Brake Booster Reimbursement

Okay okay, I got enough signature quotes for the future. It's hill start assist control feature. When you press the brake pedal all the way down, this engages the feature. The brakes lock the car in place whether if your up or downhill, when you let go of the brakes, the feature disengages after 2 seconds or when you hit the accelerator. This is a great feature if your stopped at a red light on a uphill and not roll back into the car behind you as you release your foot from brake pedal to accelerator.

Excerpt from my Prius bible:

 

Just got my 2011 Prius back from the warranty repair work. The Hill-start assist control still works. In fact, when I press the pedal to the floor it now "beeps" (and the SLIP indicator light flashes). Before the warranty repair work, there was no "beep", only the SLIP indicator light flashed.

I was not aware of the Hill-start assist feature or that a flashing SLIP indicator light is normal when you press the brake pedal to the floor so ignore my previous post about using the SLIP light to troubleshooting to see if you need the warranty work performed. After talking to the dealership, the only way to know if you need to work, is if the error code is displayed. The error code is DTC: C1256 and its message is LOW ACCUMULATOR PRESSURE. This is something they have to check at the dealership as my check engine light never turned on. The warranty repair work total was $2040.42 and is covered by Toyota with a warranty of 12 months. When you have the warranty work performed it should be similar to the attached invoice. Notice they changed the brake fluid as well. Brake performance has improved.

 

Yes - I received the letter from Toyota on my 2014 Prius brake booster and brake booster pump assemblies too . Put in my iphone reminders when warranty expires . So if it doesn't happen within warranty time frame does that mean it won't ever happen ?

 

If the brake pump, etc. failure does not occur within the time frame, it does not mean it will never fail.

The way it was explained to me at the dealership, the customer should see one of lights illuminated (shown in the warranty letter attached to the original post in this thread) and the Toyota service technician should also read the trouble code C1256 which means LOW ACCUMULATOR PRESSURE.

I actually mistook the hill-assist feature and the illuminated SLIP light for a problem when it's normal if the brake pedal is fully depressed. It just so happens that the trouble code showed up on my Prius by dumb luck (note that the check engine light never came on).

My advice is, if you received the warranty letter, take your car into your Toyota dealership for the warranty job and have them check for the trouble code. If they don't find a trouble code, you may have to pay a little, but you'll have peace of mind. It's a very expensive repair job if you had to pay it on your own (+$2000).

 

The only problem is that the dealerships and Toyota will not honor any replacement parts unless the light are on as it was explained to me. All 4 must be activated and the issue must be verified for them to replace any parts

To me this is a safety issue as if the pump goes apparently from what I learned here you have no rear brakes while trying to stop. The reading that I have done also tells me that the friction brakes do not activate unless you are under severe braking or emergency stopping.

No picture this,,, someone in-front of you panic stops and you do the same. These 4 lights come in and well you know the rest of that story.

Yes I got one for my 2015 and was told by the dealer that only select vins get them. They were actually surprised that I got one but I am not. The quality of this car so far has been questionable since we have had radio issues since we bought it, dome light issues....etc

My 13 year old gen 2 has absolutely none of these issues and has been the pinnacle of reliability. We just replaced the hybrid battery at 2k out of pocket and I was ok with that as that has been the first major repair the family has put into it since the purchase price. The rest was normal with the exception of the hid bulbs.

 

You're talking about the final stage of fail-safe, when the entire electronic brake controller has recused itself and left you nothing but the plumbing. That stage is there as the last resort, but you'd need a pile of things all going wrong to get there.

Compared to a conventional car with the brakes power-assisted by a vacuum booster, you have a lot more margin with the Prius. A typical vacuum booster, if it loses engine vacuum, has enough stored to give you two or three strokes of the brake pedal, before you are out of assist and have to stomp really hard.

The accumulator in the Prius, if the pump stops working, has twenty or thirty strokes of the brake stored up, before you're out of assist and have to stand on it. And you will have lights on the dash and a really annoying high-pitched beep alarm blaring at you for the last ten or fifteen of those.

(Of course, we do get occasional posts from people driving around with that alarm going, and asking for ways to make it less annoying....)

That sounds like perhaps in your head you have combined a few fragments of different things you've read here.

The way braking force should be apportioned between regeneration and friction is a question that the car's braking computer is constantly answering. It doesn't lend itself to any glib offhand simplification, certainly nothing like you've written here.

Your scenario here is you've had no symptoms or indications of trouble ever, then you make this one panic stop, all the lights come on and you are at the end stage of brake-system failure?

You could also have a bad end to the story if you panic stop and the brake pedal snaps off.

 

Thank you for the education on how the system works, and in all due respect, I fully understand how a brake booster works in a conventional car. I have had one on the verge of failure. I replaced it myself and all was happy again. It was a simple braking system and it worked quite good.

Granted You may have 20 or 30 strokes left of the pedal and well I am damn sure a Christmas tree and loud alarms will get your attention, it still does not detour from the fact that you have a pump controlling the rear brakes. If this pump is defective and can have premature failure, I think it would be wise to replace it or recall it.

If that panic stop causes this condition, that end stage of brake failure we are speaking about happens then now what?

Don’t get me wrong, it can happen to any car, but in all honestly, I am speaking from having a 4 year old car, where this should not even be expected, let alone be mentioned. or am I expecting too much?

 

Chrisgen1,
All four lights were not activated on my 2011 Prius when I brought it in to the Toyota dealership. In fact, none of the lights were ON. I told them that the car acted funny when I pressed the brake pedal to the floor (when stopped) and the SLIP indicator light flashes. The checked it out and found the C1256 trouble code.

I would offer that you try another Toyota dealership because they make money from Toyota off the work. I cannot see why they would not want to do it and make the money from Toyota, if the trouble code exists. I hope this helps!

 

not to be mean or nothing but well honestly its the next persons problem now. I traded the 2015 in for a 2020 prius prime. It had too many other issues and I was not going to replace harnesses on it due to rodent issues. It was actually sold to us with that problem and was suppose to be certified. never again..

the 2020 prime is wonderful by the way... well worth the price tag..

 

It is FREE REPLACEMENT by Toyota. NHTSA website published it https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10164922-9999.pdf . 31 August 2021/unlimited mileage.

 

In the document I see only 10 years or 150k miles. Is that superseded (by your last sentence) somewhere?

 

H᠎i, welcome to PriusChat, where a lot of people come looking for accurate information about their Prius cars.

The 'campaign ZJB' document linked above applies only to 3rd generation Prius liftback and Prius Plug-in (PHV) cars, not to the v or the c. The end dates vary by model year:



So it's already over for 2010s (unless anybody's got one that hasn't rolled 150k by now).

For 2011s through 15s, it is still in force through August 2021 and then to your tenth year or 150k miles, whichever comes first.

It is a replacement conditioned on specific failures ("certain internal malfunctions of the brake booster and brake booster pump assemblies"). It is good to remember that in the 3rd generation Prius, those are two different assemblies:



There is a list of trouble codes that may mean the covered failure has occurred. They are codes that can also be set for other reasons. Sometimes a few simple steps of diagnosis will reveal that something else has caused the codes you have, and that replacement of one or even both these assemblies would not be the necessary solution.

 

I'm good till November this year, closing in on 87K kms, lol.

 

I red that also. Mendel, you'll have to reply back to all the brake booster threads that's been revived with your reply. This is pretty why people post "I have read all the threads relate to <insert topic> and I am even more confused."

 

Thank God for this forum! For me it was C1391 and I limped my car into a random shop after is spontaneously turned itself off (accompanied by many loud beeps and the above code + other brake warning lights on dash) during Chicago rush hour, on lower Wacker drive!).
I was told the brake fluid was empty and with no signs of an external leak, this shop cleared the code, refilled and recalibrated(?) the brake system and explained as: "Well your rear brake pads are at 4mm so fluid could leak out there or the dealer made an error in their inspection and left something open."
BUT I AM NOT THAT KINDA GIRL to take a mechanics word for it ($300 later) or bank on the dealer F*king up an inspection so I came here and went down the C1391 Brake Booster Assembly rabbit hole. It is thanks to you all (and especially those who uploaded the actual docs showing the service program and ZJB codes) that I was able to find the coverage for my 2012 Prius.

With the codes cleared, my dilemma was this: the expiration of the extended coverage for my car was approaching (1 week away). I called the dealer, explained my dilemma, and dropped off the car for them to attempt to get any of the relevant codes to pop. It was Monday. On Thursday they finally gave up. On Friday I picked up my car. On Saturday the extended coverage expired. I was feeling pretty beat, knowing it was only a matter of time before the code popped and issue became a Real Issue and knowing a 2k + repair was imminent on my new to me car. I packed the car up for my trip back to Missouri on Friday afternoon, planning to drive the 500 miles first thing Saturday. Within 15 minutes, I am looking at my dash and the warning lights and blinking in disbelief: Yeah... brake warning lights... my coverage expires in less than 24 hrs, on a Friday the freakin' warning light FINALLY pops on again. I call up my guy at the dealer and explain and he has me drop off the car the next day, the day the warranty expires. Because I got it in the shop within time, and because it was already in their system with this issue in progress, they were able to get done under warranty.

Thank you ALL but especially, @Mendel Leisk and @ChapmanF for your many contributions on this topic.
It *may be that adding weight to my car (at least 300 ibs) helped trigger the issue and brake warning lights/ the code. If there is a better way for me to add that detail to help someone else out, I welcome the veterans of this forum to let me know and I will repost in a way to be helpful, as this is my first and very lengthy contribution - but I had to share my story! Thanks for reading

 

What is the "Customer Support Program for the 2010 model brake booster problem"? My 2010 level IV booster and master cylinder was replaced under warrenty in 2019 but it has failed again. The local dealer wants $4113 to fix it. I just bought the car and it also needs a new hybrid battery. I am sick. Even if I replace the parts myself, the dealer wants $2379.23 for the parts and then the dealer would have to calibrate the brakes. I am sure that with the faulty brakes, the car would fail VA inspection.

 

I've got these, forget exactly what's in them. Got a feeling corporate Toyota's turned their back on 2010 Owners though.

Addendum, with a cursory read I'm not seeing any time/miles limitation. There is a VIN range you need to be in, specifics weren't jumping out at me. There was a relatively easy to find build-date range, in the smaller of the two documents:


You can check against the month/year build-date indicated in the driver's door opening.

FWIW, ours was built in August, 2009.

 

Both of those attachments look to be about the D0H recall. That's the one where a certain number of 2010s were known to have been built with undersized accumulator bellows that would slap around inside the accumulator and crack. That was a single very specific issue.

The special service campaign ZJB is what extends extra years and miles of coverage on the brake system for internal leakage that leads to codes about not holding pressure. The year and mileage limits for that extended coverage can be reviewed in post #32.