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Is the Actuator the "only" way?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by The Phoenix, Feb 13, 2019.

  1. The Phoenix

    The Phoenix Member

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    I have a 2008 Prius with now 307,000 miles I purchased it will 189,000 and no maintenance history. I replaced the rear brakes a few months ago, I have my mechanic friend do most of my maintenance. All was good till about a month ago when I had a code for the rear left speed sensor and all the lights on the dash (abs,vcs,!, and brake). I replaced the wheel bearing and than the wire after the lights wouldn't go off. Lights were off for about a week, than went on again, but for a different code C1344, problems with the left hydrolic system. I had the dealer turn off the code a week or so later the code C1304 came up, hydrolic issues on the right side. I'm having issues with my tech stream so I have not been able to clear the codes again thus far. When my brakes were done and the wheel bearing no leaks were detected. So am I to assume I now need a left and a right brake actuator? Is this something a simple brake bleed may help. I really do like my Prius and I think it's worth it to keep it running but I'm not looking forward to the cost of two brake actuators, let alone one. Any suggestions are welcome. Thank you.
     
    #1 The Phoenix, Feb 13, 2019
  2. VFerdman

    VFerdman Senior Member

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    There is only one brake actuator in the Prius. At the rear you have drum brakes which have a wheel cylinder each. those are probably okay and I would start with a proper bleeding of the rear brakes. If you had all the rear brake codes come up after your friend working on them, I would recommend NOT having that friend work on the car any more.

    Also, when you say "I had rear brakes replaced", what exactly do you mean by that? Drums, whells cylinders, shoes? What exactly was done by your friend before codes started popping up?
     
    #2 VFerdman, Feb 13, 2019
  3. The Phoenix

    The Phoenix Member

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    To be clear a significant amount of time passed before the codes showed up, like 2 months time. He has never had any issues working on my car and many times I watch or assist. I had him replace the shoes only. No other components were changed
     
    #3 The Phoenix, Feb 13, 2019
  4. VFerdman

    VFerdman Senior Member

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    In that case codes seem to be an unrelated event. Still, no actuators in the rear, unless by actuators you mean wheel cylinders, which are hydraulic devices that apply drum brake shoes.
     
    #4 VFerdman, Feb 13, 2019
  5. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    The most profitable use of Techstream in a situation like this is not to make the codes go away, but to read them, look up their detection conditions in the manual, follow the associated troubleshooting steps, so as to find out what is wrong with the brakes, and then fix that, whatever it turns out to be.
     
    #5 ChapmanF, Feb 13, 2019
  6. The Phoenix

    The Phoenix Member

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    I have a lot of work to do, and I need to make sure my Tech Stream is operational ASAP. I do have a good grasp on wheel cylinders, but I had no clue about the fact that there is on one brake actuator, I sincerely thank you for helping me out with that.
     
    #6 The Phoenix, Feb 14, 2019
    SFO likes this.
  7. VFerdman

    VFerdman Senior Member

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    Brake actuator failure on the Prius looks very different and is very gradual with possibly years of service while the part is "failing". I t makes funny sounds and no codes, then it dies and there is a particular code for it, I believe. What you are experiencing is very different and is probably just air in the brake lines or some rear brake component going bad.
     
    #7 VFerdman, Feb 14, 2019
  8. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Just to muddy the waters a little bit ... a Gen 2 brake actuator is an intricate little beast with an electric pump, an accumulator, two check valves, seven pressure transducers, and ten electronically-controlled solenoid valves (four of which are normally-open while six are normally-closed). There are lots of different ways for the actuator to "fail", depending on which internal component is actually doing what, pump wearing out, accumulator leaking, grot stuck in a valve, etc. There are as many different ways for those different ways of failing to manifest as you're driving the car, some gradual, some not.

    The on-board diagnostic system gives a lot of detailed, broken-down information about what is really going on. I would want to get that information.
     
    #8 ChapmanF, Feb 14, 2019
    SFO likes this.
  9. The Phoenix

    The Phoenix Member

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    Well I just got happy and sad after reading those last two posts. I am struggling with my version of Tech Stream and now the seller is telling me I might have a faulty cable and he is sending another one. I am hoping I can get that specific information very soon. For right now I am trying to find the time to bleed the brakes in the rear and hope that will help. I drive about 40,000 mi a year and I have driven this Prius for three years. I bought it with 189,000 and no maintenance history so I dont know what other things are waiting for me. I am also having cylinder misfire issues, so between that and the brake issues I'm not sure about what direction I want to go in. Also does having the lights on, (the brake abs, vcd and yellow !) affect the system, I dont know if it's the snow or not but my breaking does seem different. Any more comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
     
    #9 The Phoenix, Feb 18, 2019
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