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2013 Prius ABS Question

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Technical Discussion' started by GeorgePriusNewbie, Dec 21, 2022.

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  1. GeorgePriusNewbie

    GeorgePriusNewbie New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 20, 2022
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    Location:
    Florida
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    I bought my kid a 2013 Prius, two years ago she loves it, I love it. A couple days ago while driving home from college the ABS light came on, started beeping. She said it became a little harder to push on the brakes. She pulled over at a safe place, turned the car off and on for like 15 minutes, it kept beeping and ABS light kept coming on. She repeated that for another 15 minutes. Asked her to wait. She checked her brake fluid it was fine. After 30 minutes she try turning on the car and it did not turn on the ABS light or beeped. She then drove for like 60 miles an hour or so. Light came on and started beeping again while driving. I asked her to pull off at a safe location. We flat bed towed it home, like 175 miles. Yesterday I test drove it, checked it. I can not reproduce the issue. I checked it for fault codes- none. Took all four tires off. Nothing odd found. Changed the front brake pad, they had like 20% life on them. Cleaned the ABS sensors with a dry cloth. And then test drove it for like 100 miles in town, stop and go traffic. I can not reproduce the issue. No fault codes at all.


    Does anyone have any ideas?

    Car is in great shape I change the oil for her regularly and service it. It has about 120k miles. Last summer I replaced her original 12V battery.


    Anyone have any thoughts that can help me?

    Thank you in advance for your time and efforts.
     
    #1 GeorgePriusNewbie, Dec 21, 2022
  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Nov 29, 2020
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    Location:
    Durham NC
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    Base
    The system saw something it didn't like even for a brief second It didn't set a code Why the restarting procedure went on for 15 minutes is probably just because of continuous trying probably just turning it off for 15 minutes or what have you would have done the trick Go use the bathroom play with the phone whatever I don't know I have two gen threes a few gem twos we've had brake problems with the twos but not with the threes yet.
     
    #2 Tombukt2, Dec 21, 2022
    GeorgePriusNewbie likes this.
  3. Elektroingenieur

    Elektroingenieur Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 8, 2017
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    Location:
    California
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Three Touring
    How did you check for diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs)? From the symptoms you’ve described, unless the auxiliary (12 V) battery has been disconnected or run down, I’d expect several DTCs to be stored in the skid control ECU, the computer that controls the brake system.

    To retrieve these, you’d need to use a Toyota Techstream diagnostic system, a third-party diagnostic tool that’s able to communicate with the skid control ECU, or the TC-to-CG jumper-and-blink-codes method described in the Repair Manual (more info) and in many other PriusChat threads. Inexpensive OBD II scan tools, made for engine and emissions diagnosis only, generally wouldn’t be able to retrieve DTCs from the skid control ECU.
     
    #3 Elektroingenieur, Dec 21, 2022
    Last edited: Dec 21, 2022
    Tombukt2 and GeorgePriusNewbie like this.
  4. GeorgePriusNewbie

    GeorgePriusNewbie New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 20, 2022
    2
    1
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    Location:
    Florida
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Today I took it to my local Toyota dealer, cause I could not replicate, surprised to find out that it was in fact the actuator going out. The high end computer at the dealer found it and it’s covered as an extended warranty for my 2013 Prius until August on 2023 or 150k. I’m under both. So happy as the dealer advised it would have been a 3K plus fix.

    So thank you very much everyone that responded. This newbie appreciates it very much!


     
    #4 GeorgePriusNewbie, Dec 26, 2022
    Elektroingenieur likes this.
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