I'm new to this forum. I'm grateful that there's a place to go where I can get accurate information about my car! What I'm attempting to figure out is whether or not I can bleed air out of my brake hydraulic system without a scanner. I have a 2011 Prius Two. Here's the background with my brake problem: I had a brake fluid leak at the left rear wheel, I lost a lot of fluid and I'm sure got air into the system. I repaired the leak and now I would like to bleed the air out of the system. I'm hoping to gain insight as to whether or not it is helpful to disconnect my 12v battery and bleed my system with a pressure bleeder connected to the fluid reservoir. Or apply 1-2 inches of foot travel to the brake pedal with the battery still connected, but the car off, and then opening the bleeder valve on each wheel to bleed the brakes. Any information on how to get the air out of the brake hydraulic system without a scanner would be much appreciated.
If you are sure you got air in only at the caliper and left rear brake line, it's not unreasonable to try bleeding with some old-school method to get that air out. If there's any chance you got air inside the underhood components, it is much more clever to just get one of the suitable scan tools, to follow the prescribed procedure, than to dream up some clever way not to.
Yes you can. There's a link in my signature regarding DIY brake fluid change, using the "Non-Techstream" method described in the Toyota Repair Manual. (on a phone turn it landscape to see signatures). I've done ours a couple of times, raised all four corners (safely), removed wheels, rolled down all windows, wife helped, pushing brake pedal when required.
Thank you so much for the responses, I really appreciate it. It looks like I should just bleed the brakes the right way with the scan tool, so does anyone have any suggestions for a reasonably priced scanner I could purchase that can do the job?
I've most recently used the Autel AP200, which gets pretty good press on PriusChat, and comes for about $60 plus a free app for the smartphone you probably already have.
Not sure how you came to that conclusion; the non-Techstream method is from the Toyota Repair Manual, works fine unless you’ve somehow introduced air into the brake booster components.
There is no non-Techstream brake bleed procedure in the Toyota repair manual. There is a non-Techstream fluid replacement procedure, which is what you are doing if there is no air in the system to start with, and you just want new fluid in for the old, and you will be very careful not to let any air in during the process. If any air gets in, the job turns into brake bleeding, which does not have any non-Techstream procedure in the manual.
I decided to buy the Foxwell nt630 Plus for around $100 on Amazon and it worked well to bleed the air from the whole brake system and clear the codes. Thanks again to everyone who responded and helped me decide what to do.
