2006 PULLS TO THE LEFT ON BRAKE

While he's doing that, let me do a stream on consciousness dump....

I see a traffic light ahead. It turns red. I take my foot of accellerator (spelling?) and begin to slow down. I then depress brake. (eyes closed trying to recall circumstances) **Most of the time** around 12-10-8-6 MPH the steering wheel really pulls counter clockwise. Firmly. So this is steer-by-wire? why would steering wheel really want to go counterclockwise? regen kicks off at 8 MPH, but I think it happens before and after this mark.

This is all hearsay in my mind. I'm going to have to go out tomorrow and document what is happening. Video camera and all.... Any suggestions of what to look for / document are welcome.

 

One test you can try to help isolate the problem . . .

When the car is pulling to the side while braking, shift the car into neutral. This will get rid of any regen braking. If the car still pulls to the side, you know it's not the regen/â€transmission†doing the pulling to the side.

Of course, be careful while doing this. Don't do it in traffic or when you really NEED the braking.

 

ick. i was thinking of drive-by-wire, which is the throttle.

steering is direct.

 

One other thought:

You mentioned the bleeding of the brakes and the “tests.†Do you know if they actually cleaned the brake rotors and pads? Sometimes you can have a contaminant on one of the brakes and it will either grab or slip more than the brakes on the other side of the car . . . causing a pulling feel.

Being that the Prius uses its mechanical brakes much less that an old technology car, the contaminant can remain in place for a longer period of time before having the chance of being burnt-off or rubbed away.

Maybe someone at the Toyota plant is getting a little too happy with a grease gun around the brakes. :blink:

 

I too have 2006 Prius with package 8 and I didn't see some thing like this on my car.

 

From the descriptions, I would rule out alignment, tires and suspension issues because those issues pull vehicle to one side even w/o braking involved (such as let go of your steering slightly to see if the vehicle pull toward one side). If that is true (only happens in braking), I would guess the braking system/regen system.

Since Prius has the traditional braking and proprietary regen systems, it is hard to pin point which one. But I would bet on one of the two. You may want to go to another Toyota dealer for a second opinion.

Please keep us informed of the development. Thanks.

 

Ceric is right. With my Celica, there was a constant but very light pull to the left that became extremely pronounced under hard braking, enough to pull the wheel from my grip if I wasn't prepared for it.

So, if you don't have a constant pull, more or less, then it's probably not the tires.

 

The evil penguin that thinks he a chicken in The Wrong Trousers. A classic. I love it when the penguin blinks his eyes.

 

I have driven about 1000 miles on my 2006 now, and have not noticed this "pulling" effect either. Hopefully it will not come up in the future.

 

Mine just broke a 1000 too!.... I never notice mine anymore.... maybe the computer finally balanced things... I remember the few times it did it, it felt like regen to me.

 

hmm. my 05 pk 5 cost 26100 for everything at msrp, but we haven't gotten the warranty yet.

ahhhhhhh.... i get it now. i saw it so long ago i couldn't recall.

 

Did they do a complete 4-wheel alignment? Caster and camber errors can show when braking even if it not noticable under acceleration and float conditions. Many new Priuses need an alignment regardless. Mine did.

 

pretty sure caster isn't adjustable on the prius without a major surgery.

 

this could very easily be a servo problem in the brake actuator. All other things being ok Steering centered, tires ok,alignment ok. I seem to recall about a year ago someone posted a similar complaint and the actuator was changed and that fixed the problem. I've been searching but can't find it.

 

The tires are a definate possibility. The last time I bought new tires, not for Stan but for my previous car, I started noticing a pull to the left. I took the car back to the tire store and they said that the mounting and balance were fine but that one of the tires was "warped" and that's why the pull was happening.

 

I just remember that the feeling that pulled the wheel didnt' feel like brakes "I didn't feel the feedback from the wheels", it just simply pulled the steering wheel and without being able to explain it in better detail, It just felt like regen... Of course I could be wrong... it would be the first time since the last time! :lol:

 

"pretty sure caster isn't adjustable on the prius without a major surgery."

For this very reason it should be checked; if it is out of spec, the car arrived damaged and should be replaced under warrantee.

 

heck, my front left is like .01 out of spec on caster. it's not that big of a deal.

they check caster every time they do an alignment.

 

I'm always suspicious about them "saying" its off when its not..... but if you let them work on it, I would get them to guarantee in advance that it will fix the problem or its free!...

If they can't do that, then they don't have the diagnostic expertise to really know... they are just guessing. Like the mechanic who just replaces parts till he stumbles on the fix, many service shops really just "guess" at your expense and thier profit.


They may also say its out of spec, but it be so negligable that it doesn't matter... but they will still be glad to fix it for you if you'll pay for it!


What if you rack up a big bill and its not fixed and the real problem is something thats over thier head?.. you are dealing with a prius?

Your safest bet is to turn it in as a warranty issue and let Toyota figure out this one.

 

Does anyone know if this problem ever got fixed? I have had a virtually identical problem with my 08 since I got it and the dealer tells me nothing is wrong. I originally had a slight cruise pull left and a brake pull to the left on about half to 2/3 of brake applications. There was too much negative camber on the RF wheel, an alignment fixed the cruise pull, but the braking pull remains. Any help on a direction I can point the dealer to would be appreciated.
Thanks