mckellyb

Remarkably, over the course of the past six weeks, or so, my LS went from touchy brakes with obvious groaning if pressing the pedal down while stopped, to an almost normal initial 'bite' and absolutely no noise, even when I'm trying to make it happen.

I've done exactly nothing to it regarding brakes. It's almost as if I ignored it long enough to eventually go away.

Now, I do need new front & rear pads & rotors, but that's in a month or so.

jsalicea

*A few questions. First off, I am new to this forum. I have recently purchased an LS, however. I've searched all over the country and found a 2008 LS 460 with only 39k miles on it. It is a one owner, no accidents and well maintained car since purchased new by the original owner. Service records have also indicated that the warranty work has been done on the ML amp, the fuel pressure sensor and the valve springs, but no brake actuator. The control arms haven't been addressed and will be under assessment soon. The car runs great. I have no real issues with the brakes. The brake pedal feel seems fine. I hear no noises as some people have described. So, my questions below pertain to the brake actuator. Any help and/or insight is very much appreciated.

1. Lexus has only issued a "Warranty Enhancement Program" and not a full recall. If Lexus issued a recall, this would impact most, or all, cars of a particular year. In 2008 Lexus sold 20,255 units in the US and produced a total of 31,823 units (per Wikipedia). Of this population of cars, does anybody know what percentage of cars have had the actuator problem? We can include other model years to help give us some perspective. I know this may be a hard question, but I'm trying to get some perspective to how many units Lexus, or Toyota thinks might be impacted and actually develop a problem.

2. For the owners that have experienced a brake actuator malfunction, at what mileage did you start to experience the issue?

3. How long did you wait to fix the problem?

4. For cars that have the malfunction (early indications or advanced), are there any accidents or incidents that are directly related to the malfunction?

I think if Lexus knew the problem will result in a loss of brake function and a inevitable accident and the potential lawsuit from injury or loss of life, a recall will be issued. But, only a warranty enhancement was issued. The warranty enhancement program is basically saying that IF the issue arises, Lexus will take care of the issue under the current warranty enhancement limitations.

Thoughts?

Thanks for your help. Since I've owned the car, the comfort in driving the car has been fantastic.

Regards,

J

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

I don't think it causes a full braking system failure. More just noises that don't inspire confidence!

Kbueno

My Actuator has worsened in the last two years to the point where wifey is complaining. Its progressed to the point where there is a loud thunk under moderate braking...it became a safety issue as it shutters the brakes when stopping. A big thanks to mckellyb and sddsdd as I may have just lived with it and not taken it into the Dealer. sddsdd's post gave me the push to at least take it into the Dealer (didn't have any dash lights on). Apparently, there were codes in the ECU about the Actuator fault so the Dealer is now replacing under warranty. KUDOS to Lexus for providing the enhanced warranty for this condition.

hfahmy

UZ214

I am taking mine to the dealer this week, its not really noisy but its like click here and there I mean its an LS my wife RX is has 0 noise and I can't of any Lexus I have owned in the past where you can hear ticking while braking

Kbueno

Here you go;

"GUEST STATES THERE IS A CLICKING NOISE COMING FROM THE BRAKE ACTUATOR AT SLOW SPEEDS WITH MODERATE BRAKE PEDAL, CHECK AND ADVISE.

INTERNAL FAILURE IN BRAKE ACTUATOR AND BLEED BRAKE SYSTEM. COMPLETE FLUID EXCHANGE AND SYSTEM BLEED"

Funny there is no mention of the internal codes. Also, there is a couple items to be aware of:
-If they check and it's not the brake actuator then you will need to pay for the diagnosis fee.
-It's possible the actuator makes noise yet there are no codes or symptoms indicating internal failure. If thats the case, be prepared to call Lexus Corporate as the Dealer wont help...they are bound by the Bulletin

GL!

yyymmm31

Thank you for sharing the information. However, from the dealer's repair description, there was no mentioning of replacing the brake actuator. The repair statement is that the dealer changed the brake fluid and did a complete brake fluid bleed. Did the dealer indeed replace the brake actuator?

roadfrog

Exactly. Sounds like a regular system bleed/flush as per maintenance schedule.

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

It say's it right there and why would they flush the brakes under warranty?

fb182

It really depends on your service advisor and the service manager at that particular dealer. Some are nicer than others.

A full flush of the braking system is required after replacing the actuator.

yyymmm31

The puzzle (question) here is if the dealer actually replaced the brake actuator. From the PO's quoted dealer statement of the work, there was no mentioning of replacing the brake actuator. The repair record stated that the dealer just did a complete brake bleeding. It would be informative to know if the dealer fixed the "INTERNAL FAILURE IN BRAKE ACTUATOR" by simply bleeding the brake system without having to replace the brake actuator. My Lexus dealer has been pretty accurate in writing their repair records. When a part was replaced, my dealer always specifically listed the replaced part in their writing of the repair record. I assume that all Lexus dealer technicians were trained by Lexus to write repair records in the same style and they will list any parts they replaced in their repair records. Since the PO's dealer did not specifically state that the actuator was replaced, it looks that the PO's dealer did not replace the actuator but fixed the problem by just replacing the brake fluid and bleeding the brake system. BTW, it would be interesting for each of us to review our Lexus dealer's repair records and see if we could find a case where a Lexus dealer replaced a part but did not bother to list the replaced part in their repair records.

Brewmyown

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

Again, it seems clear to me that they replaced the actuator under warranty and then flushed and bled the whole system.

Kbueno

As stated by others, the brake bleed has to be done when replacing the Actuator. I think the Tech was just lazy to input the trouble codes and the text that the Actuator was replaced. Under the Parts section in my paperwork it states:

"(Qty) 1, (FP Number) 04003-45450, (Description) ACTUATOR ASSY BR, (Unit Price) WARRANTY"