Brake failure

450 is way high for labor for that. unfortunately the parts number is about right.

i think you just solidly convinced us to get the extended warranty sorry to hear that.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ May 18 2007, 09:44 PM) [snapback]445402[/snapback]</div>

To the OP: Sorry about your situation

Does one need to have the vehicle inspected visually for this warranty?

 

you can buy the extended warranty as long as you're in the original 3/36 factory warranty period. we're just about to hit 30k so we're trying to save up extra dollars as we go now.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(nicks @ May 19 2007, 01:56 PM) [snapback]445727[/snapback]</div>

What if you call other dealers and ask them how much it would cost in parts and labor?

 

Hmm.. Isn't the capacitor for storing energy for "emergency braking"?? In any case, I find it rather surprising that it would fail, and as well, that it would cause an intermittent system failure.. I'm not a Toyota mechanic, but I am an electrical engineer and capacitor failure simply does not sound like a likely scenario here (if used in an oscillator or something like that where the exact value of the capacitance is important, capacitors can have "soft failure" modes, but when used as an energy storage device, they either work or they don't).. I'd bet that the capacitor is actually OK, but they're recommending replacing it as part of a "shotgun" approach (ie, replace everything that could possibly cuase the problem, whether it's really broken or not)..

On the other hand, the real problem being that skid control ECU has crapped out and 9is affecting the braking I could believe.. The VSC system is the one Toyota system that I feel has questionable engineering , and I don't fully trust it to be overriding my braking and steering inputs, so if I were in your position, I would be tempted to try disabling the VSC by just pulling the plug on skid control ECU (you might also need to disconnect the yaw sensors) and seeing if the braking problems go away.. If this works, you could decide whether to live without VSC or to go ahead an get it repaired, but to leave the capacitor alone (as I said, I really don't believe that the capacitor could be bad-if it was shorted, at the voltage and current levels involved, the failure would have been quite spectacular and unmistakable.. If it were open, then things simply wouldn't work at all, but the on-again-off-again nature of this problem suggests something else entirely..

I would probably also ask them to credit me any parts and labor that was paid towards the previous mis-diagnoses of the problem..

 

I expect the shop will just shrug their shoulders and say "That's what Toyota says to replace." They're not electrical engineers, nor do they repair electronic systems at the component level.

As for capacitor failure, I've seen power-supply capacitors on an iMac G5 perform intermittently. This was due to a manufacturing defect. So it's not impossible for a capacitor to work one day and not the next. Unlikely, yes, but not impossible.

I'm curious: Where did you get the info about a capacitor storing energy for emergency braking? This makes little sense when there are 12v and 200v batteries available in the system, and braking can always revert to unpowered hydraulic.

 

The black box next to the 12V battery in the back is full of
capacitors. http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/pix/uyv3/999brake-caps2.jpg
Think of it like a vacuum booster: if your 12V goes, it and the
remaining accumulator pressure give you enough power for one or two
assisted stops, and then you fall back to the manual fronts-only
hydraulic.
.
The braking system as a whole is one of the least generally
understood parts of this car...
.
_H*

 

I stand corrected!

That's some serious storage there.

I have a couple of 1F (yes, one farad) caps. At 5v, they're about the size of a 5c coin, 1/8" tall.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rick Auricchio @ May 22 2007, 08:03 PM) [snapback]447797[/snapback]</div>

Well Rick, you've beaten me. My 1F caps (also 5V) are larger in diameter than a silver dollar (the ones from when we were kids) and about 1/2" tall. The energy density is a lot higher in yours. Where did you get them?

And Hobbit, what the rating on each of those 28 caps?

Dave M.

 

Nicks -

Which dealer were you working with? - just in case I have a similar issue in the future

Thanks

 

Congratulations Nick! I'm pleasantly shocked. Toyota really stepped up there.

 

This is why I chose to not get the extended warranty. You'll save at least a thousand bucks if nothing ever happens, and even if something happens just politely ask for help. Toyota has a reputation to protect and likely will give you the parts for free or even better, pay for some labor. In light of car manufacturers giving longer warranties these days (GM has a better warranty than Toyota? wow, hello Toyota) they will be forced to start giving even more goodwill repairs.

Glad to hear it wasn't very costly for ya.

 

KUDOS to Toyota for footing the bill!

(And congrats to you, Nick!)

-Vikki