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ABS system and hybrid battery pack

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by sloftin, Jul 5, 2023.

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  1. sloftin

    sloftin Junior Member

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    I have a 2008 Prius with 435,000 miles and still on the original battery pack. For the past couple of months, I had noticed the brake "charging" sound (which I believe is the ABS unit pressurizing)...but it would do this about every 10s as long as you were close to the car with the key or driving it. No change in braking noticed. About a week ago, the ABS and VSC and brake lights came on. There were no codes seen by my generic code reader, so I reset the lights using a jumper on the ODBC port. After reading quite a bit on the subject and watching several DIY ABS replacements, it seems like the ABS unit may be failing and once it does, life would not be pleasant trying to stop the car. Last week, I took it to the local Toyota dealer who says both the ABS unit ($3K) and hybrid battery ($2.7K) need to be replaced. Needless to say, I'm not sure the car is worth either cost, much less both. The tech said there was an old hybrid battery code present, and that the hybrid battery connects directly to the ABS unit, which were his justifications regarding replacing the hybrid battery.

    So, my question to the gurus here would be, does the recurring pressurization of the ABS unit indcate imminent failure of the the ABS, or would replacing/rebalancing the hybrid battery solve the ABS issue? I might be interested in replacing/rebalancing the hybrid battery if this solved the ABS issue as well, but not if that unit is destined for death. Thanks in advance for insight.
     
    #1 sloftin, Jul 5, 2023
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    it's likely both, but not necessarily. ask them for the trouble codes and post here.
    my opinion, the car is wored out, dang good run though
     
    #2 bisco, Jul 5, 2023
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  3. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    If you paid for a diagnostic, then you have a receipt with the OBD2 codes and related repair charges, post them for additional guidance.
     
    #3 SFO, Jul 6, 2023
  4. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    At $435k if the car looks worthy feels worthy. Still drives worthy doesn't need its whole front end replaced or any of that and you're going to drive it then it's probably worth it given what you're going to pay for a newer car me personally out here there's a guy that does really good with the battery business in Virginia I would go get another one of his $700 batteries that I've been running for 2 years and do that again It may run longer than that yours is running $435,000 mi My original battery is flat fell on its face at about 2:50 just under $300 somewhere right around there I can't remember exactly but very close so this is quite extraordinary more or less as usually by 10 years or so these batteries are pretty thrashed The brake actuators I'm usually getting from the junkyard just because I don't want to pass $1,000 for it I can put another one on if it goes again that hasn't happened yet but I could no problem and still have way less money than one new part and I can get these from the JDM importers also for like 200 bucks 250 I have to let them know because a lot of times they need to get one for me.
     
    #4 Tombukt2, Jul 6, 2023
  5. sloftin

    sloftin Junior Member

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    Thanks for the replies. I have not picked the car up from the dealer yet (been out of town since I dropped it off last week), but will have it Monday and, assuming they charge me for diagnostics, I'll post the codes back here.
     
    #5 sloftin, Jul 7, 2023
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  6. sloftin

    sloftin Junior Member

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    Tom - I see you are in Durham. I'm in Apex. Do you repair Priuses? While I've done a number of repairs over the years to various cars of mine, I've never removed or partially removed the inverter on a Prius before (which it looks like is necessary to remove the ABS unit)...messing with the inverter makes me nervous. If you work on them, would you be up for giving me a $$ number to replace the ABS unit and maybe the battery pack (with one from your guy in VA)?
     
    #6 sloftin, Jul 7, 2023
  7. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    9198920363 Borland Rd 27243 Prii all in driveway.
     
    #7 Tombukt2, Jul 8, 2023
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