[gene godefroid]

I happened to notice that the front disk on the driver's side has some grooves pretty deep into the disk, I checked the other side, and it is very smooth. I have just over 17K on the car, and have noticed lately the mpg is not as good as it was. The car is not pulling to the left, but it doesn't seem to coast a freely as it use to. I'm going to get it checked at a dealership. I don't think the mpg is just a factor of colder weather, any suggestions or opinions would be appreciated.

Geno

 

[gene godefroid]

bad caliper

Took my 03 Prius to the dealership today. The front driver's side wheel was getting to hot you couldn't touch the brake disk. The tech there said I need a new caliper. It's covered under warranty, they gave me a loaner so I hope this clears up the problem.

Gene

 

[gene godefroid]

Finally, get my '03 back today, the parts finally arrived at the dealership.
Been driving a loaner 03 Camry, not a bad car, but I miss stealthing...

Geno :lol:

 

[Guest]

brake calipher led to tranny trouble

There is a customer is the yahoo prius group who mentioned that their malfunctioning brake caliper likely conributed to their blown transmission (subject title: lemon prius). As a result of this toyota's position to their assertions, they are heading to arbritration. The tranny set them back $6900 - there is not enough gas savings to make up that cost!

You may want to have an independent place (or different dealership) check of your transmission.

 

[citicar1976]

Frozen Caliper

After 52,000 miles of trouble free driving, my 2002 Prius had a frozen brake caliper. As Gene Godefroid noted, the car did not pull when braking and it seemed to handle the same. What I noticed was that the mileage dropped from about 43 to 35 mpg, the car would not stay in stealth mode and it seemed to have a bit less power.
I checked the tires to see if the pressure was too low and that is when I noticed that the passenger side disk brake had some deep groves in it while the other disk was smooth.
I remembered Gene's post and decided to do a test. I drove the car for a mile and then checked the temperature of the front brakes. The drivers side disk was cold and the passenger side disk was hot. The next day, I took the car to the Toyota dealer and they confirmed that the caliper was bad and that the disk and pads also had to be replaced. The parts were not available and had to be ordered. It took a week, but I finally got my car back and the mileage is back to normal. Toyota paid for the caliper ($390.00), under the extended warranty, but they would not pay for the disk or pads.

 

[gene godefroid]

Caliper problem

Sorry to hear about your problem, but glad you were able to get it fixed. Just a small postscript, I actually took my 03 back to the dealer because they didn't replace to roter which was grooved. Toyota of Roswell was very cooperative, they agreed to replace both roters and the pad on the passenger side. I'm going to occasionally test the temp on the wheels going forward. My MPG also immediately returned to the high 40's-50's right after the repair.

Geno