LS460 Brake job DIY: Pt. 1
08-15-15, 06:24 AM
#16
Driver School Candidate
Rear Rotors on ls460
I tell ya 7, you're a pretty intelligent cookie! 
This is the final entry to my brake saga.
As stated above, I went to Lexus this afternoon and had him pull an 08 into the bay with mine right behind it. Only difference was my vehicle is an L and the 08 was a base. He performed the gear shifts on the 08, barely a noise at all. The only noise was the actuator sound from applying the eBrake and barely, if at all that tap/pop sound of the eBake engaging. I went through the gears on mine and the sound from the actuator was heard along with the very audible tap/pop noise, and it was noticed by the service writer, tech who worked on my brakes as well as the Master Tech.
The tech assured me that he took the brakes apart and saw nothing wrong. He said that the only issue was that the point at which the rotors pistons were pushing on the pads were a bit off, but that was it. That and retorquing the rotors.
And yes, I did see exactly what you're talking about, regarding the, what seemed to me to be a "hub behind a hub" rear brake system. Your observation and analysis are correct 7, as the rear brake system on these vehicles have a double systematic operation: drum and disc, and the drum system sits behind the disc.
In closing, the tech and MT assured me that my system works fine. I then asked why the 08 didn't do it and mine did. The tech said it could b a few things, but he attributed this factor to the fact that I have brand new breaks and pads and the 08 didn't. The change in measurement of the pads and rotors, adjustments, possibly (not likely) aftermarket rotors, but the bottom line was that they are standing behind their work and brake inspection, saying that the rear brakes perform as they should. He also stated that this ideal is reinforced because if I turn the Auto eBrake off, the sound isn't there.
He did confirm what your Chassis Engineer stated-that the ebrake system is really to reinforce the default brake system when the car is parked/left on a hill/incline, in the event the trans fails as these cars are very heavy.
But he did say the noise was from the ebrake engaging/disengaging/shifting and that all was A-Okay.
This is the final entry to my brake saga.
As stated above, I went to Lexus this afternoon and had him pull an 08 into the bay with mine right behind it. Only difference was my vehicle is an L and the 08 was a base. He performed the gear shifts on the 08, barely a noise at all. The only noise was the actuator sound from applying the eBrake and barely, if at all that tap/pop sound of the eBake engaging. I went through the gears on mine and the sound from the actuator was heard along with the very audible tap/pop noise, and it was noticed by the service writer, tech who worked on my brakes as well as the Master Tech.
The tech assured me that he took the brakes apart and saw nothing wrong. He said that the only issue was that the point at which the rotors pistons were pushing on the pads were a bit off, but that was it. That and retorquing the rotors.
And yes, I did see exactly what you're talking about, regarding the, what seemed to me to be a "hub behind a hub" rear brake system. Your observation and analysis are correct 7, as the rear brake system on these vehicles have a double systematic operation: drum and disc, and the drum system sits behind the disc.
In closing, the tech and MT assured me that my system works fine. I then asked why the 08 didn't do it and mine did. The tech said it could b a few things, but he attributed this factor to the fact that I have brand new breaks and pads and the 08 didn't. The change in measurement of the pads and rotors, adjustments, possibly (not likely) aftermarket rotors, but the bottom line was that they are standing behind their work and brake inspection, saying that the rear brakes perform as they should. He also stated that this ideal is reinforced because if I turn the Auto eBrake off, the sound isn't there.
He did confirm what your Chassis Engineer stated-that the ebrake system is really to reinforce the default brake system when the car is parked/left on a hill/incline, in the event the trans fails as these cars are very heavy.
But he did say the noise was from the ebrake engaging/disengaging/shifting and that all was A-Okay.
Last edited by johnbros01; 08-15-15 at 06:35 AM. Reason: punctuation
08-17-15, 12:39 PM
#17
CRowe14 - Good write-up. But I mentioned something in my post about the $20 resurfacing that I meant to explain ... but didn't.
You don't need to whomp on your rotors to knock'em loose. There are 2 small threaded holes in the rotor hat area. Find you a couple screws that thread into them. I take the 2 screws out of my Corolla's radiator support brackets. Because these screws are the right size and thread, and they're really easy to get to on my Corolla. I hazard to guess the LS uses the same screws for it's radiator support, but I didn't bother to look because I knew right where to find them on the Corolla.
Anyway, when you thread them into the holes in the rotor cap, take a socket and turn them 1/4 ~ 1/2 turn each (once they're threaded in far enough to touch the hub). It only takes a few iterations of doing this and PING, off jumps the rotor. This is why I say that greasing the rotor / hub is not necessary. And I don't want to take the chance of slinging grease around and onto the rotor.
I'm betting these holes are on the rear rotors same as the front. And if you're going to resurface the rears, you probably don't want to be whomping them to get them off. I didn't want to whomp mine since I was resurfacing. P.S. - I like saying and typing "whomp."
7milesout
You don't need to whomp on your rotors to knock'em loose. There are 2 small threaded holes in the rotor hat area. Find you a couple screws that thread into them. I take the 2 screws out of my Corolla's radiator support brackets. Because these screws are the right size and thread, and they're really easy to get to on my Corolla. I hazard to guess the LS uses the same screws for it's radiator support, but I didn't bother to look because I knew right where to find them on the Corolla.
Anyway, when you thread them into the holes in the rotor cap, take a socket and turn them 1/4 ~ 1/2 turn each (once they're threaded in far enough to touch the hub). It only takes a few iterations of doing this and PING, off jumps the rotor. This is why I say that greasing the rotor / hub is not necessary. And I don't want to take the chance of slinging grease around and onto the rotor.
I'm betting these holes are on the rear rotors same as the front. And if you're going to resurface the rears, you probably don't want to be whomping them to get them off. I didn't want to whomp mine since I was resurfacing. P.S. - I like saying and typing "whomp."
7milesout
I just did my front rotors and pads and thanks to the great people of this forum it was a breeze. But unfortunately, I did bang on the rotor front and rear to get them off. Now it sounds like the whole front end is ready to shake apart ! (just noise, nothing felt in the wheel) Just wondering if anyone knows what I did? I had a little front end noise before when going over decent size bumps but now it worse. Am I looking at the dreaded front end control arm bushings or did I possibly loosen something ?? Just my luck, fix one thing and create another problem ?!?!!
Last edited by jfattibe; 08-17-15 at 12:45 PM.
09-16-15, 08:12 PM
#18
You don't need to whomp on your rotors to knock'em loose. There are 2 small threaded holes in the rotor hat area. Find you a couple screws that thread into them. I take the 2 screws out of my Corolla's radiator support brackets. Because these screws are the right size and thread, and they're really easy to get to on my Corolla. I hazard to guess the LS uses the same screws for it's radiator support, but I didn't bother to look because I knew right where to find them on the Corolla.
Anyway, when you thread them into the holes in the rotor cap, take a socket and turn them 1/4 ~ 1/2 turn each (once they're threaded in far enough to touch the hub). It only takes a few iterations of doing this and PING, off jumps the rotor. This is why I say that greasing the rotor / hub is not necessary. And I don't want to take the chance of slinging grease around and onto the rotor.
Anyway, when you thread them into the holes in the rotor cap, take a socket and turn them 1/4 ~ 1/2 turn each (once they're threaded in far enough to touch the hub). It only takes a few iterations of doing this and PING, off jumps the rotor. This is why I say that greasing the rotor / hub is not necessary. And I don't want to take the chance of slinging grease around and onto the rotor.
-cerbum
09-20-15, 09:33 PM
#19
So, I hope this doesn't get buried too deeply, but sort of a followup to roadfrog and others discussing bleeding brakes on these cars.
I just replaced front pads, rotors and brake wear sensor, after disconnecting the battery. Like one other poster on the board (can't find the link), I too was compressing the pistons in the caliper, and after getting 2 of them compressed on the same side, and clamping them down so they didn't expand, I clamped the 3rd piston and when I squeezed the clamp, the 4th piston went flying, following by a boatload of brake fluid. Ugh.
Cleaned everything up, reseated the piston, put the boot back in place, re-assembled everything and now needed to bleed the brakes. As we all know, traditional methods don't work on these cars. However, using the cars brake fluid pumping system, I got it to help me bleed the brakes. Here is how I did it. Nothing earth shattering, but hopefully this will help someone else.
0) get a 2nd person. You'll need them.
1) re-connected battery. Let car do its thing for 5 mins before hitting the ignition button to enable radio (old school key position 1?). Hooked up tube to brake bleeder value with other end into a 2L bottle to catch the fluid.
2) opened the drivers door, heard the brake system (ABS?) run for a second or so, Opened the bleeder valve on the caliper, small amount of liquid came out, but not much. Closed bleeder valve.
3) had buddy press down brake pedal, and hold it down. Opened bleeder valve, and an air bubble popped out, then some liquid, but again not much. Closed bleeder valve, lifted foot off brake pedal.
4) Hit start button. Accessories turned on, computer booted, et all. Heard ABS (?) pump again, this time louder and longer. Let car boot up and settle down until no more noises were heard. Pressed and held down brake pedal, and opened bleeder value. HUGE amounts of air came whooshing out, following by liquid. Closed bleeder valve. Released brake pedal. Topped off brake fluid reservoir.
Pressed and held brake pedal, opened bleeder valve, waiting until all liquid/air that was going to come out on this pass was done, closed valve, released pedal. Repeated this until only liquid and no bubbles came out. Did this while car engine was stopped, but all accessories were powered up.
Done.
No techstream computer here. Put car back together, drove around a bit to seat the brakes. No ABS, CEL or other dummy lights popped up. May not be ideal, but sure a lot better than $300 for the local Lexus dealer to bleed the front brakes. If I had the magic computer, I would have used it to disable the brake control, but I didn't.
I just replaced front pads, rotors and brake wear sensor, after disconnecting the battery. Like one other poster on the board (can't find the link), I too was compressing the pistons in the caliper, and after getting 2 of them compressed on the same side, and clamping them down so they didn't expand, I clamped the 3rd piston and when I squeezed the clamp, the 4th piston went flying, following by a boatload of brake fluid. Ugh.
Cleaned everything up, reseated the piston, put the boot back in place, re-assembled everything and now needed to bleed the brakes. As we all know, traditional methods don't work on these cars. However, using the cars brake fluid pumping system, I got it to help me bleed the brakes. Here is how I did it. Nothing earth shattering, but hopefully this will help someone else.
0) get a 2nd person. You'll need them.
1) re-connected battery. Let car do its thing for 5 mins before hitting the ignition button to enable radio (old school key position 1?). Hooked up tube to brake bleeder value with other end into a 2L bottle to catch the fluid.
2) opened the drivers door, heard the brake system (ABS?) run for a second or so, Opened the bleeder valve on the caliper, small amount of liquid came out, but not much. Closed bleeder valve.
3) had buddy press down brake pedal, and hold it down. Opened bleeder valve, and an air bubble popped out, then some liquid, but again not much. Closed bleeder valve, lifted foot off brake pedal.
4) Hit start button. Accessories turned on, computer booted, et all. Heard ABS (?) pump again, this time louder and longer. Let car boot up and settle down until no more noises were heard. Pressed and held down brake pedal, and opened bleeder value. HUGE amounts of air came whooshing out, following by liquid. Closed bleeder valve. Released brake pedal. Topped off brake fluid reservoir.
Pressed and held brake pedal, opened bleeder valve, waiting until all liquid/air that was going to come out on this pass was done, closed valve, released pedal. Repeated this until only liquid and no bubbles came out. Did this while car engine was stopped, but all accessories were powered up.
Done.
No techstream computer here. Put car back together, drove around a bit to seat the brakes. No ABS, CEL or other dummy lights popped up. May not be ideal, but sure a lot better than $300 for the local Lexus dealer to bleed the front brakes. If I had the magic computer, I would have used it to disable the brake control, but I didn't.
09-21-15, 04:50 AM
#20
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
So, I hope this doesn't get buried too deeply, but sort of a followup to roadfrog and others discussing bleeding brakes on these cars.
I just replaced front pads, rotors and brake wear sensor, after disconnecting the battery. Like one other poster on the board (can't find the link), I too was compressing the pistons in the caliper, and after getting 2 of them compressed on the same side, and clamping them down so they didn't expand, I clamped the 3rd piston and when I squeezed the clamp, the 4th piston went flying, following by a boatload of brake fluid. Ugh.
Cleaned everything up, reseated the piston, put the boot back in place, re-assembled everything and now needed to bleed the brakes. As we all know, traditional methods don't work on these cars. However, using the cars brake fluid pumping system, I got it to help me bleed the brakes. Here is how I did it. Nothing earth shattering, but hopefully this will help someone else.
0) get a 2nd person. You'll need them.
1) re-connected battery. Let car do its thing for 5 mins before hitting the ignition button to enable radio (old school key position 1?). Hooked up tube to brake bleeder value with other end into a 2L bottle to catch the fluid.
2) opened the drivers door, heard the brake system (ABS?) run for a second or so, Opened the bleeder valve on the caliper, small amount of liquid came out, but not much. Closed bleeder valve.
3) had buddy press down brake pedal, and hold it down. Opened bleeder valve, and an air bubble popped out, then some liquid, but again not much. Closed bleeder valve, lifted foot off brake pedal.
4) Hit start button. Accessories turned on, computer booted, et all. Heard ABS (?) pump again, this time louder and longer. Let car boot up and settle down until no more noises were heard. Pressed and held down brake pedal, and opened bleeder value. HUGE amounts of air came whooshing out, following by liquid. Closed bleeder valve. Released brake pedal. Topped off brake fluid reservoir.
Pressed and held brake pedal, opened bleeder valve, waiting until all liquid/air that was going to come out on this pass was done, closed valve, released pedal. Repeated this until only liquid and no bubbles came out. Did this while car engine was stopped, but all accessories were powered up.
Done.
No techstream computer here. Put car back together, drove around a bit to seat the brakes. No ABS, CEL or other dummy lights popped up. May not be ideal, but sure a lot better than $300 for the local Lexus dealer to bleed the front brakes. If I had the magic computer, I would have used it to disable the brake control, but I didn't.
I just replaced front pads, rotors and brake wear sensor, after disconnecting the battery. Like one other poster on the board (can't find the link), I too was compressing the pistons in the caliper, and after getting 2 of them compressed on the same side, and clamping them down so they didn't expand, I clamped the 3rd piston and when I squeezed the clamp, the 4th piston went flying, following by a boatload of brake fluid. Ugh.
Cleaned everything up, reseated the piston, put the boot back in place, re-assembled everything and now needed to bleed the brakes. As we all know, traditional methods don't work on these cars. However, using the cars brake fluid pumping system, I got it to help me bleed the brakes. Here is how I did it. Nothing earth shattering, but hopefully this will help someone else.
0) get a 2nd person. You'll need them.
1) re-connected battery. Let car do its thing for 5 mins before hitting the ignition button to enable radio (old school key position 1?). Hooked up tube to brake bleeder value with other end into a 2L bottle to catch the fluid.
2) opened the drivers door, heard the brake system (ABS?) run for a second or so, Opened the bleeder valve on the caliper, small amount of liquid came out, but not much. Closed bleeder valve.
3) had buddy press down brake pedal, and hold it down. Opened bleeder valve, and an air bubble popped out, then some liquid, but again not much. Closed bleeder valve, lifted foot off brake pedal.
4) Hit start button. Accessories turned on, computer booted, et all. Heard ABS (?) pump again, this time louder and longer. Let car boot up and settle down until no more noises were heard. Pressed and held down brake pedal, and opened bleeder value. HUGE amounts of air came whooshing out, following by liquid. Closed bleeder valve. Released brake pedal. Topped off brake fluid reservoir.
Pressed and held brake pedal, opened bleeder valve, waiting until all liquid/air that was going to come out on this pass was done, closed valve, released pedal. Repeated this until only liquid and no bubbles came out. Did this while car engine was stopped, but all accessories were powered up.
Done.
No techstream computer here. Put car back together, drove around a bit to seat the brakes. No ABS, CEL or other dummy lights popped up. May not be ideal, but sure a lot better than $300 for the local Lexus dealer to bleed the front brakes. If I had the magic computer, I would have used it to disable the brake control, but I didn't.
I hope all is well with your brake system and nothing goes wrong, and I mean that seriously.
Unless I'm being over analytical, I was a bit to nervous about doing this procedure myself, so I allowed Lexus to do it for me for $120 (with a coupon). With all of the horror stories going on about dealerships, it causes an owner to have considerable pause for concern, but I felt as though techstream was my best option.
Good job!
09-21-15, 09:03 AM
#21
Lexus Fanatic
Congrats on doing this one yourself.
I hope all is well with your brake system and nothing goes wrong, and I mean that seriously.
Unless I'm being over analytical, I was a bit to nervous about doing this procedure myself, so I allowed Lexus to do it for me for $120 (with a coupon). With all of the horror stories going on about dealerships, it causes an owner to have considerable pause for concern, but I felt as though techstream was my best option.
Good job!
I hope all is well with your brake system and nothing goes wrong, and I mean that seriously.
Unless I'm being over analytical, I was a bit to nervous about doing this procedure myself, so I allowed Lexus to do it for me for $120 (with a coupon). With all of the horror stories going on about dealerships, it causes an owner to have considerable pause for concern, but I felt as though techstream was my best option.
Good job!
May not be ideal, but sure a lot better than $300 for the local Lexus dealer to bleed the front brakes.
09-28-15, 11:47 AM
#22
Congrats on doing this one yourself.
I hope all is well with your brake system and nothing goes wrong, and I mean that seriously.
Unless I'm being over analytical, I was a bit to nervous about doing this procedure myself, so I allowed Lexus to do it for me for $120 (with a coupon). With all of the horror stories going on about dealerships, it causes an owner to have considerable pause for concern, but I felt as though techstream was my best option.
Good job!
I hope all is well with your brake system and nothing goes wrong, and I mean that seriously.
Unless I'm being over analytical, I was a bit to nervous about doing this procedure myself, so I allowed Lexus to do it for me for $120 (with a coupon). With all of the horror stories going on about dealerships, it causes an owner to have considerable pause for concern, but I felt as though techstream was my best option.
Good job!
So far (90 seconds of motion), no dummy lights!
09-28-15, 12:06 PM
#23
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
I put the car together at 10:30pm on Sunday night, drove it around the 'hood for a few mins, everything felt good. Parked it and went to Vegas at 6am the next day. I'll find out how well I did over the next few days when I start to drive it again.
So far (90 seconds of motion), no dummy lights!
So far (90 seconds of motion), no dummy lights!
09-29-15, 10:00 AM
#24
Driver School Candidate
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Ohio
Posts: 7
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Park Break warning
I just had a total Break job done on my 2008 LS 460 changing all Roters and Pads, and now it says my Park break not accessible see dealer. So we went back and changed all the Break hardware for the park break in the rear and it is still saying see Dealer. Anyone with any Ideal to Help Me ???
09-30-15, 02:30 PM
#25
09-30-15, 03:07 PM
#26
I just had a total Break job done on my 2008 LS 460 changing all Roters and Pads, and now it says my Park break not accessible see dealer. So we went back and changed all the Break hardware for the park break in the rear and it is still saying see Dealer. Anyone with any Ideal to Help Me ???
10-07-15, 02:28 PM
#27
could not break loose the two big nuts on the caliper
was trying to DIY replace the rotors. but could not break loose the two big nuts attaching the calipers to the knuckle.
had to use a indi shop, paid $100 to replace rotors and brake pads of all 4 wheels.
had to use a indi shop, paid $100 to replace rotors and brake pads of all 4 wheels.
10-08-15, 05:43 PM
#28
Pole Position
Bigger wrench. If you were using a ratchet, add a cheater to the end to make it bigger. I have had a hard time with a standard wrench or ratchet many times. I have an 18" ratchet that I use on tough nuts and bolts, and it's crazy how easy they become. The power of leverage!
10-09-15, 08:05 PM
#29
Bigger wrench. If you were using a ratchet, add a cheater to the end to make it bigger. I have had a hard time with a standard wrench or ratchet many times. I have an 18" ratchet that I use on tough nuts and bolts, and it's crazy how easy they become. The power of leverage!
-cerbum
10-09-15, 08:06 PM
#30