What are the consequences of driving with a bad ABS brake actuator?

Hi Flippo / Adam.

If your problem is the same as mine, which I think it is from your previous post... the dealership explained to me that the the actuator controls the pump that keeps pressure on the brakes. With it broken, the pump will continually engage and eventually burn out its motor. I could actually hear this on my Prius, which I thought was the regenerative brakes constantly engaging when I drove the car to the dealership... regardless of braking or not. It was not a fun drive to the dealership. So, you may burn out the motor the process or even lose your brake entirely. By no means am I an expert and I am merely paraphrasing.

G'luck!

 

It's hard to say what the consequences might be, based on somebody just saying the actuator is "bad". The actuator in a Gen 2 is a box containing eleven valves, seven pressure sensors, a motorized pump, and a pressure accumulator. The pump motor and ten of the valves are controlled by the brake/skid control computer, so as to apply and release fluid pressure to the four wheels.

I'm sure you can imagine there are a lot of different ways for the actuator to be "bad" depending on what component inside it really has the issue. There isn't much choice in how to fix the thing, because it's only up for sale as one whole assembly anyway, but just what sensor or valve is flaky will determine how your braking is really affected.

That's why the skid computer has more than fifty different trouble codes (many with close to a dozen subcodes, even) to tell you in detail what's really going on. I'm surprised that whoever "verified" your issue didn't give you the codes that were read, so you could post them here.

It's not outlandish to assume you will have one or more of: reduction in braking assist, reduced or disabled ABS and skid control performance, or unbalanced braking between the four wheels (if the problem's with a valve controlling one of the wheel lines, say), which could affect your ease of keeping control in a stop. If the system doesn't think it can effectively coordinate the braking with regen, it may disable regen entirely, and do only friction braking, with a resulting drop in your mileage. If the computer gives up completely, you'll have the failsafe braking, which gives you no power assist, and acts only on the front wheels, which could surprise you with instability when braking in a turn.

-Chap

 

Depending on severity of the fault, you maybe be putting your life on the line

 

Not by driving the minivan ....

But seriously, the trouble codes would be useful information.

-Chap

 

I had this problem on my 2006 and ended up plugging in a new Brake Pump Actuator (harder that it sounds).
The consequences in my case was not noticeable for the first 4 months. But then I started to experience a drop in gas mileage due to the brakes that would slightly engage (without applying the brakes) in the front right caliper. It ended up trashing the caliper, scoring the rotor, and burning through pads every few weeks. The worn pads would make a terrible noise when braking and the Actuator Pump would squeal endlessly. The rim would get so hot you couldn't touch it. The problem was not bad at first, but got worse.

I took apart the Actuator to see what makes it tick and I can tell you there are almost a dozen electric magnetic Valves and lots of sensors and electronics. The point being is depending on which valve fails in the Actuator, your experience could be different.
Do yourself a favor and shop for the part on Ebay, then put it in yourself or have a friend help you. There are threads to help you accomplish this and you can save a few thousand dollars in the process.

You will also get the satisfaction of knowing the job was done right. We have a local Toyota Dealership here in Egg Harbor Twp., NJ.... and they screwed up my 4 wheel drive badly on my 4Runner . They gave it back to me malfunctioning and said "there is nothing wrong with it"...... Im rambling now. I will stop.......

 

Please file a complaint with nhtsa

 

My son has my old 04 Prius. My husband replaced the hybrid battery with a rebuilt one last week. Everything seemed fine except the BRAKE,
(!), ABS, and VSC warning lights stayed on. Then I noticed an unusual pumping sound coming from behind the inverter when starting up the car. Figured it was the brake actuator and dealership confirmed it. However the brakes work fine, the battery is charging into the green regularly, and the MPG is around 50. How urgent is it to replace the actuator? Can we wait until it gets worse? Does anyone think the car is worth the almost $2,500 repair? My husband could probably do the work himself, as he was a mechanic for years. However, since I do not think it wise to put in a used brake actuator assembly, which could likely fail also and require a repeat repair (we are supposed to be retired now!), my son would still be stuck with the over $1,700 cost of the new actuator.
We hate to junk the car, especially after buying a rebuilt hybrid battery. It has almost 180,000 miles on it, but I expected it to last at least 2000,000. I called Toyota and complained about the price of the actuator, but will call again and complain about the actuator not lasting the life of the car.
We have time to decide what to do, because my son is borrowing our 2002 Honda Civic.

 

Of course I meant 200,000, not 2000,000.

 

someone in another thread just put a salvage unit in. they said it was quick, cheap and easy. that is the way i would go. (if i had the skill)
2004 is a beast, you should go well beyond 200,000.

 

That's a pretty expensive part to replace without codes to confirm that it's the cause of the warning lights and not any of the many other possible causes. The rebuilt battery rather complicates things since they don't last very long. But it might make it another 20,000 miles if you don't let it sit undriven very much.

I got rid of my 2005 with 150,000 miles precisely because I didn't want to spend $2,400 on a new actuator and don't trust a used one. And that was with a healthy (afaik) hybrid battery.

 

I assume the dealer I went to had codes to support their diagnosis of a bad brake actuator. And there is definitely a new noise coming from the actuator. The rebuilt battery is warranted for 2 years or 50,000 miles. I have found a new actuator assembly online for $1,129.79. I think we would be willing to spend that much on the car to keep it for a couple of more years. But I would like more input from those who have done the replacement themselves. It seems it's about a 50/50 split between those who think it is very doable by a DIY'er and those who warn against trying it. As I said, my husband was a mechanic (Volvo, Mercedes, Jaguar/Triumph) for years, but he has no experience with hybrid systems except changing out a hybrid battery. I hesitate to have him get bogged down in an overly complicated repair on this car.
So ANYONE OUT THERE who has replaced the brake actuator on a 2nd Gen Prius, let me know how it went!
Thanks.

 

That does sound like a fair price. I think my dealer told me the part would cost me $1,400 plus installation. Hopefully someone here can give you some advice. I'm a mechanic, too, but not trained in brake repairs, so I leave it to the pros.

 

You can have your husband log onto techinfo.toyota.com for the repair info, it costs $15 for 2 days. Then you will need to acquire equipment to bleed the brakes afterwards. Most people use techstream software and a laptop to do it

 

I did change the actuator out myself. I used a salvage actuator that I bought on eBay for $250. I made sure The model part numbers were the same. But I suspect you will be better off with the new were actuators, because it seems like the older ones were the ones with the issue. Depending on which magnetic coupling device inside the actuator is failing, you can continue to drive it. However, in my case the problem caused my right caliper burn through brake pads. Eventually destroy the caliper. So I had to replace it.
On this thread I did leave a link on the instructions on how I did it. However, after you are done physically installing it, you have to get the part to pair up with the car’s Computer. It is fading from my memory on how I did it. But it involves jumping pins 4 and 12, and 4 and 13. It also involved disconnecting the 12 V battery for five minutes at a time. There was nothing in priest chat that could help me, but I did find a sequence from a Highlander forum. That is how I figured it out. I will try to look back over my notes and see if I can get you instructions. If you know somebody with Techstream, they could easily get the actuator to mate up with your car.

 

2007 Brake Actuator Failure | PriusChat

Here is the link. Read the link Carefully. I would get advice from a mechanic before you buy an actuator. They might be able to point you to better actuator, rather than putting in the same one with the same defect as before. I think if I had to do it over again, I would have spent the extra money for a new actuator. I had seen some very good deals on eBay.

 

i have a 2006 and did file a complaint

 

I called the dealer December 18, 2017 after my 2006 toyota prius was diagnosed to have a bad brake actuator, and asked the parts guy if there was any recall on this part, or warranty issues with this part and he said no but they sure do a lot of them, and he could give me the part for 1200.00. Earl Stewart was the dealer, and he has a talk show on the radio so I called, and his tech g. uy said it was covered until Dec 31, 2017 unfortunately for me this was Jan. 6 2018, so earl stewart told me to come down and they would help me with this issue, it was his parts man that said there were no issues with this part. What a waste of time,,earl Stewart does not return calls and dishonest . so I'm stuck with a 2500 dollar repair. Toyota should be responsible, there was only 98,000 miles. Toyota OH WHAT A FEELING

 

You should have gotten a warranty extension in the mail, to notify you of this extended warranty. Unfortunately for you, the parts guy is there to sell parts and not know about warranty issues. A service adviser may know, but you spoke to the guy that sold parts.

I think if you call Toyota corporate when this happened on January 6, 2018, they may have been able to do something to help you. But January 2, 2019, it's a bit late now