jasone36

I just got a used low-milage 2013 LS460, and noticed that every time I tap the break pedal I hear a "clicking" sound coming from under the dash or hood.

This seems to happen every time I touch or press on the brakes, at seemingly any speed.

It sounds almost like an actuator of some kind... perhaps like the type which allows the transmission to shift out of park.

Is this normal, or an indication of a an issue?

Thank you!

hfahmy

Is it one click or multiples? Do you feel any shudder with these clicks?

jasone36

It's just one single click (per each time I press on the brake pedal).

I don't feel any shudder or any other strangeness along with these clicks.

Everything seems "normal"... but then again I'm not yet sure what "normal" means in the LS460... since I just got it.

Any insight would be appreciated.

Thank you

sdwtchlvr

iTrader: (1)

It could be a rock stuck in the caliber of some other piece of road debris. I had the same thing. A click every time depressed the brake pedal and my brake actuator had been replaced in June 2015. I did a brake job, rotors and pads and when removing one of the back calipers a black rock fell out. It was black from brake dust so I know it was stuck up in there. No more click after that.

jasone36

I appreciate the insight, but the "click" that I'm hearing sounds more "methodical" in nature, as if some mechanism is explicitly being "engaged", rather than a "grinding" noise that a rock would make.

CRowe14

I had made a comment about this exact anomaly in another thread.
I'm willing to bet that what you hear is the same exact sound I heard after performing my brake job last Spring.
If I understand you correctly, the sound ONLY emits when you press the brake pedal...even a light tap or any amount of pressure applied to the brake pedal, you hear the sound, correct?
The conclusion I came to, was that there must be some type of contact that's being made within a certain relay that makes the sound which activates the rear brake lights.
When I was parked in my garage and trying to figure out what the sound might be, while tapping the brake pedal, it seemed to me that every single time the sound would emit, simultaneously, the rear brake lights would illuminate.
Would this be the same experience that you encounter?

Rhambler

I'm not sure if I never noticed it before or if it just started, but after reading this thread I turned off the radio in the parking lot this morning and can hear it. It's very subtle and if the radio is on becomes indiscernible. Again, no idea if it's always been like that or just started, but today was the first day of me trying to hear it.

It sounds like a soft click from the engine area with each brake pedal depression. Only happens once per depression regardless of speed prior to brake use. Well, I should add that I only tested it (with the radio off) while in the parking lot and less then 5 mph

My car has less than 2k miles.

roadfrog

This has been widely commented on n other threads. My car does it too, as does my wife's CT200H. Apparently it's the brake actuator and "normal" in a Lexus. Not sure if Toyota's do it too.

jasone36

CRowe14, what you described is exactly my scenario. The sound ONLY emits when you press the brake pedal... even a light tap or any amount of pressure applied to the brake pedal will cause this.

Rhambler, thank you for also testing this. The fact that your 2016 with less than 2,000 miles has this same "issue", makes us comfortable in coming to the conclusion that it's "normal".

roadfrog, I appreciate the response. So that settles it... it's the brake actuator and "normal" in a Lexus.

Good to know, thanks everyone!

hfahmy

I have the same one click on my 2010 460 when I press the brakes, No continuous clicking, no shudder, no creaking right before the stop. This did not bother me as much as on my 2008 600, continuous clicking/clunking/creaking and shudder.

So, again it is personal preference... If it bothering you take it to the dealer. I would say at least watch it and definitively act if it gets worse.

johnnyg66

I noticed a pop/click from the rear after I brake at a stop. It just one quick one and that's it. Sometimes I don't hear it at all.

7milesout

Is the brake actuator the same thing as a brake LIGHT actuator? If so, the thing I'm discussing on another thread is something OTHER than a brake actuator.

sdwtchlvr

iTrader: (1)

I know what click you guys are referring to and after I got rid of the rock in my caliper, I could hear that click too. Sounds like a very faint brake lamp switching on and can only be heard when depressing the brake pedal in completely silent cabin.

The more noticeable clicking sound I was hearing could only be heard when depressing the brake pedal and got louder in my garage with my windows down. It was not a grinding sound, just a loud click. Maybe it was the rock, maybe it wasn't. But after I got rid of the rock it went away.

The two sounds I described were very different sounds.

Rhambler

Don't think any light "actuator," even if there is such a thing, would cause it. The lights are all processed digitally I would imagine.

Sounds like a solenoid to me, a loud one (relatively speaking), although it's hardly noticeable unless it's dead silent and at slow speeds. If there's traffic around me and I'm coming to a stop while driving fast (even with the radio off), I can't hear it. However, if I'm in an empty parking lot and driving at a crawl, I can barely hear it. Radio on, can't hear it.

Solenoids are mechanical switches more or less, activated by an electromagnetic or induction coil that slides a metal plunger due to a circuit that allows current flow through that coil depending on if something is turned on or off.

No idea what the actuator is. Is it the master cylinder? Would a solenoid (which is what it sounds like) be part of the "actuator?"

hfahmy

brake actuator is the ABS controller. it is located right infront of the firewall on the driver side, behind the brake fluid tank.