Had Brake Failure in the SC3
12-10-16, 09:25 PM
#1
Had Brake Failure in the SC3
Drove it around all day and nothing was abnormal.
Then literally 2 minutes from my house I was pulling up to a car stopped at a light and the car slowed from about 35 to under 15mph but no more. I bumped the car and we both had only paint damages. Will perhaps post pics soon.
Anyway, when it was closing in on contact I slammed the brake as hard as possible and felt the ABS pulsation but the car did not slow down any at all. I really do not think it was a case of unintended acceleration due to the fly by wire throttle. I've never heard of the JZ engines having that problem. I left the car parked in a lot nearby and drove it home after 11pm when the traffic died down. I drove at 10mph and the brakes were working as they normally do. I do notice the pedal travel is more than in my LS430 and the brakes do not grip as well. I figured that is normal since the LS has bigger fixed caliper brakes. I know what a brake booster failure sounds like when you hold the pedal down and hear a vacuum hiss. When I pump the pedal with the car in neutral pedal travel is not abnormally bad but you hear an air noise. There is no hiss if you hold the pedal down but when pushing down there is an air noise like on the down stroke of using a hand pump to inflate a bike tire.
I estimate if I take the nose apart and have a pro repaint the bumper I can have the car back to looking normal for way under $500.
What freaks me the hell out is hitting someone so I will most probably have it towed to the Lexus specialist to do a full brake system (and maybe even the throttle) inspection and repair.
From what I posted do you think this is an intermittent booster problem?
Again, the air sound is not a constant hiss but more like a "woosh" sound only on the downward direction of travel.
Then literally 2 minutes from my house I was pulling up to a car stopped at a light and the car slowed from about 35 to under 15mph but no more. I bumped the car and we both had only paint damages. Will perhaps post pics soon.
Anyway, when it was closing in on contact I slammed the brake as hard as possible and felt the ABS pulsation but the car did not slow down any at all. I really do not think it was a case of unintended acceleration due to the fly by wire throttle. I've never heard of the JZ engines having that problem. I left the car parked in a lot nearby and drove it home after 11pm when the traffic died down. I drove at 10mph and the brakes were working as they normally do. I do notice the pedal travel is more than in my LS430 and the brakes do not grip as well. I figured that is normal since the LS has bigger fixed caliper brakes. I know what a brake booster failure sounds like when you hold the pedal down and hear a vacuum hiss. When I pump the pedal with the car in neutral pedal travel is not abnormally bad but you hear an air noise. There is no hiss if you hold the pedal down but when pushing down there is an air noise like on the down stroke of using a hand pump to inflate a bike tire.
I estimate if I take the nose apart and have a pro repaint the bumper I can have the car back to looking normal for way under $500.
What freaks me the hell out is hitting someone so I will most probably have it towed to the Lexus specialist to do a full brake system (and maybe even the throttle) inspection and repair.
From what I posted do you think this is an intermittent booster problem?
Again, the air sound is not a constant hiss but more like a "woosh" sound only on the downward direction of travel.
12-11-16, 04:17 AM
#2
I'm glad you and the other driver are all right! That's a terrible shock to go through.
It sounds like a possible issue with the brake master cylinder and possibly also the brake booster. First thing I would get the car checked for is a leak anywhere in the hydraulic system.
There is no fly by wire throttle in the SC300 or SC400 series. That came in later Toyota/Lexus models. Our throttles are fully manual and cable operated with sensors to tell the ECU what position the throttle is in.
When I first bought my SC300 this happened to me. The brake master cylinder was leaking and failed just after driving it off the car lot. I lost my pedal pressure (not to the floor) and went through an intersection with my horn blaring and flashers on, holding on for dear life as I helplessly rolled through suddenly halted traffic. I was lucky that nothing happened. I was able to pull over safely. The following day the first thing I did was take the car in to have the brake master cylinder and the brake booster replaced since I suspected that too. In my case I also needed new pads and rotors. I never had an issue with my braking system again after that.
The hydraulic pressure should be checked but I would also strongly suspect your brake master failing but not having completely failed. Also your brake booster. You will probably find you need to top off some more DOT3 fluid and drive very, very carefully or just get it towed to your service shop until this is repaired. What model year is your SC300?
It sounds like a possible issue with the brake master cylinder and possibly also the brake booster. First thing I would get the car checked for is a leak anywhere in the hydraulic system.
There is no fly by wire throttle in the SC300 or SC400 series. That came in later Toyota/Lexus models. Our throttles are fully manual and cable operated with sensors to tell the ECU what position the throttle is in.
When I first bought my SC300 this happened to me. The brake master cylinder was leaking and failed just after driving it off the car lot. I lost my pedal pressure (not to the floor) and went through an intersection with my horn blaring and flashers on, holding on for dear life as I helplessly rolled through suddenly halted traffic. I was lucky that nothing happened. I was able to pull over safely. The following day the first thing I did was take the car in to have the brake master cylinder and the brake booster replaced since I suspected that too. In my case I also needed new pads and rotors. I never had an issue with my braking system again after that.
The hydraulic pressure should be checked but I would also strongly suspect your brake master failing but not having completely failed. Also your brake booster. You will probably find you need to top off some more DOT3 fluid and drive very, very carefully or just get it towed to your service shop until this is repaired. What model year is your SC300?
12-11-16, 07:59 AM
#3
When something like that happens at low speeds, wouldn't it be best to take it out of gear and apply the e-brake? Assuming you can react quickly enough, of course.
12-11-16, 11:22 PM
#4
Mine is a 98.
Between the time I knew something was wrong and the collision there were 3-5 seconds. I pushed the brake at full force and it felt like the transmission of the car was self destructing because there was a nasty vibration from the transmission tunnel but it was probably the ABS system pulsing. It happened too fast to have time to observe and think. The pedal did not go to the floor as with total system failure.
I replaced the master cylinder and brake booster in this car about a year ago when the factory installed master cylinder leaked and caused the brake booster to go bad. When the booster failed it was very hard to stop the car and it made a constant hiss if you pressed the brake because the diagram in the booster was probably ruptured. I looked at the fluid level today and found it is not low at all. It is dirty for being only 1 year old. When I put in the new parts I flushed the whole system out.
To DIY the booster and master cylinder is not a problem at all. What scares me to death is losing the brakes again because I fix the parts that are not broken and it happens again randomly. As i mentioned above, on my late night low speed drive home the car behaved as if nothing was wrong at all. I'm worried the shop will be unable to duplicate the problem. I guess we will see; I'll have it towed in later this week and see what they come up with.
I'm really disappointed with this in a Toyota product. I have owned cheap GM cars in the past where they had master cylinders go bad but not have random total loss of brakes because the "X" design of the brake circuity gave you at least one impaired stop before total failure so you know to stop driving the car. With this one I drove around for over an hour on errands Saturday then it just failed on me.
The VVTi 2JZ is fly by wire. The throttle cable looks like a conventional one but it is not mechanically connected to the butterfly in the throttle body. It just operates a sensor and a computer takes the mechanical signal to operate the butterfly. I don't think the car was having out of control acceleration like other Toyota products that are newer. A few years ago I did get a check in the mail for a few hundred dollars from Toyota as part of the settlement of a class action lawsuit on their fly by wire system. That does not mean this model has the problem but it is a similar design that was deemed by the courts to be part of the class to be compensated.
Between the time I knew something was wrong and the collision there were 3-5 seconds. I pushed the brake at full force and it felt like the transmission of the car was self destructing because there was a nasty vibration from the transmission tunnel but it was probably the ABS system pulsing. It happened too fast to have time to observe and think. The pedal did not go to the floor as with total system failure.
I replaced the master cylinder and brake booster in this car about a year ago when the factory installed master cylinder leaked and caused the brake booster to go bad. When the booster failed it was very hard to stop the car and it made a constant hiss if you pressed the brake because the diagram in the booster was probably ruptured. I looked at the fluid level today and found it is not low at all. It is dirty for being only 1 year old. When I put in the new parts I flushed the whole system out.
To DIY the booster and master cylinder is not a problem at all. What scares me to death is losing the brakes again because I fix the parts that are not broken and it happens again randomly. As i mentioned above, on my late night low speed drive home the car behaved as if nothing was wrong at all. I'm worried the shop will be unable to duplicate the problem. I guess we will see; I'll have it towed in later this week and see what they come up with.
I'm really disappointed with this in a Toyota product. I have owned cheap GM cars in the past where they had master cylinders go bad but not have random total loss of brakes because the "X" design of the brake circuity gave you at least one impaired stop before total failure so you know to stop driving the car. With this one I drove around for over an hour on errands Saturday then it just failed on me.
The VVTi 2JZ is fly by wire. The throttle cable looks like a conventional one but it is not mechanically connected to the butterfly in the throttle body. It just operates a sensor and a computer takes the mechanical signal to operate the butterfly. I don't think the car was having out of control acceleration like other Toyota products that are newer. A few years ago I did get a check in the mail for a few hundred dollars from Toyota as part of the settlement of a class action lawsuit on their fly by wire system. That does not mean this model has the problem but it is a similar design that was deemed by the courts to be part of the class to be compensated.
12-12-16, 02:18 AM
#5
Craig is right about the Fly By Wire ..
The Toyota Supra MKIVs VVTi and Lexus SC300 / SC400 VVTi are NOT fly by wire (drive by wire or electronic throttle control) in the strictest sense as introduced by BMW in the late 80s (1988) in their 7 series cars . Fly By Wire or Drive by Wire or Electronic Throttle Control have the Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) mounted on the actual Throttle Pedal or Accelerator Pedal Assembly right there inside the car . There is no mechanical cable on its strictest sense. The whole objective was to remove the mechanical moving part (which wears out and becomes inaccurate as time pass) in controlling a TPS which tells the ECU how much air is going in by knowing how much is the throttle butterfly is opened. They want it all be electronically controlled by mounting the Throttle Position Sensor on the Pedal Assembly itself .
Toyota / Lexus, I guess have seen it to be a good concept .. that of the BMW fly by wire (remember based on documentations BMW started this long before Toyota did) . Of course , am guessing they probably cannot copy that of the BMW for infringement reasons but decided to incorporate the electronic throttle control on the MKIVs and the SCs. So they still used the mechanical throttle cable wire but instead of directly controlling the TPS , they are controlling an Accelerator Pedal Position Sensor on the throttle body which in turn tells the ECU to operate a motor which controls the throttle butterfly / TPS. So , technically without the damn cable wire , you can't run the car which was the whole idea of NO throttle cable wire (that wears out) on a fly by wire system.
But Toyota / Lexus on their documentations called it also their fly by wire (electronically controlled TPS) thus the confusion since the pedal assembly is not directly controlling the throttle butterfly / TPS but still uses a cable / wire to run the car which is NOT what FLY BY WIRE technically means. In their system though , if the APPS fails , you still can manually control the throttle manually since it has a mechanical cable . But even the original BMW fly by wire still has the limp mode on their electronic throttle control... it still works though in a limp mode.
The Toyota Supra MKIVs VVTi and Lexus SC300 / SC400 VVTi are NOT fly by wire (drive by wire or electronic throttle control) in the strictest sense as introduced by BMW in the late 80s (1988) in their 7 series cars . Fly By Wire or Drive by Wire or Electronic Throttle Control have the Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) mounted on the actual Throttle Pedal or Accelerator Pedal Assembly right there inside the car . There is no mechanical cable on its strictest sense. The whole objective was to remove the mechanical moving part (which wears out and becomes inaccurate as time pass) in controlling a TPS which tells the ECU how much air is going in by knowing how much is the throttle butterfly is opened. They want it all be electronically controlled by mounting the Throttle Position Sensor on the Pedal Assembly itself .
Toyota / Lexus, I guess have seen it to be a good concept .. that of the BMW fly by wire (remember based on documentations BMW started this long before Toyota did) . Of course , am guessing they probably cannot copy that of the BMW for infringement reasons but decided to incorporate the electronic throttle control on the MKIVs and the SCs. So they still used the mechanical throttle cable wire but instead of directly controlling the TPS , they are controlling an Accelerator Pedal Position Sensor on the throttle body which in turn tells the ECU to operate a motor which controls the throttle butterfly / TPS. So , technically without the damn cable wire , you can't run the car which was the whole idea of NO throttle cable wire (that wears out) on a fly by wire system.
But Toyota / Lexus on their documentations called it also their fly by wire (electronically controlled TPS) thus the confusion since the pedal assembly is not directly controlling the throttle butterfly / TPS but still uses a cable / wire to run the car which is NOT what FLY BY WIRE technically means. In their system though , if the APPS fails , you still can manually control the throttle manually since it has a mechanical cable . But even the original BMW fly by wire still has the limp mode on their electronic throttle control... it still works though in a limp mode.
Last edited by gerrb; 12-12-16 at 07:24 AM.
12-12-16, 07:31 AM
#6
That seems like way too big of a coincidence to not be your answer right there. That's the sort of thing that's not likely to happen once in 20 years, let alone twice in a year. Something must have been faulty in that install, or perhaps, there was an un-diagnosed bigger issue at the time that caused it to fail.
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12-12-16, 08:10 AM
#8
Driver School Candidate
Drove it around all day and nothing was abnormal.
Then literally 2 minutes from my house I was pulling up to a car stopped at a light and the car slowed from about 35 to under 15mph but no more. I bumped the car and we both had only paint damages. Will perhaps post pics soon.
Anyway, when it was closing in on contact I slammed the brake as hard as possible and felt the ABS pulsation but the car did not slow down any at all. I really do not think it was a case of unintended acceleration due to the fly by wire throttle. I've never heard of the JZ engines having that problem. I left the car parked in a lot nearby and drove it home after 11pm when the traffic died down. I drove at 10mph and the brakes were working as they normally do. I do notice the pedal travel is more than in my LS430 and the brakes do not grip as well. I figured that is normal since the LS has bigger fixed caliper brakes. I know what a brake booster failure sounds like when you hold the pedal down and hear a vacuum hiss. When I pump the pedal with the car in neutral pedal travel is not abnormally bad but you hear an air noise. There is no hiss if you hold the pedal down but when pushing down there is an air noise like on the down stroke of using a hand pump to inflate a bike tire.
I estimate if I take the nose apart and have a pro repaint the bumper I can have the car back to looking normal for way under $500.
What freaks me the hell out is hitting someone so I will most probably have it towed to the Lexus specialist to do a full brake system (and maybe even the throttle) inspection and repair.
From what I posted do you think this is an intermittent booster problem?
Again, the air sound is not a constant hiss but more like a "woosh" sound only on the downward direction of travel.
Then literally 2 minutes from my house I was pulling up to a car stopped at a light and the car slowed from about 35 to under 15mph but no more. I bumped the car and we both had only paint damages. Will perhaps post pics soon.
Anyway, when it was closing in on contact I slammed the brake as hard as possible and felt the ABS pulsation but the car did not slow down any at all. I really do not think it was a case of unintended acceleration due to the fly by wire throttle. I've never heard of the JZ engines having that problem. I left the car parked in a lot nearby and drove it home after 11pm when the traffic died down. I drove at 10mph and the brakes were working as they normally do. I do notice the pedal travel is more than in my LS430 and the brakes do not grip as well. I figured that is normal since the LS has bigger fixed caliper brakes. I know what a brake booster failure sounds like when you hold the pedal down and hear a vacuum hiss. When I pump the pedal with the car in neutral pedal travel is not abnormally bad but you hear an air noise. There is no hiss if you hold the pedal down but when pushing down there is an air noise like on the down stroke of using a hand pump to inflate a bike tire.
I estimate if I take the nose apart and have a pro repaint the bumper I can have the car back to looking normal for way under $500.
What freaks me the hell out is hitting someone so I will most probably have it towed to the Lexus specialist to do a full brake system (and maybe even the throttle) inspection and repair.
From what I posted do you think this is an intermittent booster problem?
Again, the air sound is not a constant hiss but more like a "woosh" sound only on the downward direction of travel.
If its the air noise I am thinking, its perfectly normal. I think its caused by the vacuum booster and all my mid-90s cars do it. if the booster failed you would have a very hard pedal and it would require a lot of effort to brake. Pedal travel would obviously be reduced due to the increased effort. If you are 100% sure you hit the brake pedal and not something else, I would think one of two things:
1) either you have brakes that are dragging badly and boiled the fluid at the perfect time. This seems highly unlikely?
2) I am not 100% familiar with the SC300 ABS module, but some of them can "reduce" the line pressure. I can imagine there is a fail safe to avoid a case where it reduced it to 0 completely, but its possible that was case if a failsafe does not exist. I would assume in this case there is a failure of some other component that would lead to ABS kicking in when you did not actually lock the tires? is your ABS light on?
12-14-16, 04:06 PM
#10
Got an update from the shop and they found nothing wrong with the braking system but they did ask me a question that most likely is what caused the problem. Right when I had the problem there was a bad vibration in the car as if the ABS was kicking on even when I was no where close to locking the wheels. The technician says the ABS system actuator is most likely the culprit. The problem is the part is discontinued and it would have cost about $1300 if you could buy it new. I would have gladly done this repair with a new part if possible because the rest of the car is in really good shape.
I have a feeling they are right because a few times over the last year when I started the car in the morning there would be a buzzing sound from the right side of the firewall where the actuator is located. It never threw an ABS light and the buzzing would last only a few seconds. The pump built the pressure back up and whatever had leaked internally was back to par.
They are offering to install a used one but can't offer any warranty on labor at about $350. Used ones range from $50 to $150 and since this is a part that holds high pressure fluid the wear and tear on it comes with age and not mileage or hours of driving time. Well, heat cycles from a hot engine compartment would be worse for it so I guess use does matter.
My question it this...can I just pull the fuse to cut power to the ABS system completely without the car throwing codes?
I might go with a used part but every freakin seller will claim low miles when that means nothing. I would feel safer in the car if the ABS system went into permanent sleep and I just had conventional brakes 100% of the time. It hardly ever drops below freezing here so ice/snow is not a factor. I've never once even used the snow mode of the transmission in any car I have owned.
Also, does anyone know of a shop that rebuilds ABS units? There is much support for Volvo ABS system rebuilds that I have contracted out in the past when I had a Volvo. From google I was unable to find a Lexus/Toyota ABS rebuilder.
I have a feeling they are right because a few times over the last year when I started the car in the morning there would be a buzzing sound from the right side of the firewall where the actuator is located. It never threw an ABS light and the buzzing would last only a few seconds. The pump built the pressure back up and whatever had leaked internally was back to par.
They are offering to install a used one but can't offer any warranty on labor at about $350. Used ones range from $50 to $150 and since this is a part that holds high pressure fluid the wear and tear on it comes with age and not mileage or hours of driving time. Well, heat cycles from a hot engine compartment would be worse for it so I guess use does matter.
My question it this...can I just pull the fuse to cut power to the ABS system completely without the car throwing codes?
I might go with a used part but every freakin seller will claim low miles when that means nothing. I would feel safer in the car if the ABS system went into permanent sleep and I just had conventional brakes 100% of the time. It hardly ever drops below freezing here so ice/snow is not a factor. I've never once even used the snow mode of the transmission in any car I have owned.
Also, does anyone know of a shop that rebuilds ABS units? There is much support for Volvo ABS system rebuilds that I have contracted out in the past when I had a Volvo. From google I was unable to find a Lexus/Toyota ABS rebuilder.
12-15-16, 09:45 AM
#11
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12-15-16, 05:14 PM
#12
Got an update from the shop and they found nothing wrong with the braking system but they did ask me a question that most likely is what caused the problem. Right when I had the problem there was a bad vibration in the car as if the ABS was kicking on even when I was no where close to locking the wheels. The technician says the ABS system actuator is most likely the culprit. The problem is the part is discontinued and it would have cost about $1300 if you could buy it new. I would have gladly done this repair with a new part if possible because the rest of the car is in really good shape.
I have a feeling they are right because a few times over the last year when I started the car in the morning there would be a buzzing sound from the right side of the firewall where the actuator is located. It never threw an ABS light and the buzzing would last only a few seconds. The pump built the pressure back up and whatever had leaked internally was back to par.
They are offering to install a used one but can't offer any warranty on labor at about $350. Used ones range from $50 to $150 and since this is a part that holds high pressure fluid the wear and tear on it comes with age and not mileage or hours of driving time. Well, heat cycles from a hot engine compartment would be worse for it so I guess use does matter.
My question it this...can I just pull the fuse to cut power to the ABS system completely without the car throwing codes?
I might go with a used part but every freakin seller will claim low miles when that means nothing. I would feel safer in the car if the ABS system went into permanent sleep and I just had conventional brakes 100% of the time. It hardly ever drops below freezing here so ice/snow is not a factor. I've never once even used the snow mode of the transmission in any car I have owned.
Also, does anyone know of a shop that rebuilds ABS units? There is much support for Volvo ABS system rebuilds that I have contracted out in the past when I had a Volvo. From google I was unable to find a Lexus/Toyota ABS rebuilder.
I have a feeling they are right because a few times over the last year when I started the car in the morning there would be a buzzing sound from the right side of the firewall where the actuator is located. It never threw an ABS light and the buzzing would last only a few seconds. The pump built the pressure back up and whatever had leaked internally was back to par.
They are offering to install a used one but can't offer any warranty on labor at about $350. Used ones range from $50 to $150 and since this is a part that holds high pressure fluid the wear and tear on it comes with age and not mileage or hours of driving time. Well, heat cycles from a hot engine compartment would be worse for it so I guess use does matter.
My question it this...can I just pull the fuse to cut power to the ABS system completely without the car throwing codes?
I might go with a used part but every freakin seller will claim low miles when that means nothing. I would feel safer in the car if the ABS system went into permanent sleep and I just had conventional brakes 100% of the time. It hardly ever drops below freezing here so ice/snow is not a factor. I've never once even used the snow mode of the transmission in any car I have owned.
Also, does anyone know of a shop that rebuilds ABS units? There is much support for Volvo ABS system rebuilds that I have contracted out in the past when I had a Volvo. From google I was unable to find a Lexus/Toyota ABS rebuilder.
12-16-16, 07:01 AM
#13
I'm sorry this happened to you, I hope everything works out.
I deleted my abs system completely on my 98 and it feels solid, if I slam my foot on my pedal it locks my brakes and my wheels up solid. I relearned how to drive it and be more gentle with them, I do love them!!!
there is no dead pedal area like you got with abs waiting for the car to stop praying it will, but it's too late
you need a good abs unit pm me I got one somewhere in here.
this happens more frequently now, what shoes were you wearing that day?
I deleted my abs system completely on my 98 and it feels solid, if I slam my foot on my pedal it locks my brakes and my wheels up solid. I relearned how to drive it and be more gentle with them, I do love them!!!
there is no dead pedal area like you got with abs waiting for the car to stop praying it will, but it's too late
you need a good abs unit pm me I got one somewhere in here.
this happens more frequently now, what shoes were you wearing that day?
12-16-16, 09:23 AM
#14
Thanks for the input everyone.
I will probably go with a used actuator and also a used stock booster. The master cylinder has a lifetime warranty so I will exchange it. The fluid being so dirty after so few months has me worried that the rubber parts inside the master cylinder are perished. I'll have the shop swap all parts and bleed the system.
I'm not sure how the Toyota ABS system works because it does not have a high pressure reservoir that can be seen like Honda systems of the 1990s. In the Honda system once the car detects wheels slipping the ABS takes over and pumps the brakes using the built up pressure in the reservoir. The reservoir is a metal sphere attached to the ABS modulator. Those systems die because the seals can't hold pressure once they get old; same thing in my Lexus I suppose if the reservoir is internal. My theory is that once I knew the car was going to have a collision I slammed the brake as hard as I could so the ABS computer took over and tried to use the high pressure fluid to operate the brakes. The fluid lacked the proper pressure so the car did not stop. The ABS system going into action is probably what caused the vibration I felt in the whole car in the final 2-3 seconds. It's a very dangerous design IMHO. The ABS system should detect when pressure is insufficient and know to not go to ABS mode at any point. I have no idea if the ABS light came on. I was freaking out in the few seconds I had from when I knew I had a major problem and the collision.
I'm really disappointed with the bad parts support for the actuator.
I will probably go with a used actuator and also a used stock booster. The master cylinder has a lifetime warranty so I will exchange it. The fluid being so dirty after so few months has me worried that the rubber parts inside the master cylinder are perished. I'll have the shop swap all parts and bleed the system.
I'm not sure how the Toyota ABS system works because it does not have a high pressure reservoir that can be seen like Honda systems of the 1990s. In the Honda system once the car detects wheels slipping the ABS takes over and pumps the brakes using the built up pressure in the reservoir. The reservoir is a metal sphere attached to the ABS modulator. Those systems die because the seals can't hold pressure once they get old; same thing in my Lexus I suppose if the reservoir is internal. My theory is that once I knew the car was going to have a collision I slammed the brake as hard as I could so the ABS computer took over and tried to use the high pressure fluid to operate the brakes. The fluid lacked the proper pressure so the car did not stop. The ABS system going into action is probably what caused the vibration I felt in the whole car in the final 2-3 seconds. It's a very dangerous design IMHO. The ABS system should detect when pressure is insufficient and know to not go to ABS mode at any point. I have no idea if the ABS light came on. I was freaking out in the few seconds I had from when I knew I had a major problem and the collision.
I'm really disappointed with the bad parts support for the actuator.
Last edited by texan_176; 12-16-16 at 09:37 AM.
12-16-16, 01:05 PM
#15
Lexus Fanatic
That seems like way too big of a coincidence to not be your answer right there. That's the sort of thing that's not likely to happen once in 20 years, let alone twice in a year. Something must have been faulty in that install, or perhaps, there was an un-diagnosed bigger issue at the time that caused it to fail.