Noise !

[patra04]

Hi Folks,

I have been a silent reader on this forum for quite some time now. Here is my first post regarding a problem which is bothering me with my 99 Rx 300 (has got 98K on it).

There is a squealing/pitched noise coming from the rear right wheel when I am in drive. The noise goes off when I apply the brakes (strange?). Also the braking is uneven. (In the sense that when I am driving slowly and I brake I can feel that the brakes are getting applied unevenly, the speed lose is uneven and not smooth. I wish I could explain that correctly ;-) But I hope you got what I am trying to explain.) I took my Rx to a local garage and the mechanic told me that I need to replace the pads and rotors for both rear wheels and replace the pads and resurface rotors for the front wheels. The price he quoted was $500 for everything including labour. He told me that he will be getting OEM parts for the job.

Do you guys thing that the pads and rotors are the culprit here? And what about the price? Reasonable?

I am going to do my first servicing since my 90K service (done at 92K actually) in a few days. Do you think I should wait and tell the guys at Lexus about this problem? I have extended warranty covered till 100K, but I dont think that will have any significance and I'll end up paying the $$$ for this problem to the Lexus dealer.

Any tip/pointers, highly appreciated. Thanks in advance and have a good one !

~Aleric

[cfiiman]

Yep, definately a hanging pad, although 500 seems outrageous to me but then again I've only owned a lexus for a matter of hours lol. I imagine you could get all the parts to replace yourself for much much less, it is not hard to do, again never done it on a lexus, but have on many many other cars. Good luck.

[mikey00]

I don't know about a "hanging pad" but it does sound like you need a brake job. The high pitch squeel you hear that stops when you apply the brakes is the wear indicator on the rear pad. This is the noise it is designed to produce when your pads become worn. When you apply the brakes the indicator has solid contact with the rotor and stops squeeling. If your mechanic determined you need new rear rotors and front ones turned and pads all around, I am assuming he checked the pads and the rotor thickness to determine this.

$500. is not a great price but it is a fair price. A brake job at a reputable shop is about $300 using aftermarket parts without new rotors. Now you add 2 Lexus rotors @ $81/each (discounted) plus shipping and your price is in the ballpark. Your mechanic is also using Lexus pads $71 (discounted) per axle plus shipping. If you ask your Lexus dealer for a quote for the same work my guess is $800.

Now you could buy the Lexus parts for about $350 delivered. Then you still have to do the work plus taking the front rotors to a shop to have them turned. I really don't see any savings here unless you have a lot of time on your hands.

Or you could use Autzone rotors and pads and get 4 new rotors and ceramic pads for about $200. Definetly some savings for the DIYer here.

[patra04]

Thanks for the detailed reply mikey00 ! And thanks to you too cfiiman (hope you are having good time with your newly owned Rx :D )

I guess I'll get it done at the local garage. I am against doing it myself. (Havent done anything before apart from the regular wash ;) ) And dont want to screw up anything.

~Aleric

[blk_on_blk]

I'd highly recommend sourcing the parts yourself and bringing them into your shop and asking them to do the labor (which is not hard at all... I changed out our rear pads/rotors within an hour a few months ago). www.autopartswarehouse.com has free shipping on orders over $50, and if you get get new rotors and pads through them, the parts are like $100/axle (pads and rotors). If you want to do fresh brakes all around, get new pads and rotors for both the front and rear (Lexus doesn't recommend turning/resurfacing rotors because a lot of newer rotors are thinner from the start... but there are mixed stances on that issue... they are cheap enough to just replace) and parts will be like $200... I can't see the labor being much more than $100-$150, then you'll have all new brakes for ~$350.

BTW, I would recommend ceramic brake pads for this vehicle, which is recommended on most Asian import vehicles, especially heavier SUV/Crossover vehicles which need more stopping power.

[patra04]

Thanks blk_on_blk.

I visited autopartswarehouse.com and I can see lot of options available for brake pads and rotors. With my limited (non existent) knowledge I am finding it difficult to pick up the best material with a reasonable cost.

Any idea which are good and from which brands I should stay away?

~Aleric

[blk_on_blk]

They are all good brands (except I don't know much about KOOL-VUE), but if I were to do the job, I would go with Centric PosiQuiet Ceramic pads all around. PBR makes a great pad, as does EBC, and Hawk is very nice, too. They all have to meet federal standards, but ceramics will give the best mix of cleanliness, power, low-fade, and quietness. Centric is the best price for the quality (and they come with the noise abatement shims, too... some brake pad sets don't). They have a nice tech support area on their site, too, for more information about brake systems: http://www.centricparts.com/techsupport.htm

I'd also go with Centric discs, for they powder coat their center hubs and have cross-machined surfaces (a lot of people don't know this, but it's the surfaces of the rotor that often cause brake squeal; the surfaces tend to glaze with brake pad material and that interface causes the squeal; taking off that glaze with a machine finish reduces/eliminates that problem). It may just be me, but it seems like so many Lexus's have heavily oxidized factory hubs. I painted ours on our ES300 when we changed out the wheels/tires. The Centrics are price comparible, and are a little 'prettier', but that's just my preference.

[patra04]

Thanks blk_on_blk......Its Centric pads and rotors for me then !

~Aleric