My brakes have been acting up for a while. Earlier today I finally got the time to take it to the dealer and they told me the problem was I had a bad brake booster and it would cost around $3,000 to fix. I didn't get the work done. After I got my car back I noticed it was a little hard to start. It started fast but still sluggishly. Later my windows began to move very slow when rolled up and down. Also I had the AC on and I noticed that when I pressed the brakes the AC would lose power and the lights would dim. Then finally about an hour ago I go to start the car and it won't turn over. It has all the symptoms of a battery related problem but even still while i'm sitting in the car and press the brakes the lights go dim even with the car not on!!!! What the hell!!! Are the brakes and the battery related in some kind of way????

 

it does sound like your booster is bad. u can replace it yourself. shouldn't be too difficult

 

Check the charging system. Also check the vacuum line from the booster to the intake, see if there is any leaks. GL!

 

The dimming problem you have has nothing to do with your brake booster. There was a guy with the exact same problem your having who posted in the last week or so, I think he had a loose battery connection or something. Search around a little bit and you should be able to find it.

 

Yea I saw that thread but my terminals seem fine. And this problem never occured until today immediately after I left the lexus dealer...

 

What is a brake booster?

 

Update....

So this morning I used my girlfriends car to jump mine and it started. I left the cars connected for a while...When I pressed the brakes nothing strange happened and none of the lights went dim or anything...So I disconnected the cars so she could head off to work and I left mine running so I could get dressed really quick and run to autozone and get some tests done. When I came back out the car was completely dead!!! The key was still turned but there was absoulutely NO POWER to the car at all!!! Now my doors won't even lock!!! What is going on!!!

I just called the dealership but my service guy is "busy"....I'm pissed and clueless!

 

your battery is dead. the 2gs has an electric brake booster; when you brake it draws amps from the battery, and since the battery isn't strong enough it affects other electronics.

 

You had a bad alternator. It is not charging. Replace it and you will be fine. This can be done easily if you are handing. If not, it is about 1 hour labor and part. Part from dealer is never cheap!!!

 

But if its the alternator then why did I never have a problem before until IMMEDIATELY after I left the lexus dealer getting my brakes checked? That's strange to me...

 

Ahh, you can't blame the dealer of the problem because you got the problem after they looked at it. Car ages, and so is part.

 

if thats me, yes it does sound like the issue I was having. Here's my thread for reference.

I went to autozone, got the alternator checked out (with it on the car and went to several autozone locations to make sure ) and it wasn't doing that great. If you do decide to change the alternator yourself, be careful. I broke the bolt in half, half stuck in the block...and ended up with a towing charge and had the shop

 

btw, alternator from autozone was like 200bucks once you turn in the core back. the alternator they give you doesn't come with the brackets you need to hold the lines running around the alternator. Take a 8mm (I think it was) and swap out all the brackets. also, I would soak the bolt with PB blaster overnight. I dont think you want to heat up aluminum (the block).

 

all i can say is.....

 

Yes, alternators are like that. Just go up all of a sudden. Get yourself a little ohmeter and test the output at the alternator. You'll probly see it's below the 12.6 - 14 something range or something like that.