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Dreaded ABS Pump Buzz

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by gaffewhacking, Jun 12, 2024.

  1. gaffewhacking

    gaffewhacking New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 12, 2024
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    Location:
    Maine
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    III
    I just purchased a silver Gen3 III in Massachussets on Monday. It's very pretty, has low miles (121k), and I'm loving the sunroof. It also gets mysteriously better mileage than any other Gen3 I've owned. Additionally, it lived nearly its whole life down south and is basically rust free, which is thrilling.

    However, today, I noticed the ABS pump activating at regular intervals (5-10 seconds), even when my foot wasn't on the brake. It's clearly headed toward failure. I can also hear kind of a duck noise periodically when braking, and sort of a creaking sound when the pedal is depressed, but these aren't the same level of red flag. Brakes fluid levels are constant and high, at least so far.

    So my question is... how would you all deal with this? The car is covered by lemon law for 28 more days, but it's not throwing any codes. Nonetheless, the pump activation is very frequent, which makes me think failure is imminent. Toyota is obviously no help, as what little support they offered for this design defect ran up in 2021. So what's the best course of action? Do I just have a high repair bill in the near future? Should I sit in my yard all night with my foot on the brake and wait for it to throw a code?

    Thank you!
     
    #1 gaffewhacking, Jun 12, 2024
  2. gaffewhacking

    gaffewhacking New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 12, 2024
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    Location:
    Maine
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Brake booster pump. Not ABS pump. I'm going to add to this that this is replacing a 2011 Toyota Prius I bought last month, which was totaled by somebody having a “sneezing fit” who didn't notice the sheriff I was yielding to. And that, in turn, was replacing a 2005 Toyota Prius that made it to 299,999 miles and then the odometer halted.

    I'm feeling a little cursed at the moment. Would accept any positive news and guidance!
     
    #2 gaffewhacking, Jun 12, 2024
  3. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2020
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    Location:
    Durham NC
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    Base
    This is what happens to all of these cars with this type of brake system generation 2 has the same problem with a similar part but there's only one of them the generation 3 has two parts that should be replaced as well a pair generally speaking or you'll wind up with double the labor and still have both parts replaced so it's a real toss-up for some people and a lot of cars they've changed this type of design to a fender wall mounted assembly that's much less expensive to deal with etc The style we have in the generation 3 and the others like it are kind of like what BMW and them use very expensive and very finicky and very costly and many times not covered by the aftermarket which the Toyota is not
     
    #3 Tombukt2, Jun 12, 2024
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
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    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    i would replace it with a new oem part when the time comes, seeing that the rest of the car is so nice (as long as it isn't an oil burner)
    i don't think you can force it to fail, and i'm not sure the lemon law applies to old cars.
     
    #4 bisco, Jun 13, 2024
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