Gen 2 prius brake failure

[GeorgeJoseph]

Hello All, 

Hope all of you are having a good day. I have a gen 2 prius(2008) with 110K on the clock.  During the service in April this year, I got the front brake discs replaced along with the front brake pads. 100 miles after the service I started hearing a screeching sound when turning right. The mechanic diagnosed it as  the driver side front brake calliper and replaced it , the screeching went away. Another 100 miles after the brake calliper change, the screeching returned and I was infomed that the cause was brake dust. The mechanic cleaned out the brake dust and the screech went away. However, on starting the car everyday morning, I notice a screech when using the brakes as reversing into the main road. This goes away after the first 1 minute.

Today, in the morning(the first time I took the car out), the brake-screech went away, but about 100 meters away the brake lamp lit up on the dashboard. When it came on I heard a beep. I switched off the car and put the foot-hand? brake down and up. The brake lamp  remained lit up on the dashboard. I was driving my kid to school, so continued driving. 200 meters later, the VSC lamp and some other lamps came on and I lost braking. Thankfully I was driving very slow and stopped at the kerb. I had to use all my strength to press the brake down and stop the car. I switched off the car and switched it on again and the brake lamp switched off and the car drove normally.

The only differrence today was the rain and the dipping temperatures? Any ideas what I should be doing next?

I really dont want to cause an accident.

Cheers,

G.

[Sooty]

Take the car to a different garage, preferably a Toyota dealer. Get them to fully examine the braking system.

It sounds to me as if the mechanic didn't know what he was doing with the Hybrid braking system.

If Toyota find an issue then get the first garage to pay the bill.

[GeorgeJoseph]

37 minutes ago, Sooty said:

Take the car to a different garage, preferably a Toyota dealer. Get them to fully examine the braking system.

It sounds to me as if the mechanic didn't know what he was doing with the Hybrid braking system.

If Toyota find an issue then get the first garage to pay the bill.

Thanks Sooty. I think that would be a one way street for my car , if they quote me a 1000£ to fix up and confirm that it does need doing, I can see my perfectly fine car going to scrap. 

I did an OBD scan on the car(  I have two readers) and no codes were read though at that time of reading the codes,I did notice the VSC lamp was on. The VSC lamp switched off when I switched off and restarted the car. The 12V Battery on my car now reads 11.9V(replaced in Jan 2017),I will check it again in the morning tomorrow.

Just called Toyota, they quoted 150£ for a scan. I guess I will need to wait for it to become a permanent lamp on so that I can scan it.

Does replacing the brake discs and pads have any impact on the hybrid system?

 

Thanks,

George.

 

[Corolla2004]

Well VSC implies problems with the Vehicle Stability Control system. But your car will retain fault codes & be capable of displaying them even if the original fault light(s) are no longer on. So no need to wait further for a fault light to come on again. If your two readers can't display a code it suggests you need a better scanner (ideally a 'Techstream'  cable + a windows PC).  A Toyota hybrid brakes use a dedicated hydraulic pump & a 'brake by wire' control system to operate. Only in the event of a system failure does the system revert back to conventional operation with the foot brake piston pressurising & operating the brake calipers. From your description it could be that this happened to you. Have you had the rear brake pads & calipers checked in recent times? They are prone to jamming.

[GeorgeJoseph]

1 minute ago, Corolla2004 said:

Well VSC implies problems with the Vehicle Stability Control system. But your car will retain fault codes & be capable of displaying them even if the original fault light(s) are no longer on. So no need to wait further for a fault light to come on again. If your two readers can't display a code it suggests you need a better scanner (ideally a 'Techstream'  cable + a windows PC).  A Toyota hybrid brakes use a dedicated hydraulic pump & a 'brake by wire' control system to operate. Only in the event of a system failure does the system revert back to conventional operation with the foot brake piston pressurising & operating the brake calipers. From your description it could be that this happened to you. Have you had the rear brake pads & calipers checked in recent times? They are prone to jamming.

Thanks John,

The rear brake pads and callipers have never been checked(never flagged up on the MOT or Service) and if memory serves, have been changed once in the last 7 years if I not mistaken. I did take the car in for a transmission oil change 4 months ago to Mr T. The visual inspection came back all green.