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Has anyone figure out ABS, Traction control, and parking brake light issue!!!!!!???? :(

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Aldenallthetime, Aug 10, 2019.

  1. Aldenallthetime

    Aldenallthetime New Member

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    Driving down the road. Zero issues with car. All of a sudden, ABS, traction control and parking brake light all come on at once and I lost Regen braking. Then twenty minutes later lights turn off at Regen braking works again. WTH is going on here? I've read multiple threads about this same issue but seems like no one has a clear solution to this problem. Please help!!

    Kind regards,

    Alden
     
  2. tankyuong

    tankyuong Senior Member

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    Probably loose speed sensor cable
     
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    there will be codes...
     
  4. Elektroingenieur

    Elektroingenieur Senior Member

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    That’s the expected behavior for any problem with the brakes. Toyota’s Repair Manual (more info) explains: “When a malfunction is detected in the brake control system, the skid control ECU turns the ABS warning, brake warning / red (malfunction), brake warning / yellow (minor malfunction) and slip indicator lights come on, as well as prohibits ABS, BA, TRAC and VSC operations.”

    The good news, as @bisco notes, is that the skid control ECU (electronic control unit, i.e., computer), and perhaps other ECUs, will have stored one or more diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs), each associated with a specific set of conditions that the ECUs have been programmed to detect as a malfunction.
    Until the stored DTCs have been read, none of us can say if your car has the same problem discussed in any of the other threads. Trouble with a wheel speed sensor or its wiring, as @tankyuong kindly suggests, is one possible cause, but there are more than a dozen other reasons you’d see exactly the same warning lights.

    Use a Toyota Techstream diagnostic system or the TC-to-CG jumper technique to read the stored DTCs, and then use the procedure for each DTC in the Repair Manual to find and fix the actual problem.
     
  5. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Part of what's going on here is you're using singular language ("issue", "this same issue", "this problem") when all you have is the three warning lights on the dash that are controlled by the car's brake/traction/skid computer.

    There are on the order of two hundred different reasons that computer can turn those lights on. So when you see them, you simply get a trouble-code reader and ask it why it turned the lights on, and it tells you, and then you know where to look for the problem and how to solve it.

    Once you understand that, it makes more sense that you don't end up seeing one singular answer in the forum to what "the" problem is when those lights come on. Just a bunch of people being notified of problems with their cars, and reading the codes to identify the different problems they are having, and moving on accordingly.

    Which is exactly what you can do, once you have the trouble codes. If you post them here, people can help.
     
    StarCaller and Mendel Leisk like this.
  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Anything plugged into the OBD port, btw?
     
  7. Aldenallthetime

    Aldenallthetime New Member

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    Thank you all for sharing your knowledge ,experience and wisdom with me. I'm a carwash mechanic so this is outside my realm. However I have multiple accounts at Toyota dealerships so I'll have a tech run the codes for me. Currently all the lights are off and braking is functioning properly.

    My question is... Can codes be determined while lights are off?
     
  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    yes, they get stored in the computer until cleared with scanner or 12v disconnect
     
  9. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    Most ECUs store the codes, so a tech should be able to read past codes.

    The exception is when the 12 volt battery is failing, if it dies, many codes are lost.
     
  10. Aldenallthetime

    Aldenallthetime New Member

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    Update:

    As I mentioned earlier I'm a car wash mechanic. The lights are coming on right after I run through automatic car wash.

    Any thoughts?

    Kind regards,

    Alden
     
  11. Aldenallthetime

    Aldenallthetime New Member

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    The obvious solution is to not run through automatic car wash. However sometimes I need to do it that for work to see how machine is operating
     
  12. Aldenallthetime

    Aldenallthetime New Member

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    Got the tech to run the codes and here they are IMG_20190813_140403711.jpg
     
  13. Aldenallthetime

    Aldenallthetime New Member

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    One more question question....

    I could give one f about regenerative braking. I use this car as a service vehicle. My concern is with the battery. Does anybody know what the downside would be to driving without Regen working?
     
  14. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    The code about leakage is not about regen braking, it's about the hydraulic fluid that stops the car when you want to not hit things.
     
  15. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    I would suspect the 12 battery. A Prius is just not suited to being in N any length of time. (Toyota is required by law in the US to have an N) So far as I know, there is no way to disable regen braking. It is central to the operation of the car.

    If you MUST use a mobile carwash, a long cruise first will help a little.
     
  16. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    Force charge in the park lot, full within minutes