05 Prius Front Brakes "Grabbing"

[kenkneeb]

Howdy all & Thanks for being here!

I've got an 05 Prius with approx. 17,000 miles and within the last month or two when I apply my regular brake I have to be 'extremely' careful of how much pressure I apply at one time otherwise my brakes feel like they are unnaturally 'grabby/touchy' forcing me to an uncomfortable, way to short stop. I had the rear brakes adjusted but that didn't seem to make any difference with this issue (other than making my parking/e-brake pedal have less travel before being fully engaged).

Also, when I apply the brakes, it doesn't appear that I my brake pedal is traveling any extra distance and the non-Toyota tire shop who looked at the car didn't see any 'abnormal' wear on the front or rear brakes or any of their components

Any thoughts here as the potential for a self-induced whiplash is getting greater every day?

Lemme know.

Thanks,

Ken in Oregon

[Bill Merchant]

Hi Ken, from Bill in Oregon...

You should have almost no brake wear at 17,000 miles. Since the friction brakes are used so little, in our damp climate the disks can rust fairly quickly. Have a look through the front spokes. If it's rusty, step on the accellerator and the brake at the same time and scrape off the rust. I've noticed this myself, and taken corrective action, several times.

If you're ever in the Portland area, check out the meet up group in my sig.

[kenkneeb]

Thanks "Mr. Bill" (love that "HyBreed" (as my car was called at Ed's Tire in Medford LOL!!!)

I don't see much rust (we're in So. Or) thru the front spokes, but I'll check it out again!

Thanks and if I'm ever in Portland, i'll know where the hot spot is!

ken

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(kenkneeb @ Apr 18 2007, 02:11 AM) [snapback]425185[/snapback]</div>

Howdy all & Thanks for being here!

I've got an 05 Prius with approx. 17,000 miles and within the last month or two when I apply my regular brake I have to be 'extremely' careful of how much pressure I apply at one time otherwise my brakes feel like they are unnaturally 'grabby/touchy' forcing me to an uncomfortable, way to short stop. I had the rear brakes adjusted but that didn't seem to make any difference with this issue (other than making my parking/e-brake pedal have less travel before being fully engaged).

Also, when I apply the brakes, it doesn't appear that I my brake pedal is traveling any extra distance and the non-Toyota tire shop who looked at the car didn't see any 'abnormal' wear on the front or rear brakes or any of their components

Any thoughts here as the potential for a self-induced whiplash is getting greater every day?

Lemme know.

Thanks,

Ken in Oregon
[/b]

[Boucher187]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bill Merchant @ Apr 18 2007, 03:24 AM) [snapback]425188[/snapback]</div>

Hi Ken, from Bill in Oregon...

You should have almost no brake wear at 17,000 miles. Since the friction brakes are used so little, in our damp climate the disks can rust fairly quickly. Have a look through the front spokes. If it's rusty, step on the accellerator and the brake at the same time and scrape off the rust. I've noticed this myself, and taken corrective action, several times.

If you're ever in the Portland area, check out the meet up group in my sig.
[/b]

I have the same issue (Not too sure if it is really an issue). 2005 Silver Toyota Prius. 16,000 miles. Northeast PA. It has been cold and damp lately and I am thinking that is why they are GRABBING. Sometimes when they grab it almost jerks me forward into the dash. Oh well. It may be just the weather. It is going to warm up this weekend so I am going to have to see if that has a major effect of the grabbing.

[kenkneeb]

Yup Bobby, those are the exact symptoms! It's been on and off wet, rainy, cold, hot here in So. Oregon. We usually get less than 20 inches of rain a year but we've been damp, cold and rainy for a while now - so when it warms up, I'll check out the effect if has on the brakes... but still, I MEAN COME ON, how long have they been making disc brakes and how long ago was "rain invented"?

thanks!

ken

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bobby @ Apr 18 2007, 09:18 AM) [snapback]425272[/snapback]</div>

I have the same issue (Not too sure if it is really an issue). 2005 Silver Toyota Prius. 16,000 miles. Northeast PA. It has been cold and damp lately and I am thinking that is why they are GRABBING. Sometimes when they grab it almost jerks me forward into the dash. Oh well. It may be just the weather. It is going to warm up this weekend so I am going to have to see if that has a major effect of the grabbing.
[/b]

[Tideland Prius]

"clean" the brakes. Just brake harder once or shift to N before braking so that your front disc rotors get "cleaned".

[griffycprius]

i am having the same issue. It is almost comical in the morning when I make my first stop, i jerk forward. since my first stop is at a light by starbucks it seems to cause a scene. Has anyone been able to rid the issue?

[qbee42]

Originally Posted by Tideland Prius

"clean" the brakes. Just brake harder once or shift to N before braking so that your front disc rotors get "cleaned".

+1

Try this several times before you look for another problem.

Tom

[susan hurd]

I, too have a '05 Prius and have loved it. However, when it was about a year old, I started experencing the brakes grabbing when coming to a full stop. When I took the car in for service, they said nothing was wrong with the brakes I took it in about 4 months later specifically because of the grabbing brakes, went to a test drive with the service man and he said "nothing wrong, your brakes are working fine": What I then realised was that they only grabbed when it had been raining. I asked the mechanic to check the brakes after throwing some water on the car. When I returned for my car they said I had to have all the rotors replaced at the cost of over $800.00.The front ones were "pitted and badly rusty". the back rotors were badly damaged because I must have been driving "two-footed" or with the parking brakes on. As I have been driving for over 40 years, I felt a bit insulted at both those suggestions. When I asked about the reason for the front brakes corroding, they said I must have left the car standing for long periods or parked it in salty air. (I live in a city and use my car almost every day). By the way, I have 80% left on my brake pads, and I tend to use the "B" for slowing down to save my brakes(ironically). I think everyone driving a Prius should have their service people check the state of their rotors. There is no reason why mine have all corroded. What is the normal life expectancy of rotors? Is this a safety issue? I'd like some answers from Toyota. Now I am reading about other peoples problems and the question of moisture getting into the brake linings. Surely this isn't normal wear-and-tear?!

[narf]

I have a theory on this. My first Prius was an early 2005. The brakes never were grabby, but in the rain they were like typical brakes, they took a short period to begin to work because of the water film on them. On normal cars this isn't much of a problem because the brakes tend to work much more often and drag slightly on the rotors which helps keep water off the rotors. On the Prius the pads don't drag on the rotors as much, and the pads don't touch until you transition below 8 mph. So, when stopping in the rain the car would lose braking momentarily when switching to friction brakes because of the wet rotors.

My theory is that because of this problem, sometime in late 2005 Toyota switched to a more aggressive brake pad formulation. This pad works better in the rain, but on cold or wet rotors tends to have more "stiction" than the old pads. This manifests itself in the feeling of grabby brakes at low speeds. On my newer Prius, I have this grabby brake problem as described by the original poster whenever wet or cold, however the car's friction brakes work better in the rain.

I think the reason that you can temporarily solve the problem with several hard stops in Neutral is that you are heating up the pads and rotors. The next time you drive the car with cold rotors the problem is back. At least that's been my experience.

I don't have any hard data to back up this theory. One way to test this would be to change to a different formulation brake pad and see if the problem goes away. Of course, since the pads take so long to wear out most of us will never need to change pads.