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Strange Deceleration Problems

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Lily's Lover, Feb 28, 2015.

  1. Lily's Lover

    Lily's Lover New Member

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    Alright, let me start this by saying I live in western north Carolina and on Wednesday, February 25th we got a significant winter storm accumulating to about 6 inches (that is significant for us). Now i work at wendy's and that night I made the wrong decision in deciding not go home until we were closed at 11 p.m. As I was trying to go home, i crested a small hill on the highway and started to lose control of the vehicle, my prius slid sideways to the right and was picking up speed. In this moment my prius started pointing towards an entrance to a post office, then it slowly drifted toward the curbed edge of the entrance, and I thought i was going to drive up the curb and up the grassy hill and possibly flip. Luckily this did not happen, what did happen though was I bounced (literally bounced, like bumper cars) off the curb and back into the passing lane of the highway. I thought nothing was wrong with the prius until the next morning when I left the hotel I had stayed in that night, and my prius started acting very strange. now whenever I drive straight on an uncurved road my steering wheel is heavily slanted to the right rather than the correct position, I'm pretty sure this is just my alignment. However there is more, whenever i reach the speed of about 31 mph the little "slick road" icon flashes and the car beeps loudly. The beeping and flashing doesn't cease until I slow back down to around 26 mph. However there is still more, when I reach the speed of 31 mph and the beeping and flashing starts, my prius starts braking itself and I can depress the accelerator pedal to the floor and it wont even do anything. It will continue to brake almost like it thinks its on slick roads, but isn't! Please help, like I said I think the slanted steering wheel is the alignment out of whack, but I really dont have a clue about the other stuff!
     
  2. Christian_cool

    Christian_cool Junior Member

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    When i read what you describe, for me it sounds like there is something serious weird wrong with your car. I haven't heard about this issue before .Maybe the trction control or the hydraulic brake system have been damaged after you last incident.

    I want to ask, is you prius a tech pakage with adapting cruise control?

    You can try to disconnecting the (negative) wire of the 12 v battery so you reset the cars computer, it will beside that, reset settings applied to your car and nav. It only works if this is a software related bug that have happened. But try it if there is no other kind of solutions!

    Hope it helps, greetings
     
  3. macman408

    macman408 Electron Guidance Counselor

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    First: I'm no expert. Neither are most of us here, though we pretend to be anyway. Take your car to someone who is, and get it fixed.

    But, because you asked, here's my guess; the wheel that bounced caused something to bend out of place; so maybe your left front wheel is still straight, but your right front one is angled inwards. When driving, the one that's angled is probably dragging on the ground a little bit, and not spinning quite as fast as the one that's straight. The car has speed sensors on all four wheels, which are used by the traction control. This system says "hey, 3 wheels are going the same speed, but the 4th isn't, so you must be sliding". It applies the brakes individually to certain wheels to attempt to keep you going straight and in the direction your steering wheel is pointed. I believe there's also a steering angle sensor, so maybe the front wheels are aligned with each other, but the car thinks you're supposed to be turning to the right. The computer is disturbed that the wheels on the "inside" of the turn aren't moving slower than the wheels on the "outside" of the turn (and the yaw sensor tells it that you're still traveling straight), which might trigger the vehicle stability control, which triggers similar responses to traction control.

    So maybe getting the alignment fixed will fix your issue - but seriously, get it looked at by a professional, not a bunch of schmucks on the internet. :)
     
    GrGramps likes this.
  4. ursle

    ursle Gas miser

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    Ahh, your stability control doesn't like something and it's shutting off the ice (internal combustion engine)
    I experienced the phenomen when changing wheels the tech broke one tire bead so they only changed two wheels, the front wheels were 2 1/2" smaller in diameter and the traction control made me limp home at 30mph

    You need to limp to a good Toyota dealer.
     
  5. Bskija

    Bskija Junior Member

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    With a car acting like that I wouldn't drive it at all until I had a Toyota mechanic examine it. You are a danger to yourself and other people.
     
  6. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    My vote is traction control is acting up. Hopefully nothing is damaged but I suspect they won't be able to do the alignment because something is bent.

    Depending on the amount of the damage and your deductible you may want to look into filing an insurance claim.

    How fast were you going in 6" of snow?
     
  7. Lily's Lover

    Lily's Lover New Member

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    Ok, thanks for the help! I was going about 20 mph.
     
  8. Lily's Lover

    Lily's Lover New Member

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    Thanks for the help!
     
  9. Former Member 68813

    Former Member 68813 Senior Member

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    time to call your insurance.
     
  10. Lily's Lover

    Lily's Lover New Member

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    I did and wasn't covered for just hitting a curb even though my car is dangerous to drive.