Replaced ABS in 2007 Prius Now THIS...

Why are you posting in the gen5(2023-onward) part of the board and not the gen2(2004-09) part?

 

The two codes indicate a problem with the rear brakes on both sides. The repair manual says it could be a fluid leakage or a problem with the brake actuator assembly.

 

And the smoke is billowing out from under your hood Is this correct? You could have also just chased the threads in the top fitting but that's another story. So now you should be able to pretty easily find the leak under the hood with an assistant inside of the car stepping on the brakes this should have been done the first time the fluid went down fluid doesn't just vanish in the system from full to say halfway down even 3/4 of an inch down fluid just doesn't vanish it there's no place in the system for it to hide this is not a game being played with your child. Not to be funnier or anything but seriously so the fluid and billowing smoke coming from under the hood means that brake fluid is touching something hot hello like the exhaust which is right next to the break actuator so when you undid all these lines and had the semi bend them out of the way and then remove the complete older actuator and then put all that mess back together on the mount that it goes on with the weights underneath it and all of that which I leave off but that's another story You've either gotten some more things crossed or something and fluid is leaking You may have to spray that mess off with some brake clean I mean really spray it off you'll need two cans to get it whistle clean where you see no leakage even spray off the exhaust manifold of obviously while it's not hot I have to clean with some super clean not on the break actuator but in other areas to get the thing clean then let it dry blow it off with air if you have that luxury and then have somebody sit in the car maybe quickly ready the car and get off the brake pedal let it start when the brake pump starts running you need to be under the hood not getting out of the driver seat and looking with a flashlight at all of those connections and then when your buddy steps on the break you again want to have those eagle eyes on what's happening and be looking over towards things that are getting hot by now the engine's running probably and the exhaust manifold will start to get warm something is squirting over there while somebody's on the pedal or something there's no way you're losing half a reservoir that's a small bottle of brake fluid all by itself 8 oz whatever it is You should be seeing that pretty good Is it a 3-minute drive down to Wendy's and you lost all the brake fluid or half of it are you on the brakes all the way to Wendy's?. So there should be a pretty stout amount of fluid getting away from something somewhere did you have anything else undone You have clamps undone on the feed hose coming from the reservoir hitting the metal tube on the firewall and then going to the break actuated with another piece of rubber then there's another feed hose that goes I think to the firewall also and then runs all the way to whatever that is next to the actuator master cylinder whatever you like to call it It looks like a master cylinder and all your other Toyotas and even some other cars all the way on the far left when you're sitting in the driver seat so all the way to your right when you're standing in front of the car If you left clamps off of those feed hoses which looks to be near 3/8 of an inch diameter We need to look at those usually I don't undo the reservoir feeds I just clamp them off with brake line clamps on the rubber part so fluid can't leave my reservoir while I'm doing the job. So somewhere we've got a clamp loose or a ferule That's cross-threaded or something losing half of the brake fluid reservoir in 3 mi or whatever it is to Wendy's or AutoZone seems to me like that's a feed hose from the reservoir to the pieces that need the brake fluid actuator and the other part on the firewall so check those real good maybe you got one that split the one that goes from metal to another fitting a rubber in between so if the piece vibrates or moves on the firewall something is not under stress and brakes there are rubber joints you need to look at something is squirting pretty stoutly somebody needs to be under the hood while somebody's in the car etc You will find this pretty quickly I'm pretty sure.

 

I don't know what you had undone but to remove the ABS accumulator and pump that you were changing I'm assuming the big block of aluminum with six lines of brakes going to it In order to do that you had to disconnect the hose that comes from a metal tube that feeds the clear 90° feed on the side of that actuator that you're changing when you unplug that fluid starts to run out of the reservoir because most people don't clamp it off back at the reservoir they think they're going to be changing fluid so on and so forth so they might as well just let some run out well that's running out right above your exhaust manifold on the back side of your engine right over in that area so without clamping it off you got fluid getting on things that are going to get quite warm upon restart If you haven't had the other aluminum piece that I'm talking about over there on the firewall undone or off then it should not be leaking only what you've disconnected and reconnected is leaking there were no leaks before you took all this apart? They're only leaks now since you've put it back together so we want to be looking at things that you had a part and that you literally put back together slip connections screw connections where fluid is passing through those connections should be a pretty good sized leak like a slit and a rubber hose comes to mind or a left loose ferule. Should be pretty quick to spot with someone stepping on the brakes yeah anything you do with that break actuator you're going to have to move the inverter somewhat You can't even see the part you just replaced when the inverter is in place and the wiper tray is in place this is why it's imperative that you manually bleed the brakes somewhat before you put all those pieces back because you can't see if you have a leak you'll only smell it so you'll probably have to move the inverter and possibly the wiper tray again just to have a good view of the top connection and the connections down the side for the brake lines. You don't need to start the car to pump the brakes You're going to try to bleed them like you do a normal car somewhat that should show you any leaks unless you've just made a mess and let fluid run everywhere because you didn't block anything off at the reservoir then it's hard to see what you've let leak and what is actually leaking now that you're pumping on the brake pedal. This is why some form and methodology has to be understood about what we're doing normally you block off the three output lines on the back of the reservoir there's one on the bottom and two straight out the back You clamp those off like you would have blood vessel in surgery or whatever they're doing when they say clamp You need to clamp three places That's the first thing you do when you start this job whether you're changing the fluid or not You don't want it running all over the car so you can't see a leak. Mechanics that do this regularly kind of know these things and have these methods of doing things for relatively good reasons.

 

That's what I'd be doing. I'd use the scan tool to ensure the accumulator/actuator was fully bled.

 

That’s crazy, I have read many posts and seen various videos of ABS pump replacement procedures and MOST have bled the system right after HOWEVER, I replaced my own ABS pump module and I didn't bleed my system. The fluid is clean, topped off and brakes felt fine right after the repair and its been over a year ago and about 40k miles since and car is perfectly fine.

I have always felt that the need for such scanners with brake bleed options or techstream is over the top, nothing like the good ol’ bleeding method, pump 10 times and release nipple. I know these gen 2 brakes work in conjunction with the electrical system of the car but dang lol.

 

I've made this work twice but the linear valve can get ya.

 

Was it a new unit or a working unit pulled off another Prius?

You are free to hold that opinion.

That might suffice if all you want to do is move some clean fluid down the brake lines to the caliper on each corner but it will not flush all parts of the ABS pump module.

 

Yes I've replaced quite a few ABS actuators only one with a new part that was for a customer. I don't generally buy the new I have access to so many cars most of the time I'm willing to take my chances I can change them out in 2 hours pretty easily so I got time I don't want to spend $1,400 or 900 even I will if I have to. So when you do this job if you're careful and you block all the lines coming out of the reservoir with clamps you undo everything quickly and carefully you don't have a lot going on. When you remove the actuator from the used car I usually pump the system up if possible because I have my 12 volt battery doodad with me and if I can get the card or on doesn't have to be ready I can pump up the brakes with the pedal load the thing up with fluid also see if they're any lights on in the car for codes for the brakes I can also use my scanner and check that way then when I go to remove the unit. I cut the brake lines and leave the fluid that's in the actuator in the actuator. Then when I go to reinstall it I very quickly move all the lines over after I have the used unit with the weight removed and all the stuff I do ready slide it in place on the bracket mount the bracket get the lines lined up and ready to go and transfer the ferrules quite quickly. Then I unclamp the feed from the reservoir to the rubber hose to the metal line to the rubber hose to the actuator and let fluid run through that big hose to the actuator then you can crack each one of your 10 mm I think I start from the bottom and you will see air push out of the end of the ferule. Then you tighten that one up move up to the next one the same thing so on and so forth all the way to the one on the very top and then you lock all those down. And then you have to start your bleeding so somebody sits in the car pumps the brakes a few times gets off the brakes remove the relays and bleed the front just like you would a regular car.. then you can put the relays in and the electric pump will do the rears person still sitting in the car and you just cracked the fitting a little bit while they're stepping on the brakes for the rear and watch out because it'll try to come squirting out then I back that fitting up so it doesn't squirt so much you'll see and hear air close it up and rip the pump rest a second do it again now you see solid fluid Do the other side the same way. Usually this yields me good breaks and no lights and I haven't even plugged up tech to bleed the internal of the actuator rarely do I have to I've tried it and done it a bunch of times but if I follow this other methodology I don't care what anybody says I still have perfect brakes even if I turn around and do the internal bleeding with the 30 pumps and 30 seconds and all that doesn't change a thing. The only thing that will get you doing this especially with a used actuator is the linear valve offset many times on a used piece You can't get it to work so I never clear out the old learned value while I'm doing this work until I cannot get it to work at all usually that's a clue that it's not going to work with this actuator. Most of them that I've connected and not had to do the linear valve whatever value was stored in the car or whatever must have worked and didn't have the code and didn't need to mess with it so I don't If you just clear everything all out you might wipe out the chance of it working Don't know this to be fact but certainly seems to make some sort of sense.

 

You can look at a hydraulic diagram of the system (posted more than once on PriusChat) and see at a glance why your "good ol' bleeding method" doesn't cut it. You can see the ~ dozen electrically-operated valves in the brake actuator, and ask yourself how exactly you plan to bleed air from blocked-off passages when the ECU isn't opening the right valves for you at the right steps.

 

I do not know but it's worked twice and many people drive the car now and have been so they're all ignorant Don't know how it breaks work or they work or they work fairly well and not perfectly or whatever I would think the air would get pushed up into the reservoir or something like that when they do open I don't know don't have any answers but anytime anybody's down this way please come by and check them out Tell me.

 

- USED part off a donor car
- Rightfully so
- The fact i stated nothing like the “good ol” bleed method isn’t indicating that it should be done this way on these cars, its saying that that method was so easy and worked well until things got complicated and you needed scanners to bleed brakes properly.

 

This is probably why you were able to 'old school' bleed.

I did misunderstand what you meant, thanks for clarifying.

 

I NEVER bled my brakes when I changed my ABS pump is what I’ve been saying lol. My brakes were fine right after the replacemnt and have been so for over 40k already.