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Pierced tire, now warning lights + braking problems?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Prius2NE1, Jan 22, 2017.

  1. Prius2NE1

    Prius2NE1 New Member

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    The other day I was going down short hill, maybe 0.3 miles in length, when I noticed a strip of rubber near the median of the road. I'm not the person to intentionally run over items on the road, however, I ended up coasting over the piece of rubber while I was braking and it turned out what I thought was only a strip of rubber, also had a metal hook attached to it. Well, that pierced my front drivers side tire: it did not cause the tire to explode or flatten, however, the traction control light instantly came on and there was a very audible clicking sound. I pulled off into a near by parking lot to see what the problem was, I found the hook in the tire, turned the Prius off, and called my insurance company to have someone replace the tire (I had troubles removing the lug-nuts).


    A repair man arrived and replaced the broken tire with the donut/spare tire from the bottom of the trunk in my Prius. I didn't think too much about it, other than I will need a new tire. The next day I went to have a real tire placed on my Prius. I filled out a parts request form on the website of my nearby Toyota Centre but they didn't respond back, so I ended up going to a Discount Tire location. The new tire was the correct size and everything, and they even rotated the tires for me, so the new tire is in the back left, yet I still have multiple problem lights on my display screen. The slip indicator light (the little car swerving), the ABS, and the Brake system warning lights all remain illuminated when I turn my Prius on; it doesn’t make any beeps or noises either. It won’t allow me to use the cruise control either. I’m not sure what’s going on; I didn’t think replacing the tire would cause more problems.


    I don’t have problems with driving such as on the regular highway (not interstate), however, I quickly noticed the braking is not the same quality it was before originally ran over the piece of metal. The Prius will still brake, however, it feels very stiff. The regenerative braking as shown on the power meter has turned to rubbish- it’s not working like it should. I’m pressing too far down on the brake and the power meter is not showing a strength of regen like I am used to. To an extent, it will show a tiny bit in the regen bar, but regardless of how far down I press on the brakes, it does not increase. I travel down a slope before turning off into my neighbourhood, I know from numerous day that I am able to regenerate 30wh if not more by braking at a reasonable rate down the slope: nope, not any more. In fact, when I was going down the slope while braking the energy monitor was showing a bit of green to the RIGHT of the power bar instead of in the rectangular bar of the LEFT where the regen bar is. What??? I also quickly noticed the energy monitor shows the battery is supply electricity to the wheels when I am in drive, but stationary- I’m not moving a centimetre, and the Prius continues to emit those low/high pedestrian warning sounds, as if I was moving forward. Before this all occurred, if I was at a complete stop, it did not make sounds.


    I made an appointment upcoming here with my local Toyota Centre for them to do a ABS light and brake system diagnosis. After I submitted my service appointment online, one of their sales representatives rapidly called me and asked if I had the tire pressure warning light on when this happened. Nope. He was trying to ensure me when the tire was pierced the warning light for low pressure would have came one, but honestly I did not see any such thing at all.


    Any thoughts on this situation?



    2017-01-20 14.32.36.jpg
     
  2. bhtooefr

    bhtooefr Senior Member

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    I'm wondering if a wiring harness got damaged by the strap.

    I believe ABS has to be functional for regenerative braking to be allowed.
     
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  3. Rebound

    Rebound Senior Member

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    The Prius has a diagnostic computer connection called OBD. When you take the car to the dealer, the technician will attach the computer and determine the causes of the errors you're seeing. Clearly there is more damage than flat tire. It could be something fairly simple, such as the electrical ABS sensor connection was damaged when the strap hit it. But we can't guess via Internet. The service advisor isn't a technician and they usually don't know what they're talking about. But that car needs to go into the shop so a technician can fix it.

    We could help you better attack the problem, but if you can't get past lug nuts, maybe this one should go to the dealer.
     
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  4. uber2016

    uber2016 Junior Member

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  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    I think you could have just plug repaired that.
     
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  6. jzchen

    jzchen Newbie!

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    He probably could have, except the spare tire wrench is short and whoever tightened those bolts over did it. I don't carry plugs either when a car has a spare.....

    MT2L03 ?
     
  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    My workflow with a flat:

    1. Put on spare, stow flat.
    2. Drive home (just warmer, easier to work).
    3. Plug repair flat, reinstall on car, consider it permanent repair.
     
  8. jzchen

    jzchen Newbie!

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    I just did a plug on a runflat, my third plug as far as I can remember. I knew the tire stores will not touch tires with nails/screws outside the belted area. It was really hard pushing the plug in. Maybe it's my weak musculature or they are really stiff, or both....

    MT2L03 ?
     
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  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    Similarly, the last plug repair I did was also very tough to push in. It was some sort of heavy concrete punching nail I think, and it had gone in at a very shallow angle (my son's car). The tire was pretty much completely flat too, so pushing in the plug it would start to cave in as you push. With my son trying to keep the tire shape and me pushing the needle thing we got it through: guess the shallow angle meant more distance to get through. They drove on it just a few more months, and we've now swapped to a new set on those rims, waiting for spring to go back on.
     
  10. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    I've enlarged small holes through the steel belts with a larger bit and power drill to make plugging the tire much easier. I've done it several times and they've all lasted the life of the tire/tread.
     
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  11. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    Yeah I think that was the issue with me. I'm paranoid I'll go to enlarging the hole, likely not the case, and when you want to have clean/fresh rubber too.
     
  12. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    That looks like a piece of bungee cord or tire chain tightener.
    The tire replacement likely didn't cause those. The rubber strap whipping around the brake assembly probably did, breaking or disconnecting something electrical or hydraulic.

    Prompt repair is very important for your safety.
    The tire pressure warning doesn't light up until a significant amount of pressure is lost. Looking at your picture, it is quite possible that it didn't leak very fast, thus not triggering that warning light.
     
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  13. jzchen

    jzchen Newbie!

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    I saw something on the road that looked like it might be the culprit, and attempted to take a pic without getting a ticket!!! IMG_20170605_071841.jpg

    Probably snapped and left that attached to the tire!

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  14. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    With a jumper wire and some counting of blinks, you can get the codes from the skid control computer saying what it thinks is wrong. That would give some direction.

    Somebody with a vehicle comm interface and Techstream can also read what the skid computer thought the wheel speeds and g forces were, the last four times it detected a possible skid.

    If it shows the wheel on the affected corner going 0 rpm, then I'd expect earlier posters are right about the wheel speed sensor wiring just getting damaged.

    If nothing shows 0 rpm, but the corner with the new tire just looks to be rotating more slowly, I'd wonder if the original tires were somewhat worn, and the single new replacement tire, without being shaved to a similar diameter, just isn't a good enough rpm match.

    -Chap