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Brakes are too sensitive

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by brin wood, Oct 11, 2013.

  1. brin wood

    brin wood Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    upstate NY
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Am a recent owner of an '06 Prius and like the car so far. The only fault is something I have never run into before. The brakes are very sensitive when coming to a stop. I find it almost impossible to
    feather the pedal and make the stop comfortable. What causes this and how can it be fixed?
    thanks in advance.
     
    #1 brin wood, Oct 11, 2013
  2. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Trumbull, CT
    Vehicle:
    2020 Prius
    Model:
    LE AWD-e
    Brin,

    The problem is usually due to rust on the surface of the rotors due to our Prii not using the friction brakes very often. They are only activated when:
    1. You slow down below 7 mph
    2. Panic stops
    3. If Regeneration is not available
      1. The Prius is in Neutral
      2. The HV Battery is full and cannot accept more energy.
    The "fix" is to find a stretch of road with no traffic, get going 25-30 mph, put your Prius in neutral and apply the brakes lightly to clean the rotors. It will take a few repeats, but your brakes should behave better after this procedure.

    JeffD
     
    #2 jdenenberg, Oct 11, 2013
    dorunron, edthefox5 and Fred_H like this.
  3. brin wood

    brin wood Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    upstate NY
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Thanks Prof. for the reply; I will do as you suggested. Makes a lot of sense.
     
    #3 brin wood, Oct 11, 2013
  4. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Clearwater, Florida
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    Two
    #4 edthefox5, Oct 11, 2013
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