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Brake booster failure: covered by Toyota or not

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by Jim Caldwell, Apr 1, 2021.

  1. Jim Caldwell

    Jim Caldwell Member

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    Its a 2014 Prius . i think its a IV. Its got 143k miles. Only have had it 3 months. Antiskid, brake, and abs light are on and the boost is gone. Pedal has to move about half way, and then the car stops. I see there was a recall started in 2019 to replace booster at no cost to owner. I hear only a toyota dealer will do this replacement in warranty or not. And it will cost $4k plus. Is that right?
     
    #1 Jim Caldwell, Apr 1, 2021
  2. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    If you haven't read the trouble codes yet, nobody knows what's wrong yet.

    Certain things that might be wrong could be expensive and covered by an existing warranty. Certain other things that could be wrong could be expensive and not covered by any existing warranty. Certain other things that could be wrong would take you five minutes and no money to set right.

    That's the incentive for reading the trouble codes.

    "Brake booster failure" is a somewhat premature thread title before anybody knows what's wrong.
     
    #2 ChapmanF, Apr 1, 2021
  3. Jim Caldwell

    Jim Caldwell Member

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    Yea, so it could be many different faults. I have techstream, have not had time to see what codes are being reported yet. No matter what codes i find, i doubt i would have the ability to deal with it myself. And once it goes to the dealersip, of course they will have to pull codes for themselves and charge 80-100.00 just for that
    At least I would have some idea about whether they are honest with me or not.
     
    #3 Jim Caldwell, Apr 1, 2021
  4. Jim Caldwell

    Jim Caldwell Member

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    Is it possible that disconnecting 12v battery for a short while might clear codes and redtore function? Like a cold reboot on a pc?
     
    #4 Jim Caldwell, Apr 1, 2021
  5. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Some of the problems are nothing more than the brake ECU saying "I would like to learn such-and-such again please." If you already have Techstream and that's the code it shows you, then you click over to the Utilities and run the learn-such-and-such and the lights go out and you're happy. I'm pretty sure that would be within your ability.

    I can't guarantee that's what you'll find when you ask for the codes. But it's what some people here have found when they asked for the codes, and you won't know, until you've asked.

    If it wants a procedure like that, disconnecting the battery won't do the procedure. It will just wake up again and say "yeah, there was that procedure I wanted, wasn't there?".
     
    #5 ChapmanF, Apr 1, 2021
  6. Jim Caldwell

    Jim Caldwell Member

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    Well thats great info, but just what is this code that is saying the brake ecu needs to relearn a procedure? I am between a rock and a hard place. There are two toyota dealerships in my city, and reading the service dept reviews for both, they dont have good ratings and some reviews of service are horror stories. Ive done a lot with cars over many years, but im an avionics system tech....not a toyota hybrid tech.
     
    #6 Jim Caldwell, Apr 1, 2021
  7. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Didn't you say you already have Techstream? Why not use it to read the codes and see what you get?

    You can always post them here if unsure what they mean. The complete explanations are in the repair manual (more info), but many of us here have seen at least some of them before and can do some interpretation.

    There's a couple hundred possibilities ... it wouldn't be faster for me to start by saying "well, if you have this one, it means this, if you have that one, it means that ...". It would be faster to start with what you have.
     
    #7 ChapmanF, Apr 1, 2021
  8. Jim Caldwell

    Jim Caldwell Member

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    Found my diagnostic laptop but not its power supply. Will be next week before i can check what dtc's are set.
     
    #8 Jim Caldwell, Apr 2, 2021
  9. Jim Caldwell

    Jim Caldwell Member

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    Another question. I have only a Bentley manual for Prius thru 2008. Learned a lot from studying that, but need something covering my new 2014.
    I think the full service manual a dealership would be either unobtainable or too expensive, for an owner. But Bentley seems better than either Chilton or Haynes. Recommendation?
     
    #9 Jim Caldwell, Apr 2, 2021
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