Hello all, I have a 2008 gen 2 Prius w/ 147k miles. Things were fine and dandy and even put a new hybrid battery about a month ago as I was planning on keeping the car another 3-5 years. Fast forward to 1 & 1/2 weeks ago, the abs/vsc light came on. A friend read the code and said front speed sensor was bad. Took it to another place they gave an error code about a miscommunication from the hybrid battery to the computer. They also said there was air in the brake system and bled the brakes. The ABS/VSC light is currently off. The traction control light comes on very easily however. All through this the car drove fine and I didn’t notice any issues. I don’t know how air got in the system. Is it possible that a bad accumulator or actuator could do this? I’m not sure if I should cut bait and get a newer car or ride it out and see if the light comes back. My registration is due and is due for an inspection which will cost ~$400 for all of that. Just trying to get someone’s perspective/experience on this. Thank you!
There is no connection between air in the system and replacing the battery. What error codes did your friend find? What software did he use? Is there a listing of errors with printed codes from other specialists?
Will cost $400 for what? That's what I'm not understanding A new break actuator if it's needed is going to be $400 for a used one and you may have to do it twice trying to find one that will work The average you'll pay for the installation of that part and the brake bleeding unfortunately is going to be about $550 or better that's what I charge in Central North Carolina so another parts of the country man this can be $800 before you even get out of bed. So you need to find somebody who you can work with kind of honest whatever the case may be. If your ABS light the! With the double circles VSC traction control and ABS light are now off and the traction control light easily comes on go out and look at your car it sounds like you haven't had it a long time I didn't even look to see where you are. Look at all four tires are all four tires the same number sizes factory alloy wheels on a generation to generally had 185 65 15 tires Do you have four of those on your car If not right off for numbers down and post them up. You need to fix that first. The wheel sensor that was said to be bad when the mechanic took the wheel off the sensor was plugged up everything was looking good no problems or did they replace a sensor? On the side that gave a code for the wheel sensor that sensor should be pulled out of the hub if it's the front and the tip of the sensor looked at with good glasses or a small magnifying glass to see if there's any garbage on the end of it at that point you would spray it off with something like WD-40 and run a rag or paper towel over it and try to get the magnetic nonsense off the end of the tip of the sensor and reinsert it and put the bolt in. See if that stops the traction control light from flickering If you didn't find odd tire on the car this may straighten you out at some point the brake actuator will go on this low mileage generation 2 You're not even broke in good yet keep the car 3 to 5 years If you're not in the rust belt this will be easy you'll have this car till you're an old whatever you are your mind will make you get rid of the car before the car fails just because your friends and your peers and things are happening with them and you'll want them happening for you and new car payments etc home loans you know. This is an easy one to keep forever unless you're somewhere where the car will just disintegrate from being out. You have a great vehicle don't get forced out of it by a bunch of foolishness unless this is what you want things aren't a lot greener on the other side of this car I promise you that even if you're going to go to a real fancy electric thing you're in for another big bunch of disappointments look at all the videos online of all the people that have done that many are back to gas cars and blah blah blah it's quite hysterical. The next best thing to my generation to Prius is my Italian aprilia big bore scooter that gets 70 mi to the gallon and goes 90 miles an hour That's the thing I drive when the Prius doesn't for whatever reason and I can afford almost whatever I want to drive I don't want to afford is the issue.
Thanks for the replies! I don’t have the error codes unfortunately. The mechanic did not write them down or print them off. The speed sensor was not replaced. Bleeding of the brakes got the abs/vsc light off. But no one worked on my brakes which leads me to think something else is going on. Because I’m not sure how air got into the system. Is that a symptom of a bad actuator or accumulator? Thanks
