Brakes? sqeaking - please advise (video in description)

Joshbishop1982 · May 24, 2018

Hello everyone,

I have a 2014 IS300h and im based in Ireland. 54000 miles on the clock, last serviced at 46000 miles (when I bought it)

Over the last few weeks, and only occuring for a few minutes at a time ive noticed a high pitched sqeak/whistle noise from the front of the car. Today however this noise seems to be constant.

Initially I thought it was the brakes but I wasnt sure, this is a link to a video where you can hear it: https://youtu.be/MBNvCsF6wdA

I went to a dealership, and without actually looking at the car just assumed it was the brakes and that they'll take a look in 3 weeks when they have time. So im booked for the 11th June which sounds like a long time. The noise doesnt occur when I brake, only when im accelerating and only at low speeds. the noise gets louder as I turn the wheel...mostly turning left.

Looking at the brakes, the pads have about 1.5mm between them and the disc on the right hand side and the about 2.5mm on the left hand side.

Should I just wait the 3 weeks and let the dealership do their thing, its a Toyota dealership as there is no Lexus one nearby. Or should I just buy the pads directly from Toyota and get a 'friend' to fit the brakes and just be done with it this week? also, I have an allignment issue where it pulls to the left fairly hard and the wheel has to be halfway between 11 and 12 oclock to drive straight.

Thanks in advanced for any replies :)

Josh

Farqui · May 24, 2018

Get it sorted sooner rather than later especially as you don't have much pad left.

Also don't rely on the dealer to sort out your reluctant brakes, it's highly unlikely that they will clean and relube the caliper sliders.

Although your front calipers may well be fixed and not have sliders!

As the pads are well worn, it could just be down to them and extended pistons. The seals should be eased back and the pistons worked with a little lube.

How do the disks look, scored at all?

Do you have any reputable indi's nearby?

Otherwise get your handy pal to assist, it's not a tricky job.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Joshbishop1982 · May 24, 2018

thanks for the reply Farqui, im not the most mechanically minded person so I'm gonna let my friend take care of most of what you suggested. I have called Toyota and im expecting a call back tomorrow with prices for front pads. once I get them my friend is going to fit them for me. with any luck i should be all fixed up by early next week.

did you watch the video? if so, by the sound you could hear would you say it's definitely brakes? I would hate for it to be something else I havent thought of.

Thackeray · May 24, 2018

You say the alignment is out, too. It sounds from your description as though you're permanently holding it against veering to the left. I had something like that once on a previous car and it's really irritating when driving. And it may also be wearing the tyres unevenly.

I was told by an MOT tester to find a garage with a Hunter machine to get the alignment done. I think it cost about £80 and was well worth while. After it was done the car was perfectly poised and balanced and the steering wheel pointed straight ahead.

Maybe this is a separate problem to your possible brake issue or maybe it's related. Either way the Hunter machines work really well in my experience and it's well worth finding a garage that has one.

Jayw13702 · May 24, 2018

that noise is one I have come across in the past, but on my Prius.

Toyota seemed to manufacturer their pads with a small layer of hard material in the pad, when the pad was nearly worn it would be exposed and create this bloody awful noise, but it was there to get you to look at the brakes and so replace them soon.

The material never damaged the disc, it was hard enough to cause the squeak but soft enough to not make the disc and it will disappear after about 100 miles

Joshbishop1982 · May 25, 2018

Hi,

Toyota got back to me, its 140 euro for the pads and my friend will fit for 20 euro.

Lexus Belfast quoted me 320 pounds for whole job which I thought was extortionate.

Is 140 euro for pads a good price, they're genuine pads.

thanks

rayaans · May 25, 2018

Im not surprised they're squeaking.

I was under the impression minimum pad thickness was around 1.5mm!

J Henderson · May 25, 2018

5 hours ago, Joshbishop1982 said:

Is 140 euro for pads a good price, they're genuine pads.

thanks

Not really. You can get a set on eBay for under 70 Euro - LexusBirm

Joshbishop1982 · May 25, 2018

those for under 70 on eBay (which ive seen also) are probably cheaper knock offs though right? with such a premium car is it usually best to go genuine for parts?

rayaans · May 25, 2018

23 minutes ago, Joshbishop1982 said:

those for under 70 on ebay (which ive seen also) are probably cheaper knock offs though right? with such a premium car is it usually best to go genuine for parts?

Cheap knock off's from a Lexus dealer?!

Are you having a laugh? 🤣

J Henderson · May 25, 2018

47 minutes ago, Joshbishop1982 said:

those for under 70 on ebay (which ive seen also) are probably cheaper knock offs though right? with such a premium car is it usually best to go genuine for parts?

I understand your suspicion since it's eBay, but those are genuine Toyota/Lexus parts, being offered by a major Lexus dealership with an enviable reputation for online sales & service. They're the exact same thing you'll be charged 140 Euros for, only half the price.

Thackeray · May 25, 2018

On 5/24/2018 at 2:52 PM, Joshbishop1982 said:

Looking at the brakes, the pads have about 1.5mm between them and the disc on the right hand side and the about 2.5mm on the left hand side.

It sounded as though you were talking about the gap between the pad and the disc. Is that what you meant? A lot of the discussion seems to assume you meant the pads were worn so that only 1.5mm and 2.5mm of pad material was left. That sounds very low if it's the thickness of the pad. My similar aged car has around 10mm left, which is only around 20 pct worn. The pads shouldn't be wearing too fast on a hybrid because a lot of the braking is done by the hybrid regeneration rather than the pads.

So just to clarify, did you mean the pads are worn down to 1.5mm or that the gap between the disc and the pad is 1.5mm?

Joshbishop1982 · May 26, 2018

Hi Thackeray.

What i meant was that when look at the brakes I see a gap of about 2mm between the caliper and the disc. on the other side there looks to be double the space.

the car has done 54k miles and id say thus is the original set of pads. but I did read that I should be getting much more life out of them. I only got the car in January 2nd hand

STANSKI · May 26, 2018

Hi Josh,

With the miles you have done I would expect the Discs also to be replaced. They are designed to last 2 sets of brake pads, with a set designed to last typically 25 to 30k miles.

I have just replaced my GS450h brakes last Monday - they had worn to less than 0.5mm, the wear indicator had rusted off and so was not warning me. Anyway what I am tryong to say here is that you have a few miles before real danger - but not many. The job will only take an hour as long as the sliders are free (assuming this is the style) on the GS450h it is only 1 pin and the job took me just over 35mins for bnoth sides.

Southern Ireland I found is expensive for parts and at the mo the europarts deal in UK is worthy of investigating. If you want I am travelling to Ireland next weekend with a car so if you want some parts brought over then I might be able to help - Actually going to Newry, no ferry booked yet, so could go via Dublin and then up, so could drop off on you or you could collect from my family in Camlough.

Thackeray · May 26, 2018

1 hour ago, Joshbishop1982 said:

Hi Thackeray.

What i meant was that when look at the brakes I see a gap of about 2mm between the caliper and the disc. on the other side there looks to be double the space.

the car has done 54k miles and id say thus is the original set of pads. but I did read that I should be getting much more life out of them. I only got the car in January 2nd hand

If you're saying the pads themselves are worn down to 2mm, (not a gap between pad and disc of 2mm) that seems surprising unless the car has had a lot of hard braking. The front ones start at 12mm when new and the rear ones at 10mm.

On a conventional car, you might be expecting to replace the pads at this mileage or sooner. On a hybrid, it wouldn't be surprising to find the pads with only a quarter of that wear, from what I've read.

So maybe previous drivers have done a lot of hard braking. Or maybe there's another issue causing excessive wear.

Joshbishop1982 · May 26, 2018

thanks stanski, thats very generous of you. i got the pads and toyota deducted some of the price, so i got them for 100 euro. not bad i guess but yes much cheaper in the uk or online. my friend is doing the job on tuesday to fit them. he'll check the discs too, and if they need replacing too then ill definitely see if you could bring some over. would save a bundle getting them in the uk.

thanks again and thanks to everyone for all your replies.

STANSKI · May 27, 2018

16 hours ago, Thackeray said:

If you're saying the pads themselves are worn down to 2mm, (not a gap between pad and disc of 2mm) that seems surprising unless the car has had a lot of hard braking. The front ones start at 12mm when new and the rear ones at 10mm.

On a conventional car, you might be expecting to replace the pads at this mileage or sooner. On a hybrid, it wouldn't be surprising to find the pads with only a quarter of that wear, from what I've read.

So maybe previous drivers have done a lot of hard braking. Or maybe there's another issue causing excessive wear.

Just changed the front pads on GS450h after 31k - pads are similar in size to a Ford Focus, so even with Brake assistance from motor regeneration the wear is similar to a typical car. Car often driven by wife who treats it like a pussycat, whilst I drive it with gusto at times. All pads wore evenly and true.