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dragging while starting from full stop

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Matthew J Anderson, Jan 27, 2019.

  1. Matthew J Anderson

    Matthew J Anderson New Member

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    I am at a loss, I am not sure what could be going on with my Prius. Power mode works ok, but regular and eco modes the car feels like it has some dragging or is weak upon giving gas. Any possible causes or suggestions? My car has 70k miles on it already. It is a 2012 Prius three.
     
  2. Pluggo

    Pluggo Senior Member

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    The first, easiest thing to check for would be brake calipers that need lubrication. They can literally be making your brakes drag against the rotors. Like someone else said recently, when you jack up a wheel and give it a good push it should spin freely for one or one and a half revolutions
     
  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Real stupid stuff: parking brake's off?

    Any recent brake work, especially the rears? They can drag if not put together just right, and it's too easy to screw up.
     
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    if power mode actually works okay, then you have a bad go pedal or ecu. but try flooring it in eco or normal to be sure.
    more likely the early pedal power is fooling your senses
     
  5. Matthew J Anderson

    Matthew J Anderson New Member

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    I’m a mechanic and I’ve already re done the rear brakes because the dealership fucked it up. I didn’t appreciate them not lubing the caliper slides at all so I ended up redoing the whole thing. But I don’t think the rear breakers are the issue. Brand new since couple weeks ago. But yes power mode seems fine, just the regular mode and eco mode seem to feel like it’s got some dragging in the beginning and both feels the same. But when I do give it more gas it frees up and goes normal, just got problems in the beginning from a full stop which it feels like it struggles. Hmmmm u mentioned about a go pedal..... is that something electric?
     
  6. Matthew J Anderson

    Matthew J Anderson New Member

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    2012 Prius
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    Three
    I’m thinking bout jacking up the front end to see if it is dragging on front brakes and if not, I guess I’ll have to check out the gas pedal sensor. There is no codes, would I get these kind of symptoms with no codes?
     
  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I would chocked the front wheels, jack up the rear, set it on safety stands, apply/release the parking brake a few times, then try spinning the wheels. With a good push they should go at least a revolution when you let go, even two. There is a slight amount of inherent drag, due to the disk brake design.

    But, if they really fight, stop as soon as you let go, you've very likely got misaligned caliper piston. When reassembling you have to orient the piston thus:

    upload_2019-1-28_11-55-33.png

    There is a stubby pin on the back of each rear brake pad, and the pin on the caliper side has to be between the raised "spokes" (shaded area) on the face of the piston. And it needs to be well seated thus. You want to assemble the brakes thus, and ensure everything is well seated, depress the brake pedal multiple times. Don't use the parking brake yet. Then take the car for a short test drive, going easy on the brake, and when getting back, apply/release the parking brake a few times.

    Then, raise the rear, again, redo the spin test, to verify everything's still ok, the caliper piston hasn't rotated, a pin rode up onto the spoke. If this has happened, you'll have a lot of drag, all the time, and in a few months will be looking at scored/rusty rotors, bevelled-wear pads.

    Attached is the Repair Manual instruction for brakes.
     

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