xinkid

weird stuff is happening on the brakes. I hear some scraping noise coming from the driver side rear. It gets worse if I press very lightly on the brakes but disappears if I brake firmly.
Here is a video of what it sounds like, the second half is when I press the brake pedal lightly.
http://s814.photobucket.com/albums/z...F5454_x264.mp4

ABS is also kicking in at parking lot speeds. I feel it in my brake pedal, the steering wheel also wants to turn to the right when it happens, like the left side is being let off the brakes. I'm not sure which wheel it is happening on. The guy at the shop just outright denied any responsibility saying how replacing the air struts with springs might confuse the abs computer.

Any clues to either of those problems really appreciated. There is also sometimes a loud clunk from the driver rear when I first use the brakes after having parked the car for an hour or two. But it doesn't happen after that first time, related to the scraping sound?

p.s. sorry for the dark video, I took it in the middle of the night holding the camera out the window with the mic pointing at the rear wheel with one hand, LOL...

p.p.s. I also noticed my front upper ball joints now has damaged boots. Is that cause for concern? Can I somehow patch it up so dirt won't get into it?

PK_Celsior

iTrader: (18)

sounds like your rotors are getting cut while your driving xD. i would look around the area and see if maybe they might if nicked the speed sensor wire! you will notice the sensor because it goes right into the hub. it would be part number 14 if you can find it. just an idea!!!

xinkid

Thanks for the info! What would happened if they nicked the sensor wire? isn't it just an electrical wire? I'm new to this speed sensor stuff, lol...

I did find out what's making the scraping sound. Unbelievable stuff I saw when I took a closer look at the caliper and hub that the noise came from. The following two pictures say it all. first picture: noisy hub, second picture: quiet hub. Da freakin' caliper is scraping against the barrel of the wheel! How did they put it back???

PK_Celsior

iTrader: (18)

hmmmmmmmm thats really odd i wonder if they knew what they where doing. I say if you can get handle remove and redo the brakes yourself. please do follow this tutorial if you choose to follow that path.
http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/brake/rbrotor.html
next if the speed sensor is nicked or broken it can activate the brakes randomly especially at light braking or give you a pulsing sensation. its because the computer cant correctly sense the rotation correctly. it doesnt know how much to engage when it is needed.

SpencerT

when the speed sensor broke on my 95 ls400, the abs light came on and the trac light started flashing.
Performance was not effected at all.
I believe if a speed sensor is broken, the computer disables traction control and abs.

after watching your video, I am pretty certain you either have a bad wheel bearing or just a loose wheel.
My rear wheels have made that exact noise on two occasions. First a loose wheel. Then the wheel bearing.

Jack up the side thats making noise and try to wiggle your wheel.
If it feels loose, it could be either of those.

try tightening your lugnuts with the wheel in the air and seated firmly against the hub.
Then lower the car and finish tightening the lugnuts.

If she still makes noise, I would get your wheel bearings inspected at a professional shop.

xinkid

did you read my post? The caliper looks like it's only held on by one bolt. It's loose and scraping the inside of the wheel.

SpencerT

No i hadnt read the second post.
glad you got it sorted out

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

whoa that is a major oversight, and i would def crack skulls! smh, hope you got that sorted out!

regarding your damaged boots, i would simply just replace the whole joint itself. as soon as dirt and grime get into the joint it will slowly deteriorate it. repairing it with a new boot is possible but will eventually need replacing down the line anyway.

xinkid

If it was just a ball joint, I'd be happy to replace all 4 soon but those upper control arms with ball joints are much more expensive. I've never heard of changing the boot of a ball joint but will look into it. Those only have 87k miles on them. I'd like to get at least another 30k miles out of those.

p.s. I emailed the owner of the shop those pictures. He is going to come out to my house with a mechanic to "fix" the caliper. I already ordered a replacement caliper bolt from lexus. They're paying. part # 90080-10395 if anyone ever needs one.

xinkid

Update: the mechanic came out and put my caliper back correctly this time. He told me his apprentice worked on my car and messed up. That's more understandable, at least.

Now, my ABS and VSC warning lights are on. At least the abs isn't randomly kicking in anymore, which is a very good thing. Also, does this make it easier to find the problem now that I can get codes from the abs ecu?

xinkid

ABS and VSC resolved! I took the car to the dealer. They asked me what was recently replaced on the car, I told them struts, brake pads and rotors. They told me one of the ABS sensors was sitting crooked. They must have bumped it during the brake job. They took it out, cleaned it, put it back and recalibrated it and it's all good now. I'm a happy camper that nothing was damaged or needed replacing. Toyota of Round Rock rocks, lol...