... panick attacks, hot flashes, temporary insanity

Hi Samuel,

DTC C1300 "Malfunction in ECU" indicates a problem with the skid control ECU which controls the braking system. That is the electronic unit that was replaced according to your post #19.

Apparently the electronics within that unit were marginal so that they could be affected by your drive past an area producing high RF emissions.

I would not agree with your assertion that inevitably every Prius skid control ECU will fail. However if that ECU does fail, dramatic things will happen as you noted in your post #1.

 

If the RF from the military base is affecting your car you might want to invest in your own

 

The Skid Control ECU is apparently accessible from the dash side, but it's behind the steering column, so you have to take that out first. To get the steering column out, you have to disassemble the entire dash including the glovebox (according to the service manual, anyway). It looks like more than 1.5 hours of work, but not as much as a day. It will likely depend how much experience the mechanic has with removing dashboard parts!

 

They probably got paid for three hours; who knows how much time it actually took.

Tom

 

I agree that the skid control ECU may have been marginal all along. With electronic assemblies, once you get past infant mortality, they generally have close to their rated MTBF assuming no bad temperature/humidty excursions

Some borderline assemblies may work fine for awhile, then one extreme event will tip them into failure modes

 

How about a Tempest modification for the OP's Prius?

Tom

 

Hmmm NSA standards? They cover preventing stray emissions for security considerations. I was thinking more along the lines of MIL-HDBK-423 (MIL STD 2169), it covers EMP

 

That would be a good idea in case the OP takes a near hit from a thermonuclear device. You probably want sunglasses as well.

Tom

 

Don't forget the sunblock rated at least 100,000