Brake pad life

I just took my very low mileage (20k) 2014 Prius V to the dealer for routine service and mentioned that the brakes were starting to squeal a little. They checked and told me that the front brakes were totally shot and that the back brakes were at 3mm. I had the front brakes replaced completely and will see to the rear brake pads soon. But what freaks me out is that I replaced the front brakes at another dealership just last September! Apart from fraud, which I doubt, how could I be going through brakes so fast? I do live up a steep hill and that's what I chalked it up to last time but this is ridiculous. I had a 2009 Prius (not a V) and never had to replace the brakes in the 3 years I owned it.

The new brakes seem to be getting hot-- they smell after my commute. Is that normal with new brakes or could there be another problem at work?

I did a little research and realized that my commute has a long downhill stretch of freeway, so I'm experimenting with using the B gear more often. This seems to help reduce how often I need the brake pedal.

Does anybody have some advice or experience related to this?

Cheers,
Steve

 

....and, they looked kinda ....? Pls don't tell me the answer! I already know.

 

Steve, how is your MPG? If low for the type of driving you do, could a brake pad be dragging? When you get to work, feel the wheels (inside lip) and see if they are unusually hot?

My brake pad thickness at 45k miles was causing me to think I had at least that much left. 95% of my trips are local and I live in a hilly area.

 

Welcome to Prius Chat .

Some questions:

• How long is your commute?
• What dealer did you use the first time as they may have bound up the pads?
• Did you call them and let them know what the other dealer found?
• Do you have the ability to check the brakes yourself?

Keep us posted .

 

Yeah, this smells fishy (excuse the pun, or whatever it is). Feel your wheels after an extended drive. If any are any more than slightly warm to the touch, there's something wrong.

 

After that extended drive, if they don't smell, maybe (carefully!) feel them.

Prius brakes in good condition will be stone cold at the end of a drive, as long as you did not use them for the stop at the end (or within the last several minutes of the drive).

But if you get out to check and you can smell them, do not feel them. The smell tells you all you need to know, and without the bandaged fingers.

In the case of a brake smell, you can usually also confirm the smell by the visible air shimmer near the wheels.

-Chap

 

Thanks for all the replies everyone.

When I was prompted to write, the brakes were getting extremely hot, in fact, I learned that the hard way a couple of days ago. (Don't worry, my finger tip has recovered.) They haven't been smelling as much the last couple of days. One thing I did was to set and release the parking brake, in case that was the cause of the smell, but I can't say for sure that was the issue, because I've also been making more use of B gear and this is noticeably taking the pressure off in terms of how much braking I do.

• How long is your commute? My commute is about 17 miles. The first 7 miles are narrow, winding, mountain roads with lots of up-and-down. I used to think that part was fun. The rest is freeway. The freeway is mostly downhill all the way in to work, that's when the B gear seems to help.
• What dealer did you use the first time as they may have bound up the pads? I used Toyota of Berkeley's I-80 Service Center the first time. I had used them a number of times before without problems, both for my V and for a 2009 Prius (not a V) before that. I switched to Hanlee's Toyota at Hilltop last week. Please tell me more about 'bound up pads,' because that sounds like a possibility.
• Did you call them and let them know what the other dealer found? No, I haven't called them yet. I switched to Hilltop mostly because several calls to the Berkeley service center kept getting disconnected. I would like to check with them to see what the rear brakes were when they serviced the front brakes last September. The rear brakes are down to 3 mm now, so that would give me a rate at which they are getting used up. I realize that replacing them soon is important. I don't want to have to replace the rear shoes if it can be helped. I'm considering whether to go back to Hanlee's or perhaps a highly recommended independent shop called The Model Garage in Berkeley. I thought they might provide better advice but that's also when I thought of joining this forum.
• Do you have the ability to check the brakes yourself? I don't think so. Pardon the rookie question but would this require removing the wheel? I'm disabled and don't have off-street parking where I live. But I did visually inspect what could be seen from outside of the wheels after the second dealer and did notice that the clips on the shoes were nice and shiny. So, some evidence that they did what they said at Hilltop.

Full disclosure: There is some possibility that my disability is part of the problem but I don't think so. My right leg is affected and I only have gross motor function when it comes to my accelerator pedal, so I use an adaptive driving technique where I brake with my left foot. I'm pretty careful not to brake and gas at the same time and I've been driving this way for 20 years without this being an issue before, so I would really like to believe that this is not the problem.

 

Ah, Mike, I'm gettng about 30 MPG.

 

You might want to give Arts Automotive a try as they are in Berkeley and a recognized hybrid shop.

A way to test for binding is to have the rear wheels off the ground and see if the wheel spins. But that doesn’t sound possible in your case.

Some additional questions:

• What screen do you have up on the middle display?
• Do you try to use regent braking as much as possible?

We have 174 k miles on our 2010 and I have not replaced any brake pads and still have at least 6 mm on the fronts and probably the same on the rears.

Keep us posted .

 

I'm going to presume your left foot is on the floorboard before moving to the brake. And you have tries ECO mode to dampen the effects of right foot motions.

Your commute isn't ideal for MPG as every hill you go down must be climbed on the way back. I have the same situation (winding roads and big hills until it flattens out) but vastly different MPG even with shorter average trips which should lessen my MPG.

Regen braking is just light peddle pressure anticipating the stop far in advance. I only use B when I'm coming down a long and steep hill and can see the need to stop or almost stop far ahead.

Does the heat of the 4 wheels seem consistent between the wheels or is one hotter or even a pair hotter?

 

Yes, I rest my left foot on the floorboard before moving to the brake and I pretty much always drive in ECO mode.
Looks like your MPG is in the 40's. Nice. Mine has never been that high. I'll keep the light pedal pressure in anticipation of a stop in mind but am not sure how successful I will be under my driving conditions. The heat seemed to be concentrated on the front wheels, where the new brakes were installed but they haven't been getting hot these last few days. I don't know whether to attribute that to them wearing in a little or the change to using B.

 

I often have the MPG screen up on the display but not always. I only occasionally look at the energy flow monitor. A lot of the time it's the radio. ;-)

I haven't been mindful of regenerative braking, assuming that would take care of itself. I do get a lot of bars on the battery most of the time. I read elsewhere in this thread that light braking in anticipation of the stop will recharge better and I will keep that in mind. That being said, sometimes I have to stop in a hurry. :-(

 

I want pictures of these pads, as well as evidence they were changed previously. Show me pad thickness w micrometers, and the part number on the backing plate so I can see what their composition/mfg is

 

Well, a simple experiment told me what the problem is-- my disability. I asked my wife to drive the V on my commute route over the weekend, with me riding shotgun. We tried to isolate the other variables-- she took my exact route, stayed in ECO mode, etc. Her round trip MPG was 40, ten better than mine. At one point in route, she was up to 50, a number I never see. My partial paralysis must be affecting me more than I thought. I'm going to experiment with moving my seat back a little to see whether that will make it easier to lift off the affected foot off of the gas pedal when needed. I'm thinking we have explained the original issue in the post, too. Why am I going through brakes so fast? Because I must be braking at the same time I am accelerating, even if only accelerating a little. :-(

I may look into the cost of modifying the car to allow me to throttle using a different method. I know these exist but never thought I needed this before.

And, there is one other factor affecting my mileage-- my original LRR tires wore out pretty fast, too, so I replaced them with tires that wouldn't wear out as fast but reduced MPG a little. Seemed like the economical thing to do. I wonder whether they wore out so fast because of my disability, too.

Anyway, thanks again for your attention. It's been.. therapeutic?

Cheers,
Steve

 

all the best!

 

Also what are your tire pressures? You can get a little bit by going into the 42/40 range if you can tolerate it.

 

I'll look into that! Thanks!

 

Wow, great news. Once I figured out my driving was the issue, not the car, I figured I would try to fix it by sitting further back. This is a little less comfortable for me, which is why I hadn't done it before, but if brake life and MPG can both be improved, it's worth a little fatigue. Check out this new MPG for my morning commute: