Any Toyota Techs here? Brake work on Prius....

[Oldswagon]

I am looking at servicing the brakes on my wife 2010 Prius (clean up the pads, rotors and lube the calipers). It's got about 50K miles on it, and with the salty winters in Ontario, it's due.

It's my understanding these cars have a brake control that takes up the slack in the brakes and that this should be disabled before you work on the brakes. Is there a way to disable this system without disconnecting the 12 volt battery? I'd like to keep all our settings, but it's not the end of the world if that's the only method.

Any advice appreciated.

 

[L_Sludger]

Is it necessary if you are reusing the pads? After all, you shouldn't need to compress the caliper pistons if you're just taking it apart to lube it.

 

[ctrcbob]

Why not try http://www.priuschat.com/forums/ as you should get a good Prius answer there.

 

[friendly_jacek]

correct link is http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii-2010...aintenance.html

 

[Oldswagon]

Yes, that was my post. I didn't really get a direct answer over there for the GEN III cars, which is why I checked here. It seems not too many people there have done brake maintenance on a GEN III car.

They did post a detailed reveiw on removing relays for the GEN II car, but not sure if it's the same on the GEN III's.

 

[Drew99GT]

PM The Critic. He's the resident Prius Expert and I believe he has brake experience with them.

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: Oldswagon
It's my understanding these cars have a brake control that takes up the slack in the brakes and that this should be disabled before you work on the brakes.

Whatever that is, it does not affect the hydraulic wheel-brakes. You may be referring to the regenerative braking, which does not use the wheel brakes.

Wheel-brake servicing on the Prius is no different from any other Toyota.

Keep in mind that if you replace the rear pads, you will need to SCREW IN the pistons before replacing the caliper on the new pads!

 

[rcy]

Originally Posted By: Tegger


Wheel-brake servicing on the Prius is no different from any other Toyota.

Keep in mind that if you replace the rear pads, you will need to SCREW IN the pistons before replacing the caliper on the new pads!



Unless you need to bleed the system. Then it's very different.

 

[The Critic]

When you press the pedal after reassembly, you may throw a DTC C1214 when you push the pedal after reassembling everything. I have Techstream Lite myself, but without that tool, clearing the code may be a problem. When I had previously set some CXXXX codes accidentally, it severely neutered the brake system until I cleared the codes. I do not know if triggering a C1214 will do this, but just be warned.

Other than that, the brake system is fairly typical. Here is a link to the shop manual:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q..._T4c7XV4fVYBAlg

Note that it mentions the need to perform a linear solenoid valve offset after reassembly. I do not know how necessary this is, though, for routine pad changes. Also, you should not need to disable the EBC for routine work unless you are doing a brake flush.

I really wouldn't worry too much about the brakes on these cars. They often go over 100k on pads, 150k+ is not uncommon either.

At 50k, be sure to drain and refill the transaxle with new Toyota ATF-WS if you have not done so already.

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
Note that it mentions the need to perform a linear solenoid valve offset after reassembly. I do not know how necessary this is, though, for routine pad changes. Also, you should not need to disable the EBC for routine work unless you are doing a brake flush.

From what I see on TIS, resetting of the solenoid is only necessary when bleeding the brakes, something most people generally don't do when changing the pads.

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: Tegger
From what I see on TIS, resetting of the solenoid is only necessary when bleeding the brakes, something most people generally don't do when changing the pads.


On the Ford system if you bleed the brakes you need a ton of fluid. WE usually have to hand out around 3 gallons of brake fluid for it to work. Always fun when a noob tech cracks the bleeder on a hybrid and it turns into a multi-hour ordeal.

 

[Oldswagon]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
When you press the pedal after reassembly, you may throw a DTC C1214 when you push the pedal after reassembling everything. I have Techstream Lite myself, but without that tool, clearing the code may be a problem. When I had previously set some CXXXX codes accidentally, it severely neutered the brake system until I cleared the codes. I do not know if triggering a C1214 will do this, but just be warned.

Other than that, the brake system is fairly typical. Here is a link to the shop manual:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q..._T4c7XV4fVYBAlg

Note that it mentions the need to perform a linear solenoid valve offset after reassembly. I do not know how necessary this is, though, for routine pad changes. Also, you should not need to disable the EBC for routine work unless you are doing a brake flush.

I really wouldn't worry too much about the brakes on these cars. They often go over 100k on pads, 150k+ is not uncommon either.

At 50k, be sure to drain and refill the transaxle with new Toyota ATF-WS if you have not done so already.


Thanks Critic. It sounds like I may have to invest in Techstream lite if I want to do my own maintenance on this car. Where did you buy it from? Is it expensive?

Yes, the brakes have lots of life left in them now. I inspected the pads when I changed from winter to summer tires.

What's the transaxle fluid change like? Do lots of tranny services over the years, so I can't imgine this would be much different.

 

[The Critic]

The transaxle fluid servicing is identical to servicing a diff. Theres a fill plug and a drain plug. Drain out the old fluid, fill with new until its slowly dripping out. New washers, and you're done.

As for the Techstream Lite, well, just google around.