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friction brakes occasional grind/release

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by A Former Member 2, Feb 10, 2009.

  1. A Former Member 2

    A Former Member 2 New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2009
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    Location:
    santa monica
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    im new to the prius (put 500 miles on a 3500 mile '08) and getting used to two things when coming to a stop. the lurchy shutdown of the ICE and, when coming to a smooth stop the brakes sometimes at around 5-1 mph can lose their grip a bit, almost like a slow motion abs. they kinda lose grip for a moment and get it again, a couple of times, and it makes a little grinding noise when this happens. no other time. and its not 100% of the time that it happens either, and not only cold brakes. any thoughts?
     
    #1 A Former Member 2, Feb 10, 2009
  2. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2006
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    Location:
    Northern Michigan
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    At around 7 mph the brakes transition from regenerative braking to friction braking. This produces that momentary sensation of brake loss. It's really more of an illusion. If you keep pressing the brakes do their job.

    The friction brakes tend to get rusty from lack of use. Sometimes it helps to clean them off. The easiest way to do this is to find a section of empty road, get up to 40 or so, shift into N, and brake. Shifting into N forces all braking to be done with the friction brakes, which cleans off the rust. Do this two or three times until the grinding goes away.

    The lurching shutdown is more common with new engines and cold weather. It will smooth out as your engine breaks in.

    Tom
     
    #2 qbee42, Feb 10, 2009
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