Inexpensive accumulator/booster repair in the southwest U.S.?

Yeah in California you should be able to find plenty of people whether mobile or shops to give you a decent rate on the job It's just two pieces I mean the bolt to the firewall and the bleed procedure It's certainly not anything too too You do not need a specialist or anything like this this isn't going to involve the hybrid system per se It is a straight swap of hydraulic pieces anybody who's worked on BMWs and all that with their myriad of hydraulic pieces will be right at home The parts you will buy online from Toyota and pick them up where you tell them you're going to pick them up at whichever dealer that is and that'll give you the maximum savings on the two pieces and that's the end of that so you'll have about 13 16 a little less than that in the pieces the two pieces I would think you could get that installed for under $1,000 my goodness I don't think the labor hours will come up to anywhere near that maybe 600.

 

Hope you can find someone on Priuschat that lives near you so you can lower the cost? If not, do you have a friend or family member that likes to work on cars? There's plenty of information on this website to walk them through the job.

 

Hybrid Pitstop in Buena Park can help you out. Cost will be significantly less than your quoted price and be a new OEM part, send them an email with your info and questions.

 

I’m still driving on the same Brake Accumulator that came with my 2005 638,000 miles ago. Before I put new tires on it last week I did some brake testing and was not disappointed in their performance even cornering and braking on gravel ABS and VSC operated as designed.
Now mind you, I haven’t let anyone mess with them. I’ve done everything! I’ve never had a reason to bleed the brakes, replace a caliper or rear brake cylinder. It makes me wonder if brake service is the cause of many of these failures???


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You still have the same brake fluid they put in from the factory after 18 years and 638k miles? I think we need to see the odometer and a photo of your brake fluid reservoir to qualify that statement sir. Just to add here, your theory isn't correct..it has nothing to do with servicing or bleeding the brakes as to why they fail.

 

Excellent point... Do you have any links to good examples on here of when brake work may have led to booster failure?

 

I can't see how on any iteration of the Prius brake work could cause the brake booster or accumulator to fail unless you're squeezing calipers and trying to back push the fluid that might be a problem I would think it would be a problem We don't do that anyway We crack the bleed screw squeeze the caliper down slowly close the screw We don't want to be forcing fluid backwards or anything like that and ABS's with this type setup I don't believe but other than that I can't see it unless you do something electrically to it or try to force valves opening backwards or something I just really have trouble seeing that being the case.

 

Just a theory I formed when my Moms 2005, services by certified Toyota Hybrid specialist had a failed accumulator and mine Not serviced by others didn’t.


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I understand, it doesn’t make any sense to me. It’s just my good luck I guess, as I do disconnect the 12 volt and I compress the caliper and force fluid backwards through the system. Thanks for thinking it through though.


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I did one replacement and 4 rebuilds. Then at 600,000 when the Internal resistance was up to .30 in most of the cells went with Dr. Prius and http://Www.projectlithium.com upgrade.


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I think you're on to something... But I suspect it has more to do with skill of the technician. As in some mechanics can flawlessly replace the fluid and bleed the lines if they have good equipment and have done it a hundred times. But other mechanics with less skill can run into problems with their technique, or their equipment and that could shorten the lifespan of booster.

Additionally, the practice of changing all the fluids periodically was essential for a car a half-century ago. But as the technology improves that becomes less essential. Of course capitalism will always prefer to keep making money off the same routine even when it's no longer necessary. As in I've never once read on here about any issues with contaminated brake fluid or water in the lines, just a little air sometimes.

 

I recommend the dealer

 

On the generation 2 it shouldn't hurt anything squeezing the calipers and pushing back through the circuit but it could be questionable. I've done it both ways on four cars and obviously I'm doing it because the accumulator has already failed usually I'm not just fooling with the brakes for the fun of it usually the codes are present We have the beeping with the low accumulator so on and all of that I've seen several of these cars with $500,000 miles with the original brake fluid still in the system and the reservoir is clear as water still.

 

I know Douglas, the title of the thread was “inexpensive”


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Don't need the dealer for any of this a girl can do all this work on a weekend changing the accumulator on a generation 2 that's clean work I mean you're barely going to get dirty if you're Prius is that dirty under the hood you need housekeeping and cleaning done I drive in the mud in the dirt quite often You lift the hood on any four of my generation 2 sitting out here and you can use the inverter top as a dinner plate No problem that's how clean generation too should be under the hood I clean them every few years they don't really get dirty The one NZ is not a outgassing engine very much valve covers valve cover spark plug o rings all that sort of thing don't generally leak seep and make a mess. The most dirt you see on a one NZ is where dingbats poor oil in and have poor aim.