How To Silence the ABS VSC Failure Alarm Prius Gen2
How I use a DTC reader to restore power brakes in my Gen 2 Prius.
My Gen 2 Prius has an internal pressure leak in the ABS VSC system. It’s not a red triangle incident quite. When the booster pressure falls low enough three lights come on. The Brake Warning light, the ABS light and the VSC light. For bigger problems you will get an alarm buzzer ringing.
In my case there is no change in braking at this warning stage. Then it can, after as many as 15 miles drive time or much longer if ever this next thing happens. The alarm comes on and you lose power brakes. That first time you apply them the pedal may feel very squishy and weak braking. You basically have been reduced to manual brakes instead of power brakes.
You have to be sure to not panic. Drive cautiously and give cars 4 car spaces between them and you. Then pull your ass over and try this fix.
To do this you’ll need a standard DTC code reader. Like this one,
How To Restore Power Brakes in a Prius Gen II
This is what you can do when your power brakes soft fail, leaving you with manual brakes. Also how to turn off the ABS VSC lights and silence the alarm.
Procedure:
Park Prius on level ground. Leave space in front in case you must tow it. Turn the car off and remove the key. Wait for any sounds to cease.
Plug the key back in, press the brakes and press START. You will see the VSC ABS lights come on and hear the Prius ABS VSC Failure Alarm. Sometimes it stops on its own so wait on it for 45 seconds or so.
Now plug in the DTC code reader into the data port under the dashboard. The DTC code reader will read the engine codes first as it wakes up. You don’t have an engine problem, so this information doesn’t matter right now.
Press the lower left key, (or wherever the button is) for reading brake system codes.
In this video the DTC brake codes that displayed were code C1252 and C1256. Erase code C1256
It will erase then read the codes and should return a no code result.
Now the ABS VSC lights on the dash will go out and the alarm will stop.
Repeat as needed while you save up for an ABS system replacement job costing $4000 at a Toyota dealership. Prius 2 repair hack.
SO that’s how I fixed a Prius ABS VSC Failure Alarm
Here’s the tool I used for this Prius repair hack,
