ABS and Brake Light comes on

[forte88]

This has happened twice in the past two months. I would be sitting at Idle at a stop light and the ABS and Brake Light both come on. If I turn off the car for a few seconds, and turn it back on, the lights go away. I searched this subject and found a number of responses including maybe low on brake Hydraulic fluid? Is there a way to check this myself? Is it possible that I have a leaky cylinder? I do sometimes use the car on a pretty steep mountain road. The car has 45k on it now. Could this be as simple as replacing brake pads and bleeding the system? I understand special tools are needed to do this. Should I only trust a dealer to work on my brakes?

[ceric]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(forte88 @ Oct 16 2007, 01:06 PM) [snapback]526444[/snapback]</div>

This has happened twice in the past two months. I would be sitting at Idle at a stop light and the ABS and Brake Light both come on. If I turn off the car for a few seconds, and turn it back on, the lights go away. I searched this subject and found a number of responses including maybe low on brake Hydraulic fluid? Is there a way to check this myself? Is it possible that I have a leaky cylinder? I do sometimes use the car on a pretty steep mountain road. The car has 45k on it now. Could this be as simple as replacing brake pads and bleeding the system? I understand special tools are needed to do this. Should I only trust a dealer to work on my brakes?
[/b]

My guess,
- best case: brake fluid level is low (open and check - very simple)
- worst case: ABS module failure ($2000 repair).
You may have the OBDII code pulled out at autozone or Kragen. If the lights were on, the OBDII codes must have been thrown into memory.

If the latter is true, send me a message, I will tell you where to go to have it fixed for $300-400. Don't get rid off by dealers.
(i.e. there are people who can refurbish broken ABS module for a fraction of what dealer will charge you.)

That is if your Prius is out of warranty, of course. (it sounds like it). I certainly hope the best for you.

[forte88]

Thanks Ceric. I'll take it to an Autozone to get the OBDII codes ASAP. Is this a free service? I've never had to do that before. Will the codes be anything I can decipher?

Also, my car was in an accident with pretty extensive driver side front damage about 2 years ago. Is the module located in the left driver front side? Perhaps I can make a case that this was damaged in the accident, never fixed, and insurance should take care of it.