Brake Light On problems of the 2004 Toyota Prius

Brake actuator assembly malfunctioned, and had to be replaced, just as predicted in Toyota's warranty enhancement zg1. Toyota knows the part is defective, but they refused to replace it until it failed, and mine did not fail until after the extended warranty deadline. This failure happened on I-45 near madisonville and I had to pull off the road because a warning light brake light went on.

When driving down the road all of a sudden we tried to use the brakes and it felt like we only had 10% of our braking ability. The brake light came on and abs light went on and the stability control light came on as well as a warning buzzer. It felt like we had manual brakes.

While driving, the abs, vcs and red brake light all came on. Had it towed to the dealership and was told the brake actuator needed to be replaced for $3,000. It was diagnosed replace brake accumulator assy. (brake accumulator assy. Leak/ low pressure (c1256, c1391)).

Abs brake actuator assembly has failed. I'm getting the red brake light with the loud constant beeping tone in car. The rear brakes are only being activated and I can barely stop.

I was driving my 2004 Toyota Prius on the highway there were 5 passengers in the car including me. Suddenly there was a loud alarm in the car. It was a loud beep. The breaks completely failed. When I stepped on the breaks they did not react. I was going 65 miles an hour on the highway and thankfully we were not going down hill. I used the engine brake and pressed really hard on the breaks to bring the car to a stop on an off-ramp. Since I weight 300 pounds I could put all my weight into the brakes and finally brought it to a stop. If my wife was driving we would have crashed. The whole episode took like 3 minutes. It was agonizing because I thought we were going to crash against other cars because I had no way of informing them that I had no brakes. The idea of going in the ramp was trying to minimize the damage to other people. The alarm continues when I turned on the car. I took the the car to the dealership and they said that the actuator was the culprit. They told me it was a matter of time. I was sitting on a faulty part. They said it was on a warranty and not on a recall so they could have only fixed it if it failed and I was too late for the fix. The warranty expired on December 31, 2017. In other words, my 147,700 miles Toyota is essentially totaled. The fix cost more than the value of the car. They told me to disable the abs and I would be ok. A mavis brake mechanic tells me not risk it. I always took my Toyota to service at Toyota dealerships. They never mentioned the recall in spite of the fact that the brake light was on. When they performed the oil change the light would turn off for several weeks and then turn on. I could have killed myself in the car. I feel lucky that nothing happened. I am looking for a mechanic to fix the problem but it is hard to find independent hybrid mechanics. Toyota wants to charge $2800.

My Prius suddenly had a 70 to80% loss of brake power. My parking brake light came on along with the abs, vcs, the red triangle and a load buzzer. If this had happened at highway speed I could have rear-ended or killed someone. After turning my car off and letting it sit the lights stayed off. This concerns me because it could lead to a false sense there's nothing wrong. I took my car to the dealer and they seemed to know right away it was the abs brake actuator code c1256. I did some digging and it seems this is a very common problem and yet it's not a recall issue. I want everybody to know this is a safety issue. My Prius was bought new by my senior parents, they kept it garaged and only had 45000. Miles on it when I bought it from there estate. At the time the malfunction ac cured it still only has 72456. Miles on it. For a part to malfunction with such little miles to me indicates a very serious defect. In motion going straight driving at 25 mph residential street.

As I was going down a hill the abs vsc brake light came on and the brakes failed. The pedal became mush and I lost power braking. This caused me to almost hit the car in front of me. I swerved to the side of the road and pulled off the shoulder just missing the guard rail. I have found out that Toyota knows about this faulty problem and now they dealership wants to charge 3,000 to fix it.

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota pruis. The contact stated that the brake warning light on the instrument panel intermittently illuminated. This was a recurring failure. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing. The technician was unable to determine the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 106,000.

Brakers light and abs light still on after release the brakers pedant .

I was traveling on i95 when all the brake warning lights came on (abs, brake, etc. ). I tried to slow down the car, but the brakes didn't seem to work. Finally, the regen system kicked in, and slowed the car. When I jammed my foot hard on the brake pedal, the car stopped with a jerk. This is not the first time this has happened. The first time it happened (when all the lights came on), I brought the car to the dealer (kendall Toyota), they reset and recalibrated the computers in the car, and everything seemed ok. About 9 months later, the same thing happened. This time, the abs computer had a hard failure. They replaced it with a low mileage used part, and everything seemed fine for about 3 months. Then it happened again last Thursday. Brought it into kendall Toyota on Thursday evening, and on Friday they told me the I needed a new abs computer. Turns out Toyota knows about this problem and has redesigned the abs computer, but never sent out any notice to their customers. This is why the used part didn't last long. This a very dangerous situation and I could have easily been in a serious accident if I had not experienced faulty braking in the past (see below). A new abs computer plus installation from Toyota cost approximately $3000. The symptoms I was having when I reported complaint # 10292409 were identical to those above, except that no indicator lights came on. They car did not want to stop (and even seemed to "run away") until I jammed my foot on the brake. Searching the internet, this seems to be a common problem with Prius.

While driving on city streets (low speed, under 30 mph), I attempted to brake. At first there was no response from my brakes, then the abs kicked in and stopped my vehicle. Road conditions were dry and there was no apparent reason that the abs system should've kicked in. At that time both the abs warning light and the brake light came on and remained on. While sitting at the stop light I attempted to shut off my vehicle and restart it. After doing this both warning lights were still on. I drove very slowly to a safe place to pull my car off the road. Each time I attempted to brake the abs system engaged resulting in a jerking braking motion. At that point I looked at my car's manual and followed the instructions to have my car towed to the nearest dealership. The dealership hooked my car up to the diagnosis machine which rebooted my car's computer. Once off the diagnosis machine, they were unable to recreate the error and sent me home in my car. No further service was done and I was instructed to bring it back to the dealer if the brakes failed again.

Driving on bay bridge, sf, CA at 10:00 am going 50 mph. The following lights showed on dash, care lost all baking ability. Brake light, abs light, exclamation light, and whining sound. Had to use emergency brake to stop car and have it towed.

About 40% of the time, my Toyota Prius doesn't want to stop or slow down when the brakes are applied. Under these conditions, I have to apply the brakes hard and then the car will slow down. It feels like the car wants to "run away" when the brakes are applied. It exhibits this behavior in many circumstances: stopping at a stop light, slowing down on an expressway, or slowing down on a city street. Updated 11/23/09 the check engine light illuminated. The passenger front window switch wasn't opening or closing the window unless the master switch was used. The throttle body had to be cleaned. The fan belt and brake light switch were replaced. Updated 11/24/09 updated 01/06/10 updated 01/07/10.

Driving approx 35 mph. Applied brakes lightly to slow before a sharp right turn. Brakes "froze" and required extreme pressure to slow and then stop the car before reaching an intersection approx. 100 feet beyond the curve. The car stalled and lost power during this maneuver, which was accompanied by very strong smell of burning rubber and multiple warning lights. Upon restarting the car, it felt as if the brakes had seized such that it was difficult to proceed through the intersection to a safe place to pull over. I then turned the car off and on repeatedly until the warning lights extinguished and normal operation resumed. My local shop (not a Toyota dealer) said there was a code for communication failure with the brake system but no indication of damage to the brakes or wheels. This was the first instance for this problem, which has not occurred subsequently.

Brake failure, this happened to me today 8/5/08. I purchased this 2004 Prius 2 weeks ago(90,000 miles), and I've only had problems up till now. I was driving at about 25 mph, when all of the sudden the abs warning light went off, and the brake light turned on(and a buzzer was heard). I had to depress the break pedal hard in order to get the car to break. It felt just like when a conventional car looses its breaks. Thanks god I was only 1 mile from the Toyota dealer. I had a scheduled evaporator replacement ($450)scheduled for tomorrow so I decided to leave the car at the dealer (this is what the manual says to do when both warnings go off).

While normal conditions I have experienced a major brake malfunction, both the abs and the brake lights come on. The vehicle barely has brakes, this has happened multiple times since I have bought the vehicle 2 years ago. I have taken my vehicle 6 times to have to it fixed, and they have never been able to fix it. Brakes repeatedly fail on a regular bases. They have replaced the brake accumulator, brake computer, reset the brake piston calpaltors, and the relay that control the brakes, and the 12 volt battery. None of these repairs have worked. Brakes still fail regularly. Complaint lodge with Toyota customer satisfaction center.

While driving under normal conditions, I experienced a major brake malfunction (brakes barely responded at all--only by pushing brake pedal to floor did I manage to slow down/stop vehicle). A continuous warning buzzer sounded, and the abs warning light and brake warning light remained illuminated on dash. Vehicle had to be towed to nearest dealer. This could have led to a crash and injuries if traffic had been heavy. I believe this is a major safety issue. The problem was diagnosed as a "brake actuator" failure, and the part(s) are currently on backorder. The vehicle is a 2004 Toyota Prius.

Reported to Toyota on 2/7/04 file #200402110133. While driving on the highway, 70mph, cruise control on, both my wife and myself have accidentally bumped the gear shift knob with our hand and put the Prius into dynamic braking mode (dbm). The semi-truck behind me almost ran me over before I could get the car back into drive. Very dangerous!!! the brake light does not come on during dbm. Toyota should change the software to make a delay in the gear-shift for dbm similar to shifting into neutral?.