ABS dash light, Anti-Skid computer problem

Please find out the DTC logged by the skid control ECU, and post.

 

Has there ever been any mechanical repair of the brakes?

The final and most recent failure is that throwing a code too or just grabbing?

 

Let me fix this. Should read: install, re-flash for my particular car and programmed with my key and calibrate. Skid control ECUs can not be flashed or programmed.

These ECUs are pretty reliable. The odds of you having two defective ones are very low. I would expect the problem to be elsewhere.

If you can, find out what the codes are and post them. Maybe we can help.

Avi

 

Well the reason I asked is the Gen2 suffers greatly from grabby brakes. If not regularly maintained I can't imagine how grabby they would be at 166,000 miles. It's easy to fix this grabbiness just apply firm brake pressure with the car at speed in neutral to disable regen. It helps to clean off surface rust from the rotor. This condition is greatly exacerbated if the car not garaged. I bet they are really bad right after it rains and first thing in the morning.

Hundreds of posts about it here on this site. Take a flashlight and look through the spokes of the front wheel and see how badly the rotor's are rusted and pitted. I bet they're really bad.

 

Yeah the "program with my key" got me too.

Ok so now he knows...... his dealer like most is full of doggie doo. The skid control ECU is located right above the drivers left knee and would take 15 mins to replace. $335 for 15 mins sounds about right for a Toyota dealer.

 

Given that all those warning lights are on, the skid control ECU definitely has logged DTC. However a generic code reader will not retrieve those.

There is a method to obtain some skid control ECU DTC by using a jumper on the OBD-II connector and getting the warning lights to blink, do a search if you care to investigate that.

 

While the code(s) would be good, the freeze frame data would be better. For that the best would be techstream. You might call the dealer and see if they saved it and could print it out for you. Alternatively, you could ask them to scan it and give you the data. I don't feel this is too much to ask as they have already charged you for stuff that got you nowhere.

Avi

 

I think I've easily spent 15 min on just the upper nut replacing those. It is a real pain to get to.

 

I had the same problems with my 2005 Prius: grabby brakes (primarily at low speed), then the brake and ABS warning lights all came on one day. I had to limp it into the Toyota dealer hoping I could brake the car. They diagnosed skid control computer and wanted $2500. I found a used one on Ebay for $50 which they put in for $300, and I thought I was good. But the brakes still acted a little funny, and two weeks later the same lights were all on again. This time the service writer and manager did a little digging, and the service department at another dealer recommended replacing the stroke sensor. They did so, and at my insistence did not charge labor this time. It worked, and I have had no recurrence in the 3 months since. I still suspect that the skid computer never did need replacing.