Hi there - have had my 2001 LS 430 for 7 years now, and have done the front rotors and pads twice. Car has been well maintained, and has 208,000 km on the clock (130,000m). The car is stored over the winters, and lately I have noticed however that the brakes have slowly got quite spongy. Have tried the manual bleed without success, although I am wondering what the bleed screw on the ABS module is for???.
From everything I have read it looks like I need to buy a tester to properly bleed the brakes, but anything I have read does not seem to mention the bleed screw on the ABS body itself. I don't get any oil coming out of this when I try a manual bleed in fact I have probably put more air in to the system from attempting to open this screw.
Questions:
1. Anybody know what the bleed screw on the ABS body is for?
2. DO I need to buy the Toyota Techsmart tester, or can I use an aftermarket product such as the Foxwell NT630 Elite.
3. Is it likely the spongy feel could be the master cylinder - from what I have read these are quite reliable?
Any help you can give would be much appreciated.

 

I would also like to know, as I plan to bleed my brakes on my 04', I don't think its ever been done.

 

I used this to do 1 man brake bleeding, it works perfectly. You will need 2 parts/tools and some DOT3 brake fluid. hope this help. I didn't do ABS module bleeding, since this tool will bleed the brake well enough to bring back the firm brake pedal.


Motive Power Bleeder

Toyota brake fluid reservoir adapter for the power bleeder.

 

Does this bleed the ABS unit also?
And do you know what the bleed screw on the ABS module itself is for? Don't know how to bleed that??
Cheers

 

I have the Techstream software which Lexus/Toyota dealer use, it has the brake bleeding procedure, it's too complicated and too many steps to follow. I also bought and Autel scan tool also have the brake bleeding function, but I have not try it yet. I still recommend using the pressure bleeding method to begin with, mickey mouse the ABS module may end of cost of fortune to replace it. To be honest I don't see a bleed valve for the ABS module.

I also replaced ALL 4 dated/aged flex brake line to stainless steel type, that makes the brake system works better...no more spongy long brake pedal travel on the1st initial brake press. So...the combination of pressure bleed the fluid and the SS brake line, makes the brake so touchy like the new generation brake system.

 

Have a 1999 LS400...

A special service tool is necessary to bleed antilock brake solenoid...

I think brake fluid reservoir opening is same...if so use this is tool to use

.https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...ding-tool.html

Must use regulated air supply - 15 PSI

Also allows one-man brake bleeding.

You may also wish to consider replacing front and rear brake tube to caliper rubberlines.

Consider rebuilding master cylinder;

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-1st-and-2nd-gen-1990-2000/916330-brake-master-cylinder-rebuild.html

Survey brake pedal pivots and bearing points for looseness;

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-1st-and-2nd-gen-1990-2000/820550-brake-pedal-clunk.html

 

I removed both rear calipers to rebuild them and accidentally let the reservoir go dry. However I bled the system afterwards manually (two man job) and never bled the ABS system. I never had any issues. To bleed the ABS you need the Techstream system. Apparently there is a cycle to do it.

 

Please take a look at the procedure on Post #10 at the link below...
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...ake-fluid.html

 

Thanks to everyone that took the time to reply.
For the record, my brake pedal can be pushed to the floor if I am stopped at the lights, but under normal breaking, the car stops fine, it is just pretty soft. Could be the master cylinder, but I have heard they are quite robust.
Also - there is a bleeder on the back of the ABS unit, facing the firewall. Looks like the procedure that RKW77080 refers to will allow me to vent that, but I will need to get the pressure kit for the reservoir.
Thanks for the help - I will buy the pressure kit and see how I get on with that. Hopefully it is not the master cylinder !

 

Interesting and go ahead and slap my wrists for bringing up BMW. I took out my ABS pump (called DSC hydro) in the BMW, and so per their instructions the pump must be bled via computer as it is "not possible" to get the air bubbles out via a normal gravity bleed. So I used my laptop and basically the software actuated the pump one channel (caliper) at a time. It would say to open the screw, click with mouse, close screw, move on. Unnecessarily I did it 2X just in case. Then I did a normal bleed and all has been good. BMW wants you to go through this even for a caliper replacement (I doubt it's needed?).

There have been hacks on the forum who said don't bother just take your car on a gravel road and slam on the brakes, or in rain. Then do a normal bleed and you'll be fine (would you want a garage or dealer doing this?). I can't say 100% but I doubt it works. Because the actuation would seem to be far less that what the laptop is doing to the pump--it lasts seconds, not ms. Since it's not rocket surgery, I have to think Toyota or any car's ABS would be the same as BMW. I was gonna get Techstream then got discouraged by the pirate thread lol (cuz I have multiple laptops I could dedicate to it). Lately I did get a Autel ABS/SRS type scanner for my wife's car so I guess maybe I can use that and not feel like a pirate! hahahaha

 

You describe your antilock brake solenoid block having bleeder screws...

They are there for a reason..

If you run the brake fluid reservoir dry, then you must pressurize the system via mouth of fluid reservoir in order to purge air bubbles from ABS solenoid block with special service tool.

AST Tool offers the best SST for the job.

Trust OP is not driving around with mushy brakes.

 

Thanks for that. I haven't touched the ABS unit, but wondering if it may still have air in it, so will get the AST tool you refer to, and the Master pressure bleeder.
Not sure who "OP" is ?

 

For general information, the brake pedal on the LS430 can be described as a mushy pedal. Compared to most european cars such as BMW,Audi,and Mercedes as well as some Asian such as Infiniti it feels soft and does not respond with the "bite" of these other cars. In addition, it is quite normal if at a stop, with the car running, if you mash your foot down on the brake pedal and keep it there, the pedal will eventually depress very far down, although not completely to the floor. . Again, this is normal. Has anyone else tried it?

 

Not sure if this is kosher with the lexus folks, but Ive flushed all my vehicles brakes with the Gatorade bottle method. -Check out youtube, but get clear tubing over the bleeder screw - run it through the lid of the bottle then fill the gatorade sports bottle up to 1/3 with fluid so theres no air to get pulled in. Then I can flush all the calipers by myself - its a very simple, safe and effective way to get fresh fluid in your lines!

Its also not a terrible idea to get new bleeder screws - the brake hardware may be pretty rough to work with.

 

If you've ever looked closely (I have), it seems to me that there will be tons of bubbles in the hose as the bleeding is done. I thought about this, and pretty much determined the way to get rid of this condition is to bleed more than necessary, and even dot 4 is relatively cheap. Dot 3 is inconsequential. In other words, keeping the tube under fluid, there still are tons of bubbles when the fluid hits the empty tube. If air is pulled back it's not from the bottle but from the tube itself as it's not full when you start. I know, who would even look that closely lol

In other words you're not pulling air in from your bottle, but the tube is already 100% air when you first open the bleeder. Probably with the mfg's procedures they are eliminating potential for the procedure to fail. Have you ever watched a muffler shop do a bleed? Not only do they only 1 caliper, they very often just have a guy get in and step on the pedal while the other guy loosens the bleeder CLOSEST the master. Terrrible and why DIY is best.