three little questions

1. Just replacing brake pads like any other car.
2. Are all wheel bolts torqued correctly? Is a front tire obviously worn heavily on one side? Have suspension checked and aligned if the easy things don't provide a quick answer.
3. I'm not the expert. I do not see a problem but I'm curious as to why? Coasting might save a very small amount of energy but does the effort really justify the savings?

 

#1. The Prius friction brakes are of traditional design. However you should disconnect the 12V auxiliary battery before you start working on the front brakes. If you do not, then the caliper piston may come out of the caliper due to pressure from the brake pressure accumulator pump, or you will find it difficult to compress the piston into the caliper to make room for the new brake pads. Also, an error code in the skid control ECU will probably be logged if the 12V power is connected while you are working on the brakes.

Do not allow air to enter the brake hydraulic system upstream of the wheel cylinders. If you do then you will need to ask for Toyota dealer assistance to purge air out of the system (as the Toyota diagnostic laptop is required to open and close the various solenoids in the brake system.)

#2. You can try moving tires from side to side to see if that will help. Possibly your car needs a wheel alignment anyway. A correct wheel alignment will require the Toyota diagnostic laptop to perform VSC zero point system calibration after the steering wheel is centered by adjusting the tie rack ends.

#3. It is not healthy to switch between N and D rapidly from the point of view of eventually wearing out the shift selector which costs ~US$300 here in the US, probably much more in your locale.

As you continue to gain experience driving the Prius you may find that a very slight press of the accelerator pedal will allow you to coast, while the MFD shows you that your current mpg is 99 (which is evidence you are using no or very little gas.)

 

Regarding question #2 - If you drive in the left lane of 2 or 3 lane highway - if you drive to the left of the crown you might notice slight pull to left - my 07 seems to be sensitive to this. Don't know if the steering can be adjusted for this.
To Patrick Wong - The owners manual suggests using B for slight braking - will using B wear out the shift selector as you say using N will? Do you mean shifting rapidly or repeatedly?

 

B Mode is to be used on large downhills, when the HV battery may fully charge, leaving you with no regenerative braking. It is not needed in any other circumstance, and always gets worse gas mileage than slowing down in D.

The first mention of B mode in my manual shows the car going downhill.

"Avoid vehicle speed increases when driving downhill. If the vehicle speed is too fast in relation to the cruise control set speed, cancel the cruise control then shift the shift lever to “B” position to use engine braking to slow down." is the second mention

 

Hello Abu, I think we're losing you a little in translation, but as for point 3, no it doesn't really do any harm to switch back and forth between "D" and "N" at 40MPH. Some hpyer-milers do indeed practice this for maximum efficiency gliding on gentle inclines. Just be careful not to accidently shift into a "neutron star" by mistake, they're really heavy can smash you up pretty bad. :nerd:

 

Year that was supposed to be a "neutron star". :0

Neutron is a sub-atomic partical, neutral is a position on the gear shift selector.

 

Yes, that was a joke. In the first post you used the word "neutron" when you meant to use the word "neutral."

Tom

 

News flash!!
Prius Chat has a fair share of smart Ar%ses!
Count me as one of them.

 

does anyone find it a little suspect that he needs new pads at 88K miles.

my brake shop examined mine and said they would last at least 300K miles, I had them clean and adjust the rear brake drums which tend to squeek if you don't do this every 40K miles or so.

I was warned that my front rotors were starting to rust from non use of the friction brakes. (yes I love to use regenerative braking) traditional cars have rotors outlasting the pads, but the prius is opposite, the pads outlast the rotors. To avoid this problem they told me to slam on the brakes every 10 to 14 days so that the friction pads can knock off any accumulated rust.

 

regarding the brakes... traditionally you bleed the system to release pressure. i wouldn't loosen anything.. simply use a 2x4 or a 4x4 piece of wood, prop the caliper against the shock housing, and lean into it.. the caliper will retract. pop the top off of the brake reservoir to make back pressure easier to deal with. slip the pads back on, and slide it back over the disk.

 

Or, use a C-clamp to compress the piston back into the caliper, making sure not to damage the caliper's polished surfaces.