My 99 RX300 is having problems with the ABS. When I go to stop the car The brake pedal pulses. For some strange reason the abs is kicking on. It will do it on the highway, streets, light stop or hard stop. It does not do it all the time but does it very often. The ABS light is off on the dash so there is no code stored. I know the bulb is good because it lights up when I start the car. I am guessing a fault wheel sensor but how can I troubleshoot this better. Is there any know problems with car and the ABS?
Thank You for the help.
Sal

 

From your post it seems you have narrowed it down to ABS and not pulsation due to warped rotors.

It may be that your wheels to ground (road) traction is breaking up. Start by checking the air pressure and condition of treads. Also look for gravel/ice/oil on the areas where you get the pulsation.

If the warning light bulb does not remain lit then the computer is saying every thing is AOK. [You have confirmed that from off to ON, it does cycle during self test]


Salim

 

I know for sure it is the abs not warped rotors. Tires are all fairly brand new air pressure is good and even. Very strange. Yes the computer does it's self test and then the light goes off. I have heard of cracked abs rings. I have to pull the tires for that but I did look at the wheel sensors and they all look ok. No physical damage. This is a strange on. Another odd thing is when it happens it only happens for a brief period not all the way through the stop. The ground is clean as well.

 

I wouldn't go as far as to call this a common problem, but more than a few others have had the same problem. It is usually abs ring which is part of the axle shaft. This repair is somewhere around $1000 at the dealer. If you want to verify that the problem is definetly an ABS issue, you can pull the ABS fusible link in the fuse box to run without ABS and see if the problem goes away. There is a trick to pulling this fuse, I believe it is bolted from the back. After pulling this fuse, some like lexmex have found they prefer the car without abs and have continued to run in this mode. The PDF version of the service manual which has been around has an excellent section on troubleshooting ABS problems. Also use the search function of this forum and search on "ABS" to read about others with the same problem and their solutions.

 

Thank you Mikey for your help. I am willing to bet it is a broken reluctor wheel as well. As for the pdf of the ABS do you know where I can get a copy of this?

 

Moderator has deleted my posts in the past with the link to the download and has asked that I do not post it again due to possible copyright issues. However if you search on the word "download" here and over on Lexus Owners Club you should be able to come up with it on your own.