Lexus RX 300 Brake Pedal Pulsating and Clicking Noise When Stopping

gooosh1 · January 5, 2017

Hi all,

My car - Lexus RX 300 SE 2002

Firstly I have seen countless posts regarding braking and read through them all. None are unfortunately related to my issue. My problem is when you press the brake pedal to stop, you can feel it pulsating, also, you here a clicking sound coming from what seems to be the front of the car until you stop dead. You do not hear the sound when driving, pulling off, starting, only when you braking/stopping. As soon as you stop pushing the brake pedal the noise is gone. It does not matter how slow you push the brakes, or if you 'stamp' down on the pedal more than once to slow, the noise will still be there. It almost sounds like when you were a child and you put a playing card pegged on your back bicycle wheel spokes and when slowing down the card would make less noise until it stops, if that makes sense? My mechanic said today (and he is not a Lexus specialist) that it could be anything and plans to strip and check everything tomorrow which worries me (£££££), I am good with cars, although never had a Lexus before and not sure where to start looking. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated!

Cruiser459 · January 5, 2017

We had a similar problem with our 51 plate, was eventually thought (after countless trace efforts by various people) to be the anti lock brake ring on that wheel (nsf) but a little old lady drove into the side of us and the car was written off before that fix could be tried. (No warning lights ever came on for the abs though)

The car was cat c, we got rid, but see its been motd since so presumably whatever it was was fixed brake wise. The reg was EM51 AAM so maybe you could ask if someone on here has it as they might be able to help?

Verbout · January 5, 2017

Pulsating is normal. It's the abs.

Can only speculate on the other noise, only by getting low and dirty will you find out.

The-Acre · January 5, 2017

All the sounds/sensations you mention are as above, related to the ABS. I had it on my first LS but I never got around to sorting it. If I remember correctly the ABS has a sensor which becomes defective or becomes gunked up so needs cleaning. As far as I know it's not a major issue.

GSLV6 · January 5, 2017

Pulsating most certainly is not normal unless the ABS kicks in. Under normal (ie not heavy) braking, there should be no pulsating. This points to either a problem with the ABS system or it could be symptomatic of a warped brake disc. The only way to find out is to have the car jacked up, the wheel removed and the brakes inspected. The clue here is the clicking sound which could point to a faulty ABS sensor bringing ABS into play. It could also be something simple like something rubbing against the disc, which if warped, could create a clicking noise as it may only contact the disc once every revolution. All speculation though until a brake inspection is carried out. Anything out of the normal where braking is concerned is a potential safety issue and ought really to be inspected.

rayaans · January 6, 2017

Sounds like warped brakes to be honest

Gliderpilot · January 6, 2017

The pulsating pedal means that the ABS is cutting in because it thinks that a wheel is about to lock up. I had this on an old disco and it turned out to be the front ABS wheel speed sensors. the cable to to them had broken but were making intermittent contact. Replaced those and the problem went away. I'd get this looked at sooner rather than later as your brakes are not working to their full potential.

gooosh1 · January 6, 2017

Thank you everyone for the input. I equally suspected the warped brake disc, however when slowing it clicks, rather than shudders, and it clicks till almost dead stop but stops clicking sec's just before dead stop. Therefore in my opinion (which is limited knowledge of Lexus) I do not see a brake disc warp if there is no shudder and you would feel it on the wheel till dead stop. As for the ABS sensor, this was my first and foremost suspect, however if it were the sensor then the management light would come on? Would it not? Would the management light come on if the sensor was dirty? Currently there is no engine management light at all. I am taking to a local mechanic for his opinion, although I am nervous recognising that they primarily work on European Cars i.e. Peugeot, Renault etc.I will update you all as to the problem if I can get it solved, once again, I appreciate all your input, thank you!

The-Acre · January 6, 2017

No lights came on when I had the problem.

Gliderpilot · January 6, 2017

Same here, as it was an intermittent problem the ABS fault light did not come on.

ISJason · January 6, 2017

The brake clicking is normal.. it's the regenerative braking system.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

sorcerer · January 6, 2017

22 minutes ago, ISJason said:

The brake clicking is normal.. it's the regenerative braking system

Not on a 2002 RX300 it's not

gooosh1 · January 6, 2017

So here's the outcome from the mechanic today:

He put the car on the ramp and stripped down to the brakes. Couldn't see anything wrong with calipers or shoes, or ingress of dirt covering braking system, checked ABS sensor and visibly he said looks fine. He reckons its not the ABS sensor, he thinks its the ABS pump. He did also say he is not 100% not knowing exactly the problem. He put it on his diagnostic equipment which is £1,000 system and generic, therefore he suggested I should take the car to someone with a more detailed Lexus diagnostic system to double check and see if they can maybe confirm it is the ABS pump, even though there is no engine management light. He stresses he is not 100% sure, but suggests its the ABS Pump. What are your thoughts?

Secondly I inquired about a problem with the windscreen wipers. They go on and wipe perfectly. However the intermittent function does not work, only medium and fast speed. Also when you stop the wipers, they stop exactly on the windscreen, they do not go back down to settle. You have to use the manual control on the steering wheel to get it back down which takes a bit of precision. He said it needs a new motor. (The rear wiper does not work at all, or if when working, goes extremely slow, I never asked him to check that for me.)

Conclusion:

Please can anyone suggest or support with the following;

1. Suggest a Lexus specialist in Edinburgh or Glasgow? (I am based in Scotland, when I created my membership it came up with Gloucestershire instead of Glasgow)

2. Agree or disagree with ABS pump being a potential problem?

3. Suggestions on the front windscreen wipers - are the motors prone to failure?

4. The rear wiper, equally are the motors prone to failure?

Any help on the above would be highly appreciated.

chesterman · January 6, 2017

Hi,

Cannot help with the ABS which would require diagnostic equipment. However regarding the wipers, these are exposed to the environment & deteriorate over time, I would recommend a strip & clean. Fronts are working but not parking correctly, possibly caused by dirt/corrosion on the electrical contact ring. There are posts on this forum regarding corrosion of the rear wiper pivot causing failure and your issue of slow/laboured operation sounds similar. Hope this helps.

gooosh1 · January 9, 2017

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/63016-rx300-abs-problem/?_fromLogin=1#replyForm

gooosh1 · January 9, 2017

please see link above or here

After a massive information gathering over the weekend, I now suspect it could be the reluctor ring based on the fact I get a clicking noise and no abs warning lights. Are there any brake specialists in this forum that can confirm? Also I am still very much looking for an independent lexus specialist in Scotland that can help me on this. Any recommendations would be appreciated.