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Interesting ABS issue

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by F8L, Jan 6, 2013.

  1. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    I was running errands around town today and while maneuvering through a gas station parking lot I went over one of the raised covers they use to refill the underground tanks. I didn't hit the cover particularly hard but enough to notice the bump. As I pulled out onto the street I noticed my ABS warning light was on in the bottom right corner of the dash. I figured it would turn off by the time I looked away so I paid it no mind. Approaching the next stop I noticed the brakes felt weird. It felt like there was no regen braking and it took extra effort to come to a stop. While navigating the next parking lot I watched my dash more intently and noticed there was no regen occurring while I tried to brake and the brakes were extra touchy yet required more effort to slow the car down.

    I pulled into the Costco gas station and turned off the car while waiting for a pump to open up. I started the car within 1 minute or so and the ABS light and traction light (top left corner) were still displayed. The brakes still felt weird. I pulled up to a pump and shut down the car. After fueling up I started the car and the lights were gone; the brakes felt normal again.

    So did the "manhole" cover cause the issue or could it be that the Torque app caused a glitch? I noticed that the Torque app was not actively monitoring while I sat at the Costco station. It had somehow become disconnected. I made sure to turn it off before restarting the car after fueling up.

    Weird situation and potentially dangerous with the wrong driver in the wrong situation.
     
  2. tankyuong

    tankyuong Senior Member

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    sounds like a glitch to me
     
  3. Braddles.au

    Braddles.au DEFAnitely using an EBH

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    Compare the Torque app speed to the speedometer and a GPS speed. If there is any discrepancy beyond the 1-3 added for safety, you may have a failed speed sensor. Without knowing the true speed of each wheel, ABS cannot function.
    Same thing happened to my Citroën, apart from the regen bit.
     
  4. IMkenNY

    IMkenNY Im just being nosy

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    I had an inexpensive OBD2 Bluetooth unit from Ebay for my torque app and had this same problem.
    I need to invest in the quality OBDlink :)
     
    F8L likes this.
  5. Former Member 68813

    Former Member 68813 Senior Member

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  6. Jonny Zero

    Jonny Zero Giggidy

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    Could it be the manhole bump affected the OBDII connector and it came loose for a sec while you hit the bump, and caused a communication glitch of some short?:eek: