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Anyone used a Gen3 Youtube process to bleed brakes?

Discussion in 'Prius v Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by butchbs1985, Aug 9, 2018.

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  1. butchbs1985

    butchbs1985 Taking things apart is fun!

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    I'm about due to replace rear brake pads on my 2013 Prius v and would like to bleed the system at the same time. The procedure calls for a techstream which I don't have but I've seen a couple different iterations of a bleed procedure for a Gen3 Prius on Youtube. Most recently the one where you jumper a couple of pins on the OBDII connector to clear any DTC's generated.

    I'd love if someone has a process they've validated themselves before I get into it.
     
  2. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    @NutzAboutBolts goes through a brake fluid replacement on a regular 3rd gen Prius (2010~2015 model year), loosely following the Repair Manual instruction for brake fluid bleed/replace without Techstream. Unfortunately your v may be a bit different, but maybe there's enough similarity for it to be helpful. You can find his videos pinned at the top of 3rd gen maintenance forum.

    I've done the brake fluid replacement on our 2010, with just a Mayo jar, with a hole in the lid to accept a tube, some lengths of clear tubing, a bleed bolt connector (pushed on the end of the tubing), and a largish syringe with tubing extension and slim spigot pushed on the end (for basting old fluid out of the reservoir at the start).

    A little contrary to the video, I followed the sequence in the repair manual (F/R, F/L, R/L, R/R), and didn't need/use a mechanical vacuum source: my wife pushed the brake pedal when needed.

    I had the whole car up, wheels off, on jackstands. In a pinch you can do this with the car on the ground, wheels on, but access is a lot easier with the wheels off.

    I used two pints of Toyota DOT 3, basted as much old fluid as possible out of the reservoir and refilled with new, then went through the four corners, trying to use a reasonable portion of new brake fluid with each, and end up with a lttle in reserve.

    I noted the level in the reservoir at the beginning (before and after opening driver's door, it'll drop when you do that), and attempted to end up with the level the same at the end.

    Again, the v is a different car, but hopefully similar enough. I f you really want to get the official info, take out a short term Toyota TechInfo subscription, scoop what you need, both on the brake fluid change, and the entire brake inspection section. Look through the attached (3rd gen) instruction, search Tech Info for similar key words.
     
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  3. butchbs1985

    butchbs1985 Taking things apart is fun!

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    Thanks. I appreciate the info. I'll give it a shot. I've got the manual from AlldataDiy which calls for the tech stream. I'll follow the NutzAboutBolts procedure and hopefully be successful.
     
  4. butchbs1985

    butchbs1985 Taking things apart is fun!

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    The NutzAboutBoltz process worked great. I bled from back to front only because I had the back apart to put new pads on first.
    Busy day.
    PCV Valve - PITA but doable from the top side I found. didn't bother with moving the hybrid power cable to access from below.
    Rear Brakes
    Spark Plugs
    Brake Bleed
     
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  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Try that chicken dance for starters: if it puts the car in invalid mode that would be promising. Note: the Repair Manual instruction (I posted above) does not note that to shift out of park you need to depress the brake pedal. IIRC with various chicken dances that hangs people up.

    Watch the @NutzAboutBolts they do a hands-on demo of how to achieve that mode, including the need to push the brake shifting out of park.

    Also, one of the ways you can get kicked out of invalid mode (and possibly into trouble) is to rotate a wheel. Be careful about that, read the ways you can kicked out. @NutzAboutBolts notes them also, near the end of the video. You want to keep the car comatose during the brake bleed, keep it in invalid mode.

    The simplest way to get out of invalid mode is to just power down at the end: shut the car off.

    Also, maybe not clear: at the beginning, before the chicken dance, you push the power button twice, with your foot off the brake pedal, basically so the car is on but the engine won't start.
     
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