pacific

I have a 2000 ES300 (W/112,000 miles). I hear "clunk" sound when the car is about to come to a complete stop. It is intermittent and the car drives fine (no sound or noise when the car is in driving mode or going over the bump). I took the car to the Lexus dealer and after thorough check up they could not find any problem (from shock, brake, etc). The dealer could not duplicate the sound. I just got new brake pads for both front and rear (with resurfacing of the roto). This annoying sound started prior to changing my brake pads. I still hear this annoying sound. Any advice?

Thanks

kook

i have that clunking thump sound in my 93 too. I thought suspension, but it looked okay. Im guessing (havent confirmed yet) its my spare tire not completely mounted down.

pacific

Have you taken the car to the dealer for inspection?

pacific

Is this relate to this thread posted by "flipside"?

"Is the sound like a "clack" or "thud" when you apply the brakes? If so, it's just a relative Toyota design flaw beginning with the Camry (and related platforms i.e. Avalon, Solara, ES etc etc) starting from 1992 through present. Even my 04 IS300 occassionaly makes that same noise but not as audible as my previous 95 Avalon and 99 Solara."

3rdelement

iTrader: (1)

im having a similar sound. thinking its my car bottoming out. ....not sure though.

sub786sub

Mine was due to rare brake caliper . It took a while for me to figure out . Try kicking your rare tires and see if you can hear the same sound . I used hammer to fix my caliper .
Good Luck

pacific

Went to the dealer (for the second time). And this time I was be able to duplicate the noise. Right away they told me it was due to the brake pad movement. He did re-lubed the brake pads.

kbtr6

I have the same thing happening on my wife's 2000 ES300 where there's an intermittent "thud" in the rear brakes. The dealer told me it was due to the Lexus pads being able to "move" which I don't agree with completley. Not based on the actual sound, it just doesn't seem like it should do that and it's too infrequent to be by design for that car I would think. I'll look into greasing the pads and see if that helps.

The car just hit 60K and I'm getting ready to do the front pads and rotors. Can someone point me to where I might be able to find a how to write up on the front brakes?

kbtr6

I found the procedure under maint tips and it had other links too. Does anybody know the torque values for the caliper bolts?

sub786sub

If the sound come back then fix the calliper because the calliper sometimes becomes wider and cannot hold the shoe pads and the shoe pads rettles . I also first changed the shoe pads but after few months the sound returned . Then I used hammer to close the gap between the callipers arms . Now it is fixed

pacific

After 3 days the noise came back. Although not as frequent as it was. So at least it was due to the brake pads. And I think the noise has quiet down. Maybe the lube made the pad movement less noisier. I will go ahead and monitor for few more weeks (or month). I am at 112,000 miles and 120,000 mile major service is comming.

Tammy

The brake caliper bolts are torqued to :

- Front 14mm head - 25 Ft Lbs - removed to replace pads
- Front 17mm head - 85 Ft Lbs - removed to replace rotors
- Rear 12mm head - 20 Ft Lbs - removed to replace pads
- Rear 14mm head - 56 Ft Lbs - removed to replace rotors


Clean the pad contact surfaces; upper and lower; in the caliper of all rust from old pads with brake cleaner and a sash or tooth brush. Preserve the rubber boots with a little Areospace 303.

CRC Caliper synthetic grease is available in a pint or packets. Six packets should do four calipers, weight the cost.

Lubricate with CRC Caliper Synthetic grease the six surfaces that the pad contacts the caliper; prior to installing the pads. Apply a thin coat of grease on the back side of the pad, where the shim would contact it. Lightly grease both sides of the inner black shim and install with it's aligner tabs away from the disk, both inner and outer pads. The stainless shim is installed to the outside. Do not grease the cup face contact.

Lubricate the caliper slide tubes, both front and rear, lightly with caliper grease.

If your using OEM pads, your front pads won't come with the wear indicator installed; reuse the ones currently installed on your inner pads. They slip off and on easily. The rear inners will have the indicators preriveted.

kbtr6

Thanks Tammy for the torque values and the explicit directions too...that was exactly what I was hoping for.

The car just came out of warranty so I'll be doing what I can to it.

Thanks again

allerton

My manual says different torques:

25 -- front caliper bolt
79 -- front torque plate
14 -- rear caliper
34 -- rear torque plate

Not sure if different manual would say different torques.
I check these for 98 es300 and 2k' es300. They are the same.