1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

2004 Prius ECU / Brakes Failed due to Salt Air Corrosion?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by nickc, Aug 27, 2009.

  1. nickc

    nickc New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 27, 2009
    1
    0
    0
    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Hi There,

    I'm wondering if anyone else out there has had a similar experience to this or can offer any thoughts.

    I've got a 2004 Prius (with i-Tech), it's done around 80,000kms. A few weeks ago the yellow (!) Warning Light came on and the brakes pretty much stopped working. This happend on the Sydney Harbour Bridge (!). Had it towed back to the dealers and they are now telling me that the main ECU has failed and the my rotors (brake discs) are also stuffed and need replacing. I'm not what you'd call an aggressive driver! My auto-friends are saying replacing rotors at 80,000kms is pretty unusual??

    Further, they are saying that the ECU has failed due to salt air corrosion!? I live in Sydney, it's all pretty much coastal, so I'm not sure what this means? (Besides the obvious...I drive to the beach occasionally!) They want $4500 for the ECU and $1500-odd for the rotors.

    I've taken this up with Toyota HQ and they're just stonewalling me.

    Has anyone else had any similar experiences?

    Nick
     
    #1 nickc, Aug 27, 2009
  2. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

    Joined:
    Jul 12, 2007
    10,664
    567
    0
    Location:
    Adelaide South Australia
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    This is a first for me, never heard of it.
    Sorry I couldn't be more help.
     
    #2 patsparks, Aug 28, 2009
  3. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 21, 2004
    13,439
    640
    0
    Location:
    Winnipeg Manitoba
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    We can have salt issues here too, but usually the worst of it happens in the interior. The reason why is that in winter, roads are deiced by liberal application of salt. Not only will vehicles rapidly rust away, the salt can work its way into wiring harnesses

    Sometimes, salt can create a poor connection due to oxidation. Rather than replace something as expensive as an ECU, I'd just seat/unseat the connectors a few times. There are specific connector lubricants (Do *not* use regular grease) that protect the pins and prevent future corrosion, and are specifically used in the aviation industry and most military units, especially naval units

    Brake rotors can also rust away after exposure to salt. They will corrode from the inside out, so they will appear fine on the outside, but be dangerously thin on the inside
     
    #3 jayman, Aug 28, 2009
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)