Hello everyone...yes this is my first post and I am glad to have found what looks to be a great forum for my RX300. My girl is a 2000 with 125,000 on the clock. I bought the car from my father about a year ago and all of the maintence has only been done at the Lexus dealerships thus far.

I am having a problem with my front brakes. If I had to guess, I think the issue is comming from the passenger side. Now I know this will sound strange but hang with me. I am getting a grabbing/pulsing/grinding noise and feeling in the brake peddel when I am slowing down and turning RIGHT. It does not happen when the car is turning left. I just took the car in yesterday to Lexus of Rivergate in Nashville and they told me that the pads still had 8mm left on them and that the rotors looked fine. The said the calipers were rusty and the underside of the car has rust and corrosion. The car spent most of it's live in a northern city with lots of road salt. They charged me $100 to try and figure out what the problem was and could not identify or replicate what I am talking about. The service manager said the tech drove the car but I am finding that hard to believe becaues I pulled out when I picked it up and it had the problem withen 1 mile of the dealership. They did find that the rear brakes were down to 3mm so I had the rotors turned and pads replaced. The service manager said the tech loosened and tightned all of the hardware on the calliper to make sure it was working properly and he said that there was no visible problem. But I am still having the issue. And this morning when I turned right into the office I felt like I had to push down harder to get the RX to stop...almost like the brakes are starting to fail. Please help with a direction...Clearly the Lexus dealership has no idea. And I am not willing to let them hunt and peck their way throught this problem....

Thanks in advance for any advice...

JV

 

CV joint maybe?

 

Since you paid for techs time, I would suggest you call them back and ask the tech take a ride with you and reproduce the problem in your presence.

Note: Each vehicle has its own feel. I am not saying for sure your vehicle does not have a problem, but each machine is different.

Salim

 

Yah, I thought this as well...but the problem only happens when I am depressing the brake ped. Not just turning right. I know it is strange. Thanks

 

I think you are correct...I am going to have to take the guy for a ride. I guess what I am a little upset about is that the problem is VERY clear if you are driving. I do not think the tech took a road test like they said they did. In fact I just got back from lunch and I am really loosing stopping power now when the problem is happening. I was mid corner and the brakes were fading badly...to the point I was not sure that I would be able to stop the car. I took my foot off the brakes and then pressed down again and was able to get the car slowed down. To me this seems like the caliper seezing but I really do not know. I did talk to the service guy and he stated the repair for ONE caliper was 450 for the part and hrs labor at 100per. So this is going to run me 7bills with tax. IF this is the problem...this seems high to me. Just priced out a caliper online and they seem to be under 100. But I have no experience on this kind of work. Anyway, I appreciate all the feedback.

 

That sounds good to me too. Whenever a sound related to turning, the CV joints come to mind.

 

Have a look at this post from 81corolla:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/5577425-post19.html

 

Hi, JV! Welcome! My daughter has a '99 with 135K and I'm always tinkering with it. I'm guessing they bled your brake system when they worked on the rears. Is your fluid OK? Do you see any signs of leakage in front? I'm no expert -- changing pads and rotors is about as extensive as I get. When I did that on all four corners of my daughter's last year, there was LOTS of corrosion on the right side. (We live in Iowa.) I even snapped one of the caliper bolts and had to pay Lexus to remove it. I still saved several hundred dollars doing the rest myself. Someone here ought to be able to tell you how involved it would be to change the caliper yourself; the only thing I wouldn't be sure how to do is to disconnect and attach the brake line, but it shouldn't be too hard. You could find one from a place like rockauto.com or L-tunedparts.com . I'll bet you can do it!

 

Yah, this was my first thought but the sound does not happen when just turning. It only happens when turning right and braking. For example if I am going through a corner and have foot on gas or coasting no problem. I only get the issue when I hit the brakes mid corner. I know very strange.

 

JVLex you really should just pull the abs relay to see if the abs is activating when it shouldn't be. It's in the fuse box under the hood.

The post from 81corolla has more details.

 

Could be a whole boatload of things - wheel bearing, suspension/steering bushings, CV joint, ABS, etc, etc. For $100 you should expect a definitive diagnosis. Go back and drive the car with the tech or the shop foreman and he should be able to tell you what it is - not what it might be.

 

To avoid trouble I changed my brake to Synthetic fluid. Either have it at the dealer or replace it by taking it out of the reservoir and replacing it. Refill it, put on 10 miles then,do the same thing,do it until the fluid is clear. Carl

 

You are still going to want to bleed the brakes at the calipers. Fresh fluid in the reservoir is not going to circulate through the system and make it all the way to the calipers.

 

Ok, so here is an updat on my problem. I worked on the RX with a buddy of mine that is very good with cars over the weekend. To make a long story short we thought the rotors might have been warped so we swapped them out and cleaned up the calipers. Yes they have rust on them but appear to be working fine. The pads are only a few millimeters off where they were as new. Even with the new rotors I still have the problem when turning right.

I just want to clarify this point. The RX does not have the problem or make any noise when I am just turning to the right. And if I have my foot on the brake before I enter a turn and there is pressure on rotor I also do not have the problem. It ONLY happens when I am mid corner and touch the brake. Anyway, I did unplug the ABS system in the fuse box and the RX is no longer having the problem.

So here is our next thought. My buddy said there are wheele speed sensors on each tire that measure the speed of the wheel to engage the ABS if necessary. Could one of them be going bad? I read in the manual that when ABS is activated you could hear a noise and feel pulsating from the brake pedel...which is exactly what I am hearing.

Has anyone had any experience with ABS going bad on this car? Is it safe to run the car without it? I would think so as I have had many cars over the years without it.

Thanks in advance for any of your input...

 

Go back to post #7. It's either one of the sensors or the toothed ring on an axle.