when I started noticing the "stutter." (I'm now at about 1500.)

For what it's worth, I want to say that it definitely feels a lot like a warped rotor feels, even if that's not what it is. And that makes me uncomfortable, because I don't want to get used to my brakes feeling like there's something wrong with them.

 

My 2006 prius with about 12,000 miles does this too... I had never really thought about it before as it has never really seemed to be a control issue. For me it only happens if I am in town and driving slowly and crawling to a stop... but at least I know that I am not the only one experiencing this prius quirk...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bgdrewsif @ Dec 9 2006, 03:53 PM) [snapback]359891[/snapback]</div>

My Prius has 7800 miles, and I've noticed the braking stutter also. I've not been too worried about it, since it's only at low speed.

Today I had to do a panic stop, and believe me: there was NO stutter! So I think I can trust the brakes when it counts...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(gil @ Dec 8 2006, 10:16 PM) [snapback]359589[/snapback]</div>

On cold days I get a quick couple of screetches, as if I'm creeping forward but am not..... If that makes any sense.

 

I've tried a couple times to reply to this thread, but it doesn't show on the forum. Probably my issue, but hope this one sticks...

I had this problem for the entire 12k mile life of my 2006.

I thought there was some merit to the "only happens in a given driving session" or "stays away in a given driving session", but I have had several occurrences to disprove that.

One interesting (?) note is that I took my car in for an oil change and tire rotation, and the problem stayed away for two weeks. This is the longest duration that it hasn't bugged me. I wonder if they cleaned the rotors off during the tire rotation, perhaps better than neutral braking could...

Regardless, it's back now and is just as annoying as ever.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ Dec 7 2006, 09:18 PM) [snapback]359156[/snapback]</div>

 

Boy, this is an old thread. FWIW, I replied to this thread before at http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=1...mp;#entry221595.

Mine has done the erk-erk-erk stutter (no, it's not the rough or non-rough ICE shutdown, I know what those feel like) in the last couple of mph before coming to the stop since day 1. I'm at ~13K miles now. A dealer tech (I believe he was the service manager) rode w/me to hear a rattle and I also pointed out to him the erk-erk-erk before coming to a stop and he felt it too. He said it was normal.

Lowspeed, regardless as to whether this is normal for a Prius (my other car/none of my previous cars, all non-hybrids have this behavior), I noticed many in many of your old posts, you've used the word "break" when you really meant "brake". It's a little less confusing when people use the right word. It's a pet peeve of mine... sorry.

BTW, I finally got around to braking (the same way) while in neutral a couple times and it seems like the stutter before stop feels different when in N and a lot less pronounced (can barely be felt).

 

Since I've been unable to replicate the issue for the technician, I'm going to make a video of what is happening. I will then take it to the service department and show the tech what's going on.

If they still tell me my brakes are normal after I show them the video, they will have confirmed for me that Toyota is doing things Detroit style - deny until it's cost effective to fix.

I will then make it cost effective for them to fix it.

There are a lot of people (Hummer types) who would love to hear bad news about the Prius. I love my Prius (other than the brake thing), but I don't like being ignored by people who have gladly taken my money and don't feel like meeting their obligations.

I suggest all of you also having this problem make a video of it happening, and if you don't get anywhere with your service department - share that video out.

 

My '06 with ~3500 miles has been doing this for the last ~1000 miles. Since the problem is not very repeatable I'm not going to make a separate trip to the dealer service department to try to deal with this, but it will get mentioned at my first service at 5000 miles. As far as the theory about "creep" trying to re-engage, you can see that happening on the Energy Monitor as you come to a stop. You can see creep engage at the end of a gradual finessed stop vs. a faster stop, though I don't know if that is just due to the update rate of the display.

I'll let everyone know if I get the same run around that lowspeed got.

 

Old thread, but glad I caught it. My 12,000 mile '06 does this also, it's made me wonder why it does that, but then I assume it's probably because it's a hybrid.

I just read quickly through this...is this an issue I should be real concerned about? Has there been a resolution? Is [email protected] still taking VIN's?

Just curious...I'll def take the time to read through this when I have more time.

 

Wow lowspeed. Trading the car in?

Your brakes must be much worse than mine to cause you that much grief. If that's the case, then I understand your frustration with Toyota not doing anything. But at the same time, if they are worse, I can't believe that they couldn't recreate the issue.



I can get vibration monitoring equipment from our QA inspectors here where I work. If you think it will do any good, I'll take a couple of measurements on my car and send you a copy of the data.