2001 Brake Accumulator going out...

I have an '01 Prius with ~80,000 miles now. I bought it with a known brake issue, however upon further diagnosis, it appears the problem is with the Brake accumulator.

Just a question... has anyone replaced an ABS unit in their 01-03 classic before? And if so, about how long should it take?

My local Toyota dealers were quoting me anywhere from $1500-$3000 in labor alone. Plus the dealers will not install a used ABS pump, so that is another $1000-$2000 depending on dealer.

I just received an over the phone quote to replace the ABS pump for just the labor from "Mighty Auto Pro" in Medina, Ohio for $600 plus tax... this seems reasonable, but I just wanted to make sure.

 

I guess I should have elaborated a bit... I get error codes C1256 and C1202 which are Low Accumulator pressure and Open circuit in brake fluid level warning switch...

The actual symptoms are when I press depress the brake pedal for more than 5 seconds, I lose 90% of my braking ability and the ABS light / brake light come on. It really feels like air all of a sudden gets introduced. The 3 Toyota dealers around me and 1 in Columbus have said this is a brake accumulator problem.

Also, I do have a Mongoose MFC VIM reader for use with Toyota Techstream lite... I bought 3 days of Techstream a few months ago, and the software still works on the laptop I put it on.

 

Brake fluid level is fine. The quick fix for when the issue becomes too bad, is to bleed the brakes. I have bled a few times so far using the Mongoose to actuate the R/R solenoid in the ABS pump as per the instructions in the Toyota repair manual. After bleeding, the issue almost goes away. But slowly comes back.

 

New development with the issue.

I found a used accumulator on eBay from XVIPERS. I had a local independent shop install the accumulator. He was able to install it fine (he had to remove all the AC lines and some brake lines, but got it done)

He bled the system as much as he could, and it seemed to drive great for a day. Now, the issue is back, and a new code is thrown C1246.

I drove it into the dealership in Gahanna and asked them to bleed the brakes. They bled the brakes, but said the car was still unsafe to drive. So far its gone through 3 technicians and about 3 hours of diagnostic and I haven't heard anything from them At $95 an hour, 3 hours of diagnostic and an hour for the bleed it is starting to add up! (with no answers...)

Has anyone else experienced any issues with their braking system on the classic? From what I can tell its a pretty solid system with few failures.

 

The prius is now throwing a code of C1252, and the dealership has no idea what is wrong. I have paid for 3 hours of diagnostics, but they have been working 10+ hours with a Toyota engineer on the phone to figure this one out.

Its been 3 days since my car went into the dealership, and no calls have come in except to tell me its gone through 4 of their technicians, and the final technican was / is on the phone with a Toyota engineer to figure the issue out.

I verified that I had only cleared the dealership to do a brake bleed (1 hour) and 2 hours of additonal diagnostics (as the brake bleed did nothing)

I will update when Ihear anything back from them... I may be on my way over there after I get off work to check out what is taking so long (and to take them the PDF that Patrick posted about the pinion nuts recall)