After four days of ownership, I love my car... BUT Has anybody else noticed a whine in the brakes? It's very subtle (almost imperceptable), just curious if it is normal. bRaD
You're probably hearing the regeneration of power as the car uses the electric motor to recharge the batteries during braking. It's completely normal - just watch the power flow display as you brake and you'll see the energy flowing back into the battery. Dave
I have rarely heard it as I usually have toons on the stereo. But the whine is the generator saving energy for you. I love these brakes, I drove my old car and thought I would never stop!
I notice a squeak from the brakes when coming to a full stop while reversing with the steering wheel in full lock (either left or right). I think it only occurs when it's raining (so perhaps some part of the brakes - rotor/pad may be wet). Has anyone else experienced this?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bweston\";p=\"58010)</div> yup.... and the brakes are slightly grabbier.... switching between my prius and the wife's camry is interesting. When I go to my backup pickup truck.... :roll: it's a VERY different world. I think the truck's leaving by year's end... cas (#7 driftwood '04)
My brakes have started squeaking. I'm not sure why. It's just at first, like when I'm backing out of my driveway or a parking spot. And then usually at the first stoplight I come to.
I notice a very high pitched noise when the car is stopped and I lift my foot from the brake pedal. When I push it again, the noise can be heard again. It's not the brake discs, because the car isn't moving, perhaps it's some sort of relais or maybe the switch that measures how far one pushes the brake pedal? Will ask the dealer about it next time I'm in the neighbourhood.
Bat - I've noticed this on cold mornings at high altitude. It's been reported by others living in Flagstaff (higher altitude in AZ) according to the dealer in Scottsdale - something to do with the brake pump. It was loud enough to be embarrasing in my case when I was in Big Bear Lake, CA (my high school stomping grounds) a few months back. Big Bear is about 6800 feet.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(htmlspinnr\";p=\"58153)</div> I live in the low desert, but on a recent trip to the Grand Canyon (thur Flag) the brake pedal engagement started to make a very loud noise when first pressed. (not the faint whine you hear normally). My wife accused me of damaging the car (its hers and she drives in 90% of time). The noise continued all the way back to low elevations, but the next day was gone. Al
The high pitched 'whine' or whistle is the transistors in the inverter 'singing'. Occurs during regen braking, and when starting off at a dead stop.
Dan, what we're hearing is not regen, as the noise is present at a standstill as well. It sounds more like an actuator moaning. Regen singing (or singing upon acceleration) of the caps happens at any temp and elevation.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Batavier\";p=\"58131)</div> Batavier, Now you have got me thinking of fabulous vacations and staying at Relais & Châteaux properties. The word is spelled relays. Cheers.
Hehe, you're welcome. In Dutch the word for 'relay' is 'relais'... You're probably right, Rick. That must be it. Next time I'm at the dealer, I'll give their demo a try... And thanks for the diagram, Danman!
Dang, there's so much interesting detail in the repair manual maybe I should buy one. Do dealers sell them?
Yes, they do, or if you have lots of time on your hands, you could do what I did; Go online to Toyota TechInfo, spend $10 for a day's access, or $50 for a month access, and download all the PDFs you want. I managed to do it with 2 days access, then used a trial copy of Adobe Acrobat to stitch them together. However, I spent HOURS with the downloads and stitching. You can get the repair manual, wiring diagram, campaigns, recalls, owner's manual, and New Car info. When you download, I suggest keeping each section (chapter) in a separate folder, as there are duplicate filenames in each chapter. You may also want to modify the filenames, prefixing them with a sequence #. This will greatly help in stitching them. Otherwise, you will waste time trying to get them in proper order. Also, If you are going to use a trial version of Adobe to stitch, download first using the latest update of Reader. The trial version of Adobe doesn't have enough of the updates to allow TIS to work in downloading, and you can't update the trial version.
Back in the day, they had open directory indexing. With 1 day's access, we'd simply find one URL, then use wget (Gnu web get utility under Linux/BSD/etc., or Unix tools for Windows) recursively along w/ the session cookie to do a recursive download on the whole tree. Problem is, they've probably revised them a bit since then, but that was the *only* way I could get a full manual. The search engine would almost NEVER bring up all pages - at least in the case of the NCF guide. Dan, The accumulator pump only operates to rebuild pressure. This noise was actually occuring right at the "threshold" between regen only and hydraulic braking, which would indicate a valve/solenoid moving. I'd almost guess it was akin to a noisy faucet at a particular opening where you get a resonance in the line. However, the noise to me is more like something passing through a noisy reed valve. Guess it's something you need to hear to believe. Next time I'm at higher altitude, I'll try to record the sound somehow.
