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Abs and break light come on but don’t stay on

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Mebe, Sep 6, 2018.

  1. Mebe

    Mebe New Member

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    Location:
    Charleston, Sc
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Before I get into what is going on now I feel I need to give some context I am not sure if these events are connected or not.

    About two weeks ago I was about to take my car in to get an oil change and front wheel bearings done. Then my master water light came on. My mechanic said the only code he found was for the solar censor so he reset it, did my oil change and said let’s wait a few days to make sure the master light didn’t come back. The next day it was back. So after running some tests they said they were getting the code 3000 sub 123 and some of the cells in my hybrid battery weren’t holding their charge properly and they thought I needed a new battery. Yikes! I trust my mechanic and he very nicely suggested I look into refurbished batteries even though they didn’t do those at their shop. I found chargedrepair and had one if there guys come out about three days later. In the time the master light (! In a upside down triangle) had not come back on and the car seemed to be driving normally other than noisy wheel bearings.

    Then the charged repair guy said the battery looked fine! And he couldn’t in good conscience recommend I replace it. He showed me on his computer how all the voyages in each cell were holding and all about the same level.

    Good news maybe? So this Tuesday I had my mechanic do my front wheel bearings and test the battery again. He was amazed but said now the battery indeed was acting how it should.

    But now, in the last three days the yellow abs and ((!)) break light have been coming on and turning off while I drive. They come on for about 5 or so minutes and then they are gone without me having to turn the car off or anything. It has happened at least 6 times in three days. Today twice on one 20 minute drive!

    My mechanic thinks maybe some rust got loosened in changing the wheel bearings and the tone ring is growing off little pieces of rust that are tripping the censor. But that much rust?

    If that is what is doing it I am wondering when it will likely stop? I would just wait it out but next Thursday I am supposed to drive to Massachusetts (I live in South Carolina) and back the following Tuesday and I’m worried about having car troubles on the road. I’d love any second opinions about if it is truly safe to drive that long distance and any theories of other causes for the censors being triggered.
     
  2. exstudent

    exstudent Senior Member

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    Your mechanic is suspect w/ hybrids.
    *P3000-123 is a vaild Prius code, not 3000-123
    *Recommending a used HV Battery.
    *Rust tripping the sensor.​

    DO NOT attempt that long road trip, rent a car if need be. There should be codes stored with those warning lights coming on, albeit intermittently. Did your mechanic even attempt to retrieve the codes, or did you call him and he was just guessing "rust," based on your description? The car is trying to tell you something but not one is trying to get the answer.

    The price of a NEW OEM HV Battery from Toyota is cheap (relatively speaking). $1800-$2200 (part only, no labor), and you will most likely get another 8-10+ years from this new HV Battery. There are countless horror stories of people going cheap, getting a "refurbished/rebuilt/remanufactured" HV Battery w/ a "warranty," only to regret it. These people will have multiple failures requiring multiple replacements, in a short period of time, incurring additional labor costs, and spending far more time and money, compared to getting a new OEM HV Battery. Remember, the best warranty is one you never need, and these warranties only cover the part, not labor.

    Granted the car is 13yrs old. But, a $2k battery is far cheaper than a new or young used car, esp if you have to finance. Also, you can get rid or comprehensive insurance since the car is worth little, if you have not already. There are many Gen2 Prius that get over 200K miles when well maintained. How many miles do you currently have, and when are you planning to replace the vehicle? These are all factors to consider when deciding what to do when faced w/ a HV Battery replacement decision. If you were planing to keep the car and value reliability, a "used/rebuilt/remanufactured" HV Battery would be a horrible choice.
     
  3. Dxta

    Dxta Senior Member

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    Your mechanic maybe right about the rust and blabla on the hub, and probably the wheel speed sensors. Ask him to check the wheel speed sensors, or the teeth on the drive shafts, if they are stuck with dirt.

    Ask your mechanic to do a load test on your battery (health check), onboard the car. He should know how to do that using his tech stream, if he has one.
     
  4. Jmack111

    Jmack111 Member

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    Location:
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    2004 Prius
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    Make sure the brake hose not rubbing on the tire and didn't poped out of the clip that keeps it away from the tire

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  5. frodoz737

    frodoz737 Top Wrench

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    Respects...but decide if you want to start throwing money at it or want to replace it...before you end up doing both.. A 13 year old Prius is not worth anything, wholesale or retail.
     
    exstudent likes this.
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    check your tyres pressure. are all four the same model?

    that being said, he probably screwed up on the wheel bearings, and should be willing to dive in at no cost to you.

    how many miles on her?
     
  7. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Depending on the answer to bisco's question, I might not write it off just yet. My 2001 was at 15 years and 23x,xxx when it got crunched in the right quarter. I got an insurance settlement that was nothing to sneeze at, plus the right to keep the crunched car, which then sold as is to someone who uncrunched it for further productive use.

    -Chap
     
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  8. Josephphamy

    Josephphamy Junior Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    #1 When "any car" has the warning light, you should not drive with out fixing it.

    #2. Your prius has the ABS and the break light on. You should not drive. If the ABS failed you might get into an accident, not even that, if you have lower break fluid or air in the system, you will have those ABS and Break light on too, this is very dangerous

    There are ABS sensors on the Axle gear near the Hub, bearings, this ABS is helped to stop the car when the break pedal is pressed.
    The mechanic did something .. ask him to open up to check
    # 3 Warning lights on and off intermittently tells me something might be loose? Or sensor(s) is not receiving the signal... may be dirty, think of your phone reception. It might not scratch or dead because it will not reverse if it broken or bad. It could be from the computer where the signal from the sensor(s) sends to. The mechanic can test the sensors using the Multimeter.

    #4. Nothing to do with the HV battery when they replace the wheel bearing. The HV battery on your car is a combination of 28 cells. Each cell is 7.2 Volt DC has 6 small cells of 1.2 v each (6x1.2=7.2). Therefore if any of the small cell is bad, that cell went down from 7.2 to 6 volts, then all the lights on the dash comes on then you wont able to start the car even though other 27 cells are good (7.2 and above)

    #5 if the computer system is crashed or corrupted it gives you all kinds of non related codes, ask them to reset the code, unplug the battery etc..

    #6. About buying the NEW battery, The new battery last for at least another 10 years or more. The dealer cost 2000, 2500 just for the battery. Once I asked to buy to install it myself. They said they must install it total part and labor nearly $3500. That is crazy! My prius is 200K miles still run perfect, no problem at all but it might not last that long, other parts such as engine motor, transmission..may break down anytime or let say how much it cost for the ABS system? Buying a refurbished battery save money but you have to know how they refurbished or tested used. I refurbished my batteries cost $800 last for 3 years now.
    Hope you the place fixed your car finds the problem with no cost to you.
    Good luck

    Joseph
     
  9. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    She posted the questions over two months ago and has apparently not come back.Hope she survived the trip to Massachusetts.