I've got a used 2005 Prius with ~215,000 miles. A couple days ago I was driving down the highway and the red master warning light came on, along with a specific warning light on the touchscreen that, according to the manual, meant that the hybrid system had an issue. When I pulled over, I also got a VSC warning light and an orange brake system light, both of which went away after restarting the car. I decided to try to continue driving to get the car back to my house, and after about 15 miles the VSC warning light came back, along with the red brake warning light. I immediately pulled off and noticed that I was getting resistance on the brake when I tried to push it. I got a tow to my mechanic's after that. When my mechanic looked at the car today, he said that the only issue that was coming up on the computer was that the hybrid water pump needed to be replaced. He drove the car around the block a couple times and was unable to replicate the brake issue, but he said there could be an issue with the ABS system. He quoted me about $350 for the water pump issue, but I'm kind of baffled as to why so many things would go wrong at once and then suddenly not show any problems. My question is: is the brake issue related to the hybrid system? Is there possibly another problem that for some reason isn't showing up on the car's computer? Should I have him do the repairs on the ABS even if I'm unsure that that's the issue? Thanks for any advice you can offer!
if your mech doesn't have tech stream, he might not be getting all the codes. if he does, please ask for them. you can check the pump yourself by looking in the reservoir for fluid movement with the car 'on'. you might have an actuator problem, which is very common. not cheap though, so best to get the correct trouble codes rather than through parts at it.
