Died after replacing front brake pads. Can't start afterwards.

Welcome to PC. Wish you had joined earlier and read up on this car more concerning the brakes. There difficult to work on as they use relay control for brake fluid control and to be repaired correctly requires Toyota Techstream softeware to control those relays. If not you must disconnect the 12 volt battery before working on the car's brakes so the brake vacuum actuator does not run. If it does it will drive the piston out of the caliper or in your case force it up against the caliper possibly. Just opening the door will sometimes turn the brake vac on. It will then set a code and then disable abs and you will have very little braking. Since you drove it then it may set multiple codes. Alot of the codes are Toyota specific and a general OBD may not read it. At this point I would tow it to the dealer so they can pull the codes and see whats up. Never heard of car dead after this event. Not good.
(do not remove 12 volt battery and erase codes!) Please post those code numbers exactly here so we can further assist you.

Btw, there are alot of accounts of succesful home pad replacement but all first unhooked 12 volt battery.
But if your pads are shot that usually means you have 125+K miles and your way overdue for new calipers. Even if not leaking the biggest problem as you may know given there age and miles is lack of lubrication on caliper slides. Dry slides and the pads get hung on rotor no retraction and its smoke and tow time. That may be what happened anyway in addition. Its a rare brake shop that will just replace pads because of this down the road issue.

Btw, even if I buy brand new calipers I break them down and blow out all casting/bolt holes with brake cleaner and use really high quality Permatex slider lube. You would not believe how much manufacturing slag is left in the bolt & casting holes on a new caliper.

 

Whoa there Mr. Jump-to-conclusions!

How did you make this diagnosis with such little information from the OP? Did he PM you a picture or something?

 

Prius brakes are not for the casual shade-tree mechanic. The proper way is to use the Toyota Techstream, but with care you can do without. Since you didn't use care, it's likely that you are SOL and will need to visit the dealer. Sometimes trying to save money doesn't save money.

Tom

 

I suggest that the OP do a search for how to clear skid control ECU DTC by using a jump wire on OBD-II pins 4 and 13. If that doesn't help then I agree that it is time to tow the car to your local Toyota dealer.

 

Check all the fuses in the front fuse box, from my-- limited-- experience the car should still go into Ready (and drive) even though the brake system needs to be reset.

Edit---The following post by epoch-time's is a good suggestion, I'll add a link to short video with more info on prius no start conditions, even though no mention of fuse checks...

!

 

You mentioned putting oil in just after you changed front brake pads....
Check that you didn't overfill oil...Prius's are easily over filled with oil causing lots of problems including non-startable ice..
A good oil level on dipstick is 1/8th to 1/4 inch below full mark... Depends on how level your garage is... but difinately not above
full mark....

 

Fuses shouldn't blow. There is an overload somewhere, obviously.

Tom

 

Do you think the inverter pump has something to do with it?

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Actually there is a good possibility of this since the AM2 fuse feeds the ECU, and blows when the inverter pump fries.​

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Luscious Garage | Blog | Toyota Prius Inverter Water Pump Recall​

Do check this is the fuse that was changed by the dealership.​

 

Thanks for this post. It is great information! To the OP, I'm glad it worked out ok for you.

I haven't needed to work on my Prius brakes but it sounds like it's possible to DIY brake pads if you disconnect the 12v battery. One question though... one of the early responders said calipers are way overdue to be replaced at 125k. That doesn't sound right to me. I don't replace calipers on cars unless I see wear issues when changing the pads. I have 324k miles on my Jetta TDI's front calipers and they are in perfect operating condition with no leaks, etc. I replaced the rear calipers at 310k due to piston seal failure on one side. (I always replace in pairs) Just wondering if the Prius is a special case for caliper replacement.

Thanks,

-VR

 

With the Prius it's more of an issue of rust. Prius brakes don't get used like those on an ordinary car. Generally they rust away before they wear out, especially in northern areas with salted roads.

Tom

 

Since the calipers have an aluminum body I would not expect them to be subject to excessive corrosion. If you don't see brake fluid leakage then there's no need for concern.

The steel rotors are subject to corrosion and may require changing for that reason.

 

ok. It sounds like this may be a case of region-itis. I'm in the Southeast and my cars have never seen salt on the roads. The only thing that turns orange on my cars are the wheel wells from the Georgia red clay...

-VR