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2012 PRIUS BRAKE FAILURE!

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by BrandonJKalk, Feb 5, 2019.

  1. BrandonJKalk

    BrandonJKalk New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2019
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    Location:
    Port Chester NY
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    V
    Hey everyone,

    I have a 2012 Prius with about 100k miles. This morning I woke up to go to work, drove about 3 mins down the road when suddenly the ABS, brake, and traction control lights illuminated. My brakes felt much more stiff, the car took longer to brake, and I had to depress the brake pedal down much further than normal to get any braking response at all. I turned around to drive back home, and a minute later all the warning lights went off and my brakes returned to normal.

    I just took the car for a spin around the block to run a errand and it was fine after being off for an hour.

    I read some stories online that his seems to be a common problem. However I havent read a story where this problem occured and then went away on its own. Im worried that I may experience a brake failure while on the highway, but I don't want to pay hundreds of bucks for a Toyota diagnostic for no reason.

    Does anybody know why this may have occurered and if its safe to resume driving normally?


    Thank you
     
    #1 BrandonJKalk, Feb 5, 2019
  2. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    You can search in this forum for several methods of reading the trouble codes; for some, you need to get the equipment, while another method works as long as you can find a skinny wire and count light blinks.

    Until we have the information on why those lights came on, it's hard to speculate on how reasonable it would be to continue driving.
     
    #2 ChapmanF, Feb 5, 2019
  3. Simtronic

    Simtronic Active Member

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2009
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    Location:
    Surrey, UK
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius PHV
    Model:
    Business Ed. Plus
    I had that once in my old Prius I read the codes that pointed to a faulty wheel speed sensor, I took the wheel off and there was some mangled kitchen foil stuck in there. Cleaned it out and the fault never returned in 150,000 miles. Must of ran it over and some got stuck. Good luck and hope yours is as easy to fix. Most common codes can be read with a free app on your phone like torque or carista and a bluetooth obdc dongle. I use the ELM327 - cheap on fleabay but works great
     
    #3 Simtronic, Feb 5, 2019
  4. NutzAboutBolts

    NutzAboutBolts Senior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Bay Area
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Have you done any maintenance for the brakes? E.i sliding pin lube, brake flush and check the brake pads?
     
    #4 NutzAboutBolts, Feb 5, 2019
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    ARGH!!!!!
     
    #5 bisco, Feb 5, 2019
  6. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    Location:
    Wilkes Land
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    One time @Raytheeagle found a leaf stuck between the brake pad and rotor on my prius, we were lubing caliper pins as one was on the verge to seize. He said he found the problem while holding the leaf haha :LOL::LOL::LOL::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::cool:
     
    #6 Grit, Feb 5, 2019
    NutzAboutBolts and Raytheeagle like this.
  7. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2019 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Plus
    If all problems were that easy;).

    Where’s the Staples button when you need it (y).
     
    #7 Raytheeagle, Feb 5, 2019
  8. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
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    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    I had similar behavior, multiple times, except the text CHECK HYBRID SYSTEM as well. The brakes worked, but felt sorta flat, less efficient/effective. It was tentatively blamed on a ScanGauge I had constantly hooked up to the OBD, maybe causing intermittent info disruption for the computers. I disconnected it 3~4 years back, no repeat of the problem.
     
    #8 Mendel Leisk, Feb 5, 2019
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