timmui

I'll keep that in mind for the future. Might be time to renew my friendship with a diesel mechanic I knew years back and lost contact with.
Yep, I saw the picture of the stock washer. Already put the special order in for them, so I'll have to pay for them regardless, should be arriving tomorrow at the local Lexus dealership. My biggest concern is that the parts guy told me the part number I gave him is not the one he has for the item. I hope he doesn't give me the part for a pre-2001 RX300.

I've ordered some universal 10mm ID (inner diameter) washers off of ebay as a backup plan. They're similar to the Dorman washers in dimension (6 for the same price as one Lexus "gasket") and also should be arriving tomorrow. In case anyone is interested, this is the item: http://www.ebay.com/itm/330625585664

timmui

40+ PSI behind a large chunk of metal with seals to prevent air leaking past? I can imagine. You're lucky not to get the nick name "Nine Fingers"

timmui

I also found this post by REXINRE in another forum called d-series dot org that goes over how to bleed brakes very succinctly:

salimshah

Tip:

Place a stop for pedal travel. This will prevent any damage to the master cylinder seals [this keeps their movement in the much traveled area].

Salim

hypervish

+1, this is critical!

timmui

Please elaborate. I think you mean put something like a wooden block behind the brake pedal, but how do you determine the size of this block, step on the brake and use a tape measure?

Weather is still pretty blah today, so I may wait until the weekend to do all this. Definitely wishing I had a garage to work inside of instead of by the curb.

fastnoypi

LOL i can only imagine the surprise. Luckily before i rebuilt my calipers i came across a similiar story of what not to do, the guy highly suggested putting a small wooden board inbetween the caliper to catch the pistons.

timmui

OK, brakes have been bled, oil changed, and foot long hair line crack in windshield found. Changing out the oil filter on the RX is much harder than my old ES from the top. At one point, trying to get the old filter out full of used oil without spilling made me exclaim "What effing a-hole designed this?" because a three inch diameter filter in a 2 7/8" opening is really, really dumb. I dropped that old filter three times. As for the crack, thank goodness for insurance with glass coverage.

I jacked up the rear after blocking the front tires and put it in neutral. Both rear tires spun in both directions without much drag. I could not hear any grinding noises that might indicate a dragging brake pad. Then I inspected visually for any signs of previous damage to the rubber hose including stress or "bubble" spots on the hose. I saw none. So I proceeded to bleed the brakes.

The brake fluid coming out of the bleeder valve looked like green tea and the new stuff looked almost clear. I saw a few sand grain sized bits of rust colored debris come out of the bleeder valve when I loosened it, but since none of the caps are on the vehicle anymore, it might just be sand. Otherwise, the liquid was free of debris as I pumped the brakes.

Afterwards, I took the RX for a shakedown on an empty stretch of road near my house. Lots of jack rabbit starts with stomping on the brakes to make sure I didn't screw up the bleed job. After a three or four of these, the brake pedal firmed up and seemed OK to me. Got out, put my hand near all four wheels and the heat emanating out seemed about the same on each wheel.

Then I took the RX for a six mile loop on the highway at 65 MPH plus 1 mile of local roads to get to the highway and back to my house. Checked the heat at each wheel, and to my surprise, the passenger (curb) side was cool and the driver side was hot at both wheels. The rim itself was cool, the heat was coming from the rotor.

I don't know if it's coincidence that both wheels facing away from the curb and hit by the trucks spreading salt seem to be hotter than the curb side wheels. I'm going to drive some more later this afternoon and see how the wheels are. Hoping someone might have an idea why the wheels have different heat levels on each side of the SUV.

I don't know if this is important, but I will note that I heard some ticking noises that I associate with metal cooling coming from the driver side rear wheel well. None of the other wheels made this noise while I was checking. Ambient temperature is about 61 deg. F and the sky was mostly cloudy.

salimshah

One thing does not add up ..
The pedal became firm after use ,,,,, this is not normal. The amount of travel can shorten as the pads get to their run out distance from the rotor .. and the foot pedal distance get reduced ... but the hydraulics dont get better with use. It could be terminology here but I hope you meant the distance to hold the brakes got shorter.


Were you noticing the center get hotter before you bled the brakes. If so you may have spindle/bearing issue, if not then I would say it is the slave pistons not retracting due to run-out. You can try pushing back the pistons on the offending wheel. They should comply with little force.

You almost need a bottle + some to flush the old stuff out. Some folks use a tinted fluid to make sure they have displaced the old fluid.

As far as oil filter ... drain when the oil is warm and when the exhaust has cooled down, loosen the filter yo get a slow stream and collect below. 30 min later undo the filter and extract from above.

Salim

Salim

timmui

I mean that the brake pedal got firmer as if I had stepped on the pedal really firmly to cause it to self-adjust. Once it did that, the brakes felt like they did prior to bleeding.

Pep Boys won't let me open the bottles to check the color of the fluid. I went through a quart of brake fluid, so I expect most of it has gotten flushed. I have another quart on standby in case I need to do this again if I had gone and replaced the caliper.

The heat was already there, though significantly reduced after bleeding the brakes. It is what led me to think I had a frozen caliper in the first place. Keep in mind that I also smelled a lot of hot brake pad as well prior to bleeding. There is no smell now, the temperature from the front and rear driver's side are about the same temperature, but definitely hotter than the passenger side now. I'm going for a 20 minute drive now, but won't be able to report what I find until later this evening.

timmui

The pedal response is definitely improved after bleeding the brakes. I might even say that it is a touch too sensitive now. Simulated panic stop was fine. I compared the heat emanating from the rotors and both driver's side wheels are hotter than the passenger side. I can't say for certain if the rear rotor was the same as the front rotor because it started to rain and there was just enough wind to make it difficult.

I'm going to pull off both rear caliper and check the pads again to see if they are wearing evenly. I thought I heard the squeal of a wear indicator tab, but I can't be certain. I'm just about ready to consider putting in the replacement caliper to see if it is better or not. I'm beginning to think that ticking sound is actually the caliper piston trying to ease away from the rotor. I'm going to try and measure how far out the piston is before removing the caliper to check the pads.

A friend suggested I replace both rotors at the same time instead of just one side, so I need to stop at the parts store and order them along with a set of pads.

timmui

Took the RX out for a an extended drive on the highway yesterday with the windows open. Definitely can hear the wear tab, so I need to inspect the rear pads and rotor to see what the story is. Just waiting on drier weather.

I noted again that both driver's side rotors emitted more heat than the passenger side. Almost like they were doing more work. I may need to replace the front left side caliper in the future. I just need to get everything working to get my inspection done!

I was going to order a new set of rotors last night until I saw the prices. Granted I was looking at Brembo, Stop Tech and Powerslot rotors. Off to see what the local car parts store can get me.

hypervish

Pick up some cheap Centric rotors from Rockauto.com

Most rotors are all made in one factory and just put into different boxes, don't bother paying a premium for brand name rotors, just buy white box rotors.

fastnoypi

+1 on the cheap Centric's.

Rotors are just iron heat sinks.

Just a note.. The "economy" line of Centric ...C-Tek are identical to their premium line except they do not have a zinc treatment to prevent rust on the rotor hats.

So if you are picky about cosmetics, you can either buy the Centric premium rotors or mask off your Centric C-Tek/autozone/pepboys generic rotor surfaces and paint your rotor hats prior to installation.

timmui

I'll keep the centric rotors in mind for when I swap the rotors. I also found a high heat spray on paint for barbeque grills from rustoleum. I'm going to swap out the caliper first and see if that improves things before doing the rotors. Kind of doing one step at a time to isolate the issue.