gkprabhu

Hi, I have a 2010 hs 250h. I changed the front brake pads today. I had disconnected the battery before doing that and was pretty careful to follow instructions online. I drove around a bit after the change. I was driving at around 40 and then gently braking to come down to 20 or 10 miles per hour ( as I had read online in a forum ). Things were fine , and just when I was parking in my garage after the drive, I noticed that the brake was going all the way down to the floor. I took the car for another spin and sure enough the brakes were not working as they should. It was not stopping and I had to pump them to get the car to stop. Came back home and noticed that the brake light, abs and the SVS lights are on along with another warning light. Has anyone experienced this ? Please help me as I thought that I did a good job with the brake pads.

Thank you

Clutchless

Have you ever replaced brake pads before?
It sounds like you have air in the brake lines and need to have a shop to inspect and bleed your brakes. Any independent repair shop should be able to do this, look for a Toyota specialist. This is a serious safety issue and not the time to continue trying to fix it yourself if you have not done brake jobs previously.
All those warning lights are very indicative of something else not done right during the brake pad replacement.

How did you push the caliper piston back and allow for fluid push back? Did you first remove fluid from the master cylinder reservoir, then push the pistons back? Or did you open the caliper bleed screw and push them back? Have you checked your brake fluid level and looked for leaks after the brake bad replacement?

This is not related to your issue, but did you clean and regrease the caliper glide pins? They are often neglected and a source of calipers freezing up. They should all be cleaned and regreased with Silglyde every few years.

gkprabhu

Hi and thank you for your reply. yes, I have replaced brake pads a few times before. I didn't remove fluid from the master cylinder before pushing the caliper piston back with a C clamp ( I didn't know that you have to do that). I checked the brake fluid level and it looks like it's at the same level that it was before the brakes. However, during the brake job, I accidentally opened the bleeder screw and some brake fluid slipped out . I suspect that may have been the cause of the air getting into the brake lines.

I have actually done the bleeding of the brake fluid myself before ( at the 60 K service ) and it was fine, the car is at 90 k now.

Anwyay, lesson learnt. I will take the car into the shop and have the pros look at it. Brakes are not something that should be left to chance, as you rightly pointed out.

Thank you much

bionictony

if you bleed brakes before then just bleed again. it will be fine. you opening bleeder screw will have air in the line for sure.

gkprabhu

Hi and thank you for the reply. Unfortunately, the stars aligned for me and I had to take it to the shop. The darn wheel lock thingie got stripped when I was taking the wheels off for the brake pad job and I could not open them for the bleeding. I took it to the shop and the guy charged me 170 bucks. I thought that he was honest, but honestly that feels like a rip off to me. I could have bled the brakes and have done it in the past, but would not have been able to reset the computer. I don't know how to do that. But the good part of this whole thing is that this is the first time that I am spending money on the car with a shop. I have done all the work myself. We got it used in 2013 and since then besides the first few oil changes and the recalls that the dealership has worked on , it's always been me doing the work on the lexus. Proud of that. And it runs beautifully. Love that car.

On a side note, we just got a Tesla model 3 yesterday. What a car!!! Incredible. I recommend everyone reading this to go and test drive that car. Never driven anything like that before.

Thank you again

Clutchless

That price is not terrible for bleeding the brakes on a hybrid. Actually, I usually bleed my own brakes and have a MityVac to do it but hybrids are different and you really need a shop to do it. Something about the regenerative technology and other brake equipment makes it more difficult to do a proper job at home.

gkprabhu

Thanks for the reply. The funny this is that I did the bleed myself for the 60k service and it went fine. I got one of those kits off of ebay and did it myself without having someone in the car pumping the brakes. This time I had to take it to the shop as I could not get the wheels off. Oh well, c'est la vie I guess.