Brake Maintenance

To bleed the brakes properly 1hrs labour to me sounds a good deal as at some stages it requires two people and is quite a complex process. See PDF below this is for gen2 but gen3 will be much the same.

If you are doing brake maintenance on the Prius it is essential to disconnect the 12v battery as a minimum and wait at leased 2minuets for the capacitors to discharge and I would remove the relays to be on the safe side it only takes 2minuets.

 

It will probably take closer to an hour, it is nothing like a conventional car.

 

Guys....I'm an old geezer and just thought I'd pass on some old geezer information (totally based on experience and NO KNOWLEDGE BASE) about hydroscopic brake fluid. I sold a 1962 Corvette back in 2007.......I bought it new and NEVER changed the brake fluid until the car was about 35 years old and I needed to replace ONE of the original wheel cylinders. This was a car that never heard of stainless steel anything except trim. Never had a problem with my brakes in 103,000 miles and this car was street raced as a young person (me) and driven very hard the first 20 years of it's life. It was also kept garaged and often spent months sitting idle. All the other cars I've owned have been jap cars and have never had brake fluid changes EVER....some were as old as 12 yrs before selling.....no probs./lots of miles on them. I'm as anal as the next guy, but some things are best left alone in my humble, unknowledgeable opinion.
John N.

 

As I understand it, the degradation of the fluid gradually lowers its boiling point. If you're a 9/10's sort of driver and/or drive in heavy terrain that leaves you with hot brakes, changing out the brake fluid probably makes a lot of sense. For my situation, not as much, though I do sometimes notice a firmer pedal once I've changed the stuff out.
I worked for a brake company that supplied American and European manufacturers. The Germans required a 2 year brake fluid change and the Americans never even brought it up. The parts used in their brake systems were identical. Arguably, the driving environment is more demanding in Germany than in the States, but the brake components are no more or less sensitive to fluid degradation.

- Chris