Slow Speed

[diverdave]

Hi All,

I have had my T3 for 15 months now from new, I am very happy with the car having just driven across to the west coast of Ireland and back with no problems, ( by the way I saw more Prius's there than in England) But it seems to have developed an annoying squeak at slow speeds, ( 5- 10 mph) especially when turning left, it seems to be coming from the wheels. Has anyone else come across this problem ? Regards, Dave.

[TheSpannerMonkey]

have you had a look at the brakes, the braking system on the pruis is split between regenarative braking and the actual brakes, so alot of the time when you put your foot on the brake, the brakes arent actually doing anything, which means they could potentially go rusty quite quick, i havent really seen it happen yet but, maybe worth a look

[Ray99]

The noise is almost cetainly from the brakes. As you turn left the suspension is loaded and the disc presses harder against a siezed/sticking brake pad. I've done several now where the pads have stuck to the caliper because they move so little. A good Prius driver should never wear out the brakes as most of the braking is done by the electronics- if you listen carefully as you apply the brakes you can hear the transmission protesting as it's loaded for braking. The friction brakes are used to bring the car to a standstill as dynamic braking only works while the parts are rotating.

We look after one early Prius with 100k+ and the discs look like that of a normal car- shiny and worn. We also look after several other prius- one with 40k on and the pads are like new. It's down to driver skill and anticipation.

Cheers Ray

[Braindead]

Yep, Ive had that problem on and off for a year. First time they cleaned the front brakes up and that fixed it for a while.

Mine now seems to do it after longer periods of high speed driving then going down to slow urban crawling.

I did think it was brakes but now I start to wonder. The noise only seem so happen when I pull away an the car is using electric only - i.e. slow acceleration.

Having said that, a good stanp on the brakes seems to clear it which would tend to imply brakes may be the issue.

[Braindead]

It's getting worse!!!!!

[diverdave]

My squeak seems to have mostly gone now for some reason, though I still do hear it slightly now and again. Mine also seemed to appear after a long run then going at a very slow speed. My 20,000 mile sevice is due soon so I think that they check the brakes then anyway, though I will mention the squeak to them.

Regards,

Dave.