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3rd gen Prius 2013 breaking & weird ac noise

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Technical Discussion' started by love4electric, Apr 14, 2020.

  1. love4electric

    love4electric Junior Member

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    Hi people , and thank you for offering your honest opinions .
    Less than a month ago I have just bought a 2013 Prius III , 130k miles , from O'Brien Subaru Fort Myers ,
    1owner car , very well maintained it seems on the carfax, never been in an accident.
    In the last couple of days the AC sound got louder like a fan is slightly malfunctioning (probably blower motor if there's any in the Prius ? )

    But much more importantly yesterday 3 of my lights came on

    ABS light and
    Brake light and
    Traction light(I think that's the name of the skidding car icon) ,

    Also when those 3 lights came on the regenerative breaking doesn't seem to work anymore , you have to push really close to the floor to get the regular breaks to work.
    So I suspected the brake actuator assembly/abs pump from my I read


    TODAY the lights dissapeared, all is back to normal , car looks and works like new without me doing anything... very strange .
    Now I suspect the 12v battery. Or maybe both the 12v and the actuator ?
    Where can you find the resources like diagnostic tools and tutorials and everything?
    Just very upset because I just bought the car and i was expecting at least 20k free of headaches
    Thank you again for your opinions !
     
  2. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Well, there are on the order of two hundred reasons those lights can come on, and so far you're thinking of two of them. Like me thinking "COVID!" for my first week of stay-at-home every time I woke up with sinus drip. It is easier on the nerves to just read the trouble codes and find out what the car is telling you. Sometimes it is rather simple. The change in pedal feel when the lights are on can be a result of the car's computer changing the brake behavior because of whatever issue it is telling you about.

    Having a tool to read trouble codes from your Prius is very helpful for taking care of the car. You should find lots of threads here about recommended tools. Keep us posted!

    What did the 'louder' A/C sound sound like? Not just the blower running harder? It will automatically speed up as the weather warms.
     
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  3. love4electric

    love4electric Junior Member

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    Thank you for your answer ,
    The ac/fan sound is not just blowing harder I know that , it's a "rattling"sound that wasn't there even on hotter days
    Yes i was planning to order the diagnosing tool for sure just thinking about which to choose , what's easier to use , I have a Lenovo ThinkPad T560 , is there any diag software that works on windows 10 ?
     
  4. love4electric

    love4electric Junior Member

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    Can you list the pros and cons of different diagnosing tools , laptop PC or android ?
    Or even Apple I guess I can borrow my wife's phone:)
     
  5. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    Did they give you any warranty? Or was it "as is"?
    You should give them a call.
    Techstream is good. You can find it on amazon and/or ebay.

    Can you find a date code on the 12v battery? If you have a meter you can check the voltage.
    If it's more than 5 or 6 years, it may be time for a new one depending on the brand.

    As ChapmanF said you can search the threads and find help with the different apps to read the codes.
    The codes can point you in the right direction to resolving the problem.
    Intermittent problems are a pain.

     
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  6. Albano Nickson

    Albano Nickson New Member

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    I had a similar experience with the mentioned lights on the panel, and when i went for a diagnosis they narrowed it to EBD neefing replacement
     
  7. love4electric

    love4electric Junior Member

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    Yeah it was as is for 6999$ + 1k dealer fees + Florida sales tax 8500$ but had to finance ... was it a decent price ?
    1 car owner on carfax, well maintained, no accidents 130k 2013 prius iii
    How is VXDIAG?
    How long do you need to get the codes with techstream vs vxdiag ?

    Yeah it's a pain today the lights are back and break is not working 1st 50% , gotta floor it
     
  8. love4electric

    love4electric Junior Member

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    Thank you for letting others know , how did it go ? What did you replaced ? Where did you get the parts from ?
    Was it free of charge , paid by Toyota through a program ?
     
  9. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    So now we know that one of the roughly two hundred reasons for those lights to be on can be EBD needing replacement.
     
  10. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    Did you check if they had a 30 day warranty?
     
  11. AzWxGuy

    AzWxGuy Weather Guy

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    ASRDogMan is on to something with checking the little 12 V battery in the right rear corner of the vehicle. If original it's probably time to replace it. Fan or A/C or HVAC rattling noise, probably some debris in the squirrel cage blower. You'll have to carefully extricate the lower glove box on the passenger side (note the disconnection of opener delay mechanism on the right side) and behind this on the HVAC there is an access panel to the cabin filter (if there is one, I suspect there isn't) which sits right over the blower. Remove the filter (clean or replace) and fish around in the squirrel cage for whatever might be making a noise.
     
  12. love4electric

    love4electric Junior Member

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    Thank you for your tips about the 12v battery guys , just checked the date says Oct 2018 so only 1 year 1/2 probably still fine
    Unfortunately no warranty on the car it was sold as-is
    Thank you for the tip about the rattling sound AzWxGuy I'll try fixing it
    Is the software better on the mini VCI than the VXDIAG?
    Yes I ChapmanF I totally agreed with your from the start that I need a diagnosing tool , and I am buying one just want to make sure I pick the right one with the info I get from you guys
    Most like Vxdiag , any versions I have to try to find ? Any brick and mortar shop that sells authentic ones?
    Also I just read that it doesn't work with models newer than 3rd gen is that true ?
     
    #12 love4electric, Apr 16, 2020
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2020
  13. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Do you have something constantly plugged in the OBD port? That appeared to be the culprit for me, with similar symptoms. Dealership didn't resolve really, said it was a "communications problem". They suggested to remove a scangauge cable I had constantly plugged in, which I did. That was over 5 years back, and the brake malfunction never reoccurred.
     
  14. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    The battery is new enough, it "should" be okay. But, did you check the voltage?
    If it had been sitting at the dealership, and not running, the battery could be weak.
    And if you don't drive it long enough, the hybrid battery doesn't put enough charge in it.


     
  15. Tim Jones

    Tim Jones Senior Member

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    When you figure this out clean the entire EGR SYSTEM INCLUDING THE INTAKE MANIFOLD! And EGR Cooling System!
    Plenty of info on this major problem. And get a Catch Can.
     
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  16. love4electric

    love4electric Junior Member

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    ASRDogman thank you for letting me know that. I tried to find out how to check the voltage after I saw your message and I don't know if the values are right since I was driving before I took the test , but I will take one again in the morning after the car had been parked for hours.
    The 12v battery values were
    Headlights off 12.9v
    Headlights on 12.3v
    Is this the correct way to read them ? Or should I turn on the AC to full blast or heat e.g.?

    Tim Jones great to know I will try to look that up and do it
    Also didn't know there are such things as catch cans , I'll buy one then.

    Mendel Leisk , I have never used a OBD or ever hooked a laptop to a car .
    I know how to find drivers, install / reinstall a windows/macos , basic programs and that's about it .

    As Dolj and ChapmanF recommended a tool is on the way
    The mini VCI was ordered yesterday and eBay says guaranteed by 22nd Apr but who knows in these crazy covid19 times, with the resources I can find here/online hopefully I'll find out what's the exact DTC/issue with the Prius that looks like new

    I apologize for my subpar english people , I was born in Europe and just became a Us resident a couple of years ago, thank you so much for all your advices
     
    #16 love4electric, Apr 17, 2020
    Last edited: Apr 17, 2020
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  17. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    Congratulations on becoming a US Citizen!

    I am not 100% sure on the battery voltages, the 12.3volts may be a little low.
    If you have a battery charger you can put the charger on the battery. No more than 4 amps though.

    There are two ways of testing. First thing in the morning after the car has been sitting.
    You can climb through the passenger seat and pop the hood and check the voltage at the fuse box.
    Then you put a load on the battery, like the head lamps. Just make sure you don't open the drivers door yet.

    I'm not certain of the "correct" procedure.
    I'm certain someone will step in with the proper voltages. Or you can do a search for them.

    Techstream can do a lot. Like turning off that stupid back up beeping inside the car!!!!
    First thing I did when I got it! :)

    And your English is fine. :)

     
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  18. love4electric

    love4electric Junior Member

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    Thank you very much :)
    I did the 12v battery test as you said 1st thing in the morning after the car had been sitting all night
    Readings were
    12.4v =lights off ( it might of been 12.9v for a fraction of a second then dropped)

    11.8v= lights on , then it dropped to 11.7v after few seconds , then it went up to 12.2v after several more seconds

    I know nothing about cars but the fact that one must always follow the maintenance per manufacturer's advice , but i always tried to change the oil & filter faster than it was necessary on my previous hybrid camry.
    Do you guys think I need a battery tester (if there's any available for purchase)other than this Toyota integrated function I used?
     
  19. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Were you testing voltage with the car displays? Try with a digital multimeter, same drill, first thing in the morning, hood popped the night before, at the under-hood jump point.

    That'll give you some iffy idea. Better, load test with something like Solar BA9. Or take to an automotive retailer selling batteries; they'll likely have a pro version of such tester, will test for free. Dealership has them also, but will likely be a nominal charge.
     
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  20. varun singh

    varun singh Member

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    I had the same symptoms with 3 lights coming on that you mention but no big triangle light in addition and it would go away after few sometime and upon restart, it will operate fine, this only occurred when I drove in city traffic and braking was constant including some hard braking (mine also honking/squawking noises as well, was told by shop about air in the braking system), all the while the brake pump/actuator would be continuously whirring, I took in for oil change and that's when they pulled code C1256 active( but no lights at all in dashboard) and the shop let me know about this and mentioned about an open extended warranty, incidentally I had also received a letter from Toyota when I dug in, a super while back.

    With light on, braking would feel horrible, have to literally stomp on it super hard (I mean super hard, felt like our old fiat back in the day :) )

    My car has around 136K Miles, and Toyota covered brake actuator fix.

    The brake actuator TSB is good for > 2011 models up until aug 29 2021 OR 150K miles (something like this, you can search for it here)
     
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