advice needed: traction light on full time

I'm still suspicious of this phrase:

Were you having any troubles like this before this day? Were you present when these troubles started to happen?
Otherwise you are kind of just taking them at their word that all this started BEFORE the car wash.

And are we talking about one of those mechanical ride through car washes?

If so I'd be suspicious. If the Prius isn't taken through the Car Wash correctly a lot of damage could result. Damage that a less than honest dealership might want to hide by insisting this all happened before the car wash.

Also what exactly is the main problem? Not starting OR The Traction Control light being on constantly?

 

i once went to a new automatic carwash in orlando. when i got to the entrance, there was no machinery, just two guys with a bucket.

 

There's one in our neighbourhood, see the car just goes in and stops, the machines move around it. Still, never use them, for myriad reasons.

 

those are weird, you feel like you're moving.

 

congrats, all the best!

 

I wonder if your brakes are dragging. Very easy check: right after extended drive, feel the wheels, all four corners. If any are a lot hotter than the others it could be they're dragging.

The rear brakes in particular, due to their integrated parking brake mechanism, are prone to drag. During assembly the caliper piston needs to be at certain orientation with inner side pad pin, or there will be uneven pressure and constant drag. A more in-depth check of rear brakes is to raise rear and try turning wheels with parking brake off.

 

A little bit of difference in wheel temps is ok, especially front vs rear. But if one or more wheels is markedly hot, and much hotter than others, that's a bad sign. Maybe it's not brakes, but good to monitor, easy thing to do too.

 

How hot are they? Just warm, or hot enough it makes you want to pull your hand away? The fronts will typically slightly warmer than rears, just due to heated up engine mass. Also, bare alloy rims or are there wheel covers.

Is that traction light still on?

 

That's not good. Both sides at front?

You really have a good symptom, to relay to the mechanics: something is dragging, for one reason or another the pads are not releasing grip on the rotor properly: the brakes should be inspected.

 

When I hear hot wheels, hot to the point you have to pull your hand away, dragging brakes seems the very likely cause.

If we go for an extended drive, the wheels at most are slightly warm, and in our case this is with the bare, 17" alloy rims.