Only 38mpg and lights on the dash related?

BTW Update: Still have the dash lights but I noticed while cruising something that doesn't jibe with the regenerative braking not working: On a freeway cruise this car only gets 35-40mpg. Again, no codes other than the one c1345 left that's triggering the lights.

 

I appreciate the ideas. I generally cruise at 140-160mph which is why I gave a mpg range to reflect steady cruise mpg at a range of speeds I drive, since nobody ever drives just one set speed. Is that good mpg for 140-160mph?

As I indicated before this car doesn't have stuck calipers and the wheels spin pretty freely. Since it's a Toyota I don't think "age/miles" really applies to non-wear items at 105,000 miles. This isn't a Chevy from the 1970s or a 2018 Chrysler with five miles on it.

 

Oh it's not an assumption; it's experience with lots of different models. I've been working on cars for 25 years. In my experience almost no Toyotas I've owned or worked on have needed more than a couple wheel bearings and a set of CV axles in the first 150,000 miles, wear items excluded. So yeah, hybrid or not it would be a big surprise for this Prius to be eating something serious. I'm guessing this comes down to something easy like a sensor, but it's of course been elusive so far.

 

I was being facetious for fun. Unless I cruise at 100mph and am somehow baffled by how that affects my gas mileage, discovering what speed I cruise at when I say I get 35-40mpg on the freeway in a car that's supposed to get 48+mpg isn't ever going to be the silver bullet here. But yeah I typically cruise at 70-80mph, like everybody.

I am interested what speed the EPA tests their cars for highway mpg though. It seems like people here regularly exceed that 51/48mpg figure.

 

I appreciate the input about what wasn't correct about what I wrote. I guess I'll Google the actual answer for how the tests are performed.

 

Looks like the EPA hwy (highway) test only peaks out at 60mph, and it's only above 50mph for about 80% of it. That's a lot slower than your leisurely 70-80mph cruise down an open interstate, so I can see why my mpg would be lower than the 48mpg EPA hwy figure for my car. It seems like a 2-lane country backroad with no stoplights or stop signs would be a lot better approximation of what the EPA cycle does.

Doesn't change the fact that my car is getting way worse mpg than both EPA city/hwy estimates, nevermind that it seems like everybody on this forum with an unborked Prius gets at least 45mpg on average, and quite a few it's more like 55mpg. Still working to find the answer.

 

I appreciate the in-depth rundown on all that. Seems like it's pretty comprehensive stuff!

 

So after Mendel hooked me up with the manual I've been going through things on and off for a couple months to fix this. It's not fixed yet, but based on the car refusing to complete the linear solenoid valve initialization it's making me think that either a faulty ABS/brake actuator or faulty skid control ECU are preventing that from happening, unless I'm just screwing up the procedure.

The procedure I'm using is using paperclips in the DLC3 socket (aka OBDII plug), turn the car on, tap the TS/CG (4/12) pins together 4 times in 8 seconds or less, then turn car off, connect the pins together, turn car on, let it run through depressing all the brakes on its own, then turning it off. After that it shows code 1345 (through my scanner) "linear solenoid valve learning undone" but seemingly doesn't recalibrate. That's the only code it has. Again the 4 lights on the dash were allegedly precipitated by the previous owner having the car aligned, which turned on the lights (I have paperwork to prove that).

Incidentally the car's average MPG is up to 43-44mpg now. Best tank is 47.7 which I've never come close to matching again. That involved drafting trucks on 400 miles of freeway at 70-75mph. I've verified from some videos on the internet that in 4 months of owning this car it has never had functional regenerative braking. I'm interested how much better my mpg will get once that's functional.

Weirdly finding a used 2010-2015 skid control ECU seems damn near impossible but strangely the brake actuator is available everywhere.

 

I really appreciate the tip. I just emailed them so we'll see what they have to say. I'm crossing my fingers the price is reasonable. The 2010 is right on the cusp of being old enough to show up in the junkyards near me and those junkyards sell things like these computers for $25-45. Considering I'm not even sure the skid control computer is broken, I'm much more comfortable taking a chance on a cheaper part.

As is I've managed to get decent MPG out of this car even with totally non-functional regenerative braking, it's not the most pressing, but I'm pretty intrigued whether I can manage 55-60mpg out of this car since I got 53.2mpg on a 65 mile trip a few days ago.