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Issues- Brakes, uphill power, mpg, and broken part

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by milestoempty, Nov 30, 2008.

  1. milestoempty

    milestoempty Junior Member

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    2008 Prius
    My father purchased his Prius about 2-3 months ago from Koons Toyota in Annapolis MD. We bought our Tundra there less then a year ago.

    The car has about 5500 miles on it... In the past 1k miles some issues have developed.

    The gas engine always starts when you push Power.

    The car has never gotten above 52mpg on average. Now its down to 45mpg. Even when its 55+ outside.

    Uphill, slight or steep; and flat ground, the car "lurches" as my mother describes it. It uses the gas engine, and rapidy switched the electric on to charge, then assist gas engine, off charge, etc... continues this. Its not a hard lurch but you can feel it. Its sometimes difficult to even get the eletric engine to assist the gas in that situation. MPG in these cases is around 20 vs previously 30 uphill.

    The brakes feel like they hop. When slowing down to -10mph, the front brakes feel like they stop holding, then grab, then let off, then grab. 3-5 times before the car finally comes to an abrupt stop from 1-2mph.

    We cant back up our driveway with it... Its maybe a 7% slope but it just sits at the bottom doing nothing. Gas engine may kick on, but it wont apply any power, just charges the battery.


    Now last week it had a flat tire. Normal thing, and we took the car to Just Tires to get it fixed. They pulled a nasty piece or iron out of the tire (it looked like an iron can lip) but when putting the wheel back on, a lug SNAPPED off at 40-pounds torquing the thing down. They ordered a new one but we want to get Toyota to deal with it.:eek:

    I test drove a fully loaded prius for my father maybe 5 months ago. It has a few hundred miles on it and did none of this. Including when you pushed start, the gas engine only turned on once it had been sitting 1-2min.

    Has anyone else had these issues?
     
    #1 milestoempty, Nov 30, 2008
  2. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    Did he buy it new, or used?

    The engine always starts 10 seconds after you power up (1), and then it will run for about a minute. This is normal, to warm everything up. It is entirely possible that it was always doing this and the driver simply did not notice.

    52 MPG is very good. 45 MPG in cool weather is not unusual.

    Grabby brakes imply some rust is present. This is also not unusual. A few brisk stops should clear that up. If not then something is wrong (warped rotors, air in the lines, etc.)

    A feeling of continuous lurching may be hypersensitivity by someone not accustomed to a Prius. Do you feel this when you drive it? But being unable to back up that slope does sound like a problem. If the car was bought new, time for warranty diagnosis and repair. If used, press the seller to find out what the heck happened to it. Together these make it sound as though one of the motor/generators or the inverter has failed, but then the MPGs should be lousy and you should get a problem light on the dash.


    (1) You can do things to make it not start, but they are unusual.
     
    #2 richard schumacher, Dec 1, 2008
  3. Prius 06

    Prius 06 Member

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    As far as I know, the only things that will make the gas turn on right away when you push power is it's cold out or a low battery level.
    52mpg is very good, and it's what I usually see in the warmer weather, now it's around 47 or 48.
    The grabbing of the brakes could be the regen vs the rotors swaping, along with what Richard said.
    Not sure why you can't back up the driveway... My street is a 20% slope and mine has no problem. However the electric motor is the only drive in reverse, the gas will only come on to recharge/heat.
    Snaping a lug, well can't answer that...but I don't really know what they are suppose to be set at either.
     
    #3 Prius 06, Dec 1, 2008
  4. milestoempty

    milestoempty Junior Member

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    Prius was bought brand new.

    Its down to 37mpg average.

    The fuel gauge has become unaccurate. You can go 200miles before any bars drop, then when you are around 350 they all drop but one. That makes me old man nervous!:eek:

    We do have a steep driveway, would explain that maybe the electric motor jsut cant handle it.

    Car has lurched for about 1k miles now... you can feel it and watch it on the screen.

    Brakes wont stop grabbing. Also done this for over 1k miles. Car is driven daily so there is no time for excessive rust to build up... no squeaking either... they just hop.

    Havent gotten to go to Toyota yet.
     
    #4 milestoempty, Dec 2, 2008
  5. Turbogizzmo

    Turbogizzmo New Member

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    "Grabby" brakes MIGHT be the regenerative brakes, if you slowly brake at a certain point it stops using the regenerative system and switches to your physical brakes. If your a real light braker you can feel it being "grabby" when it switches system (at least thats what Ive come to believe) I can be so sensitive on mine that I can do it on demand. Brake harder ;)
     
    #5 Turbogizzmo, Dec 2, 2008
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