Hi, I recently puchased a 2007 RX400h. When I am coming to a stop from highway speeds my hybrid brakes will work for a while and then I can feel them quit. I have to then stop with the hydraulic part of the braking system. The battery is not fully charged when this happens. If I let off of the brakes completely and reapply they start working again. This is my 3rd hybrid (Prius, Ford Fusion) and they never did this. Is this common or do I have a problem? Thanks

 

A few people have had their brake actuator replaced. Have you had the dealer flush the brake fluid recently? Owners manual says it should be done every 30k miles. Dealer will want to do that first. If flush does not fix the issue then brake actuator would be my next guess.

 

I don't think that the hydraulic are bad at all. It is the electrical braking that is messing up.

 

If it works like my 2010 450h model, the computer will pretty much control everything depending on condition, speed, braking effort, etc. But normally on mine, under light braking I hear the whine of the motors as they slow down the car and the 'regen' is operating. But to actually stop the car (and hold it), the hydraulic brakes are used. And in situations like coming down a mountain, if the battery becomes charged to it's max, then the hydraulic system will kick in to avoid battery damage. I know that sounds convoluted, but that's the way it works.

 

When I was in the Air Force when we said the stick acuator needed to be replaced we meant the pilot! I hope the brake acuator is not me.

 

I believe the actuator is both electric and hydraulic.

 

So the brakes will have two different type of feel? It's normal?