Pulsating Brakes

[HankJ]

It seems that the brakes on my LS600hL will pulsate when cold. It is very rhythmic and almost feels like its tied to an electrical circuit. When warm or slow driving, they are smooth.

Has anyone else had this issue?

Thanks,

Hank

[SOMEONE ELSE'S GOT MY NAME]

It seems that the brakes on my LS600hL will pulsate when cold. It is very rhythmic and almost feels like its tied to an electrical circuit. When warm or slow driving, they are smooth.

Has anyone else had this issue?

Thanks,

Hank

You mean there may be another 600h on this board?

Anyway, congratulations on your purchase of a very fine ride ... as few & far between as they are.

[lemon]

I was going to guess at warped rotors, but I think you would feel the pulsating all the time, not just when it's cold. Do you find this happens when slowing down from high speed, like when exiting a highway. That's usually when warped rotors make themselves known.

Still have warranty? See what the dealership has to say..

[HankJ]

It seems that the brakes on my LS600hL will pulsate when cold. It is very rhythmic and almost feels like its tied to an electrical circuit. When warm or slow driving, they are smooth.

Has anyone else had this issue?

Thanks,

Hank

You mean there may be another 600h on this board?

Anyway, congratulations on your purchase of a very fine ride ... as few & far between as they are.

It is truely a great ride. How long have you had yours? How many miles do you have on it?

[Jim Clark]

The braking in a hybrid is kind of weird. At first, you'll find it not to be "smooth" and sometimes irritating. It takes some adjustment and practice to get hybrids with regenerative braking to come smoothly to a stop and not be "jerky". How many miles on the car? How long has it been happening? You the original owner? When asking questions like this, it's best to provide as much detailed background info as possible.

Your issue sounds a little different. When you say "cold", do you mean the outside air temp or the engine and/or brakes are still cold? Might want to have the dealer look into it, has to still be under warranty. Warped rotors would be most noticeable at higher speeds. Are you typically "hard" on brakes, tend to brake hard rather than slowing earlier and braking easier? Do you brake with your left foot and/or tend to "ride" the brakes?

Just curious, what tires do you have? Some tires can tend to slightly "flat-spot" overnight. I have Continental ContiExtremes on my BMW, those tries have that tendency. For the first couple of miles driving they feel like they're slightly out of balance and it's most noticeable when braking. Once they warm up a bit, they're fine.

Again, provide as much detail as possible.

[HankJ]

The braking in a hybrid is kind of weird. At first, you'll find it not to be "smooth" and sometimes irritating. It takes some adjustment and practice to get hybrids with regenerative braking to come smoothly to a stop and not be "jerky".

How many miles on the car? 30,000

How long has it been happening? on and off since I got it at 6,000 miles

You the original owner? No, bought it in July 2009 with 6,000 miles

When asking questions like this, it's best to provide as much detailed background info as possible.

Your issue sounds a little different.

When you say "cold", do you mean the outside air temp or the engine and/or brakes are still cold? Not really sure if this is relevant, it was cold outside and engine when it was sever earlier this week. I do feel a slight pulsing most of the time.Might want to have the dealer look into it, has to still be under warranty. Warped rotors would be most noticeable at higher speeds.

Are you typically "hard" on brakes, tend to brake hard rather than slowing earlier and braking easier? No, easy on the brakes

Do you brake with your left foot and/or tend to "ride" the brakes? No way

Just curious, what tires do you have? Some tires can tend to slightly "flat-spot" overnight. I have Continental ContiExtremes on my BMW, those tries have that tendency. For the first couple of miles driving they feel like they're slightly out of balance and it's most noticeable when braking. Once they warm up a bit, they're fine.

I have Michellin Pilot Sport A/S

Again, provide as much detail as possible.

Thanks for the help!

Hank

[SOMEONE ELSE'S GOT MY NAME]

It is truely a great ride. How long have you had yours? How many miles do you have on it?

Me? ... oh no ... I don't have one ... I meant you're likely the only 600h owner here on the board as they're very uncommon ... something like 20,000 world wide.

[HankJ]

It is truely a great ride. How long have you had yours? How many miles do you have on it?

Me? ... oh no ... I don't have one ... I meant you're likely the only 600h owner here on the board as they're very uncommon ... something like 20,000 world wide.

OK, I misunderstood your reply. It is a rare beast, took me a long time to find it.

Cheers,

[Jim Clark]

Hank,

You put 24k on it since July? That's a LOT of driving!

If it is warped rotors, the dealer might not cover that under the warranty, claiming it's normal wear and tear. But I would try to fight it out with them. Especially since you say it's been happening on and off since you bought it. Was it a CPO car from a Lexus dealer? That would possibly give you more leverage. The dealer should be able to pull all service records on the car even if it was serviced at other dealers. If they say they can't, they're probably lying. Why did someone get rid of the car at 6k? Could have been a sales manager or dealer owner using it for a while and allowing demos in it. The other possibility that you don't want to hear is that it could have been in a serious accident, repaired, and the first owner decided not to keep it. A CarFax or other vehicle history report might not show that.

When you take it to the dealer, be nice (at first), but be ready to fight.

[Lightning Conductor]

It seems that the brakes on my LS600hL will pulsate when cold. It is very rhythmic and almost feels like its tied to an electrical circuit. When warm or slow driving, they are smooth.

Has anyone else had this issue?

Thanks,

Hank

Hi Hank, I drive an LS600HL although i'm in London England.

I think there are only 20 in the country from what the dealer tells me! I think your problem could be down to the Anti lock braking system warming up and struggling to cope with the 2.5 tons of steel (Heavier than a Bentley) that this beast weighs.

I have found the brakes to be less than adequate on this car and need to use the tiptronic gearbox to help slow it down on most occasions.

The flipside of this is that I did more than 60,000 before my brake pads needed changing and after 80,000 miles it is still using the original disks.

Compared to my old LS430 it is a thing of wonder as that needed brake pads AND new disks every 10,000 miles.

[RX400h]

And THAT'S the beauty of regenerative braking!

[subdewd]

I would think the dealer would cover it despite the "wear and tear" clause, considering the pri$e tag and the fact it's a hybrid, which rarely uses the brakes in light driving

[HankJ]

It seems that the brakes on my LS600hL will pulsate when cold. It is very rhythmic and almost feels like its tied to an electrical circuit. When warm or slow driving, they are smooth.

Has anyone else had this issue?

Thanks,

Hank

Hi Hank, I drive an LS600HL although i'm in London England.

I think there are only 20 in the country from what the dealer tells me! I think your problem could be down to the Anti lock braking system warming up and struggling to cope with the 2.5 tons of steel (Heavier than a Bentley) that this beast weighs.

I have found the brakes to be less than adequate on this car and need to use the tiptronic gearbox to help slow it down on most occasions.

The flipside of this is that I did more than 60,000 before my brake pads needed changing and after 80,000 miles it is still using the original disks.

Compared to my old LS430 it is a thing of wonder as that needed brake pads AND new disks every 10,000 miles.

Greetings across the Pond!

Good to communicate with another LS600 owner.

My issue turned out to be a combination of the regenerative braking and a little bit of warpage which my dealer corrected.

Have you had any other issues with your beast?

Best,

Hank

[Jim Clark]

It seems that the brakes on my LS600hL will pulsate when cold. It is very rhythmic and almost feels like its tied to an electrical circuit. When warm or slow driving, they are smooth.

Has anyone else had this issue?

Thanks,

Hank

Hi Hank, I drive an LS600HL although i'm in London England.

I think there are only 20 in the country from what the dealer tells me! I think your problem could be down to the Anti lock braking system warming up and struggling to cope with the 2.5 tons of steel (Heavier than a Bentley) that this beast weighs.

I have found the brakes to be less than adequate on this car and need to use the tiptronic gearbox to help slow it down on most occasions.

The flipside of this is that I did more than 60,000 before my brake pads needed changing and after 80,000 miles it is still using the original disks.

Compared to my old LS430 it is a thing of wonder as that needed brake pads AND new disks every 10,000 miles.

Greetings across the Pond!

Good to communicate with another LS600 owner.

My issue turned out to be a combination of the regenerative braking and a little bit of warpage which my dealer corrected.

Have you had any other issues with your beast?

Best,

Hank

It sounds like they fixed it for free?

[HankJ]

It seems that the brakes on my LS600hL will pulsate when cold. It is very rhythmic and almost feels like its tied to an electrical circuit. When warm or slow driving, they are smooth.

Has anyone else had this issue?

Thanks,

Hank

Hi Hank, I drive an LS600HL although i'm in London England.

I think there are only 20 in the country from what the dealer tells me! I think your problem could be down to the Anti lock braking system warming up and struggling to cope with the 2.5 tons of steel (Heavier than a Bentley) that this beast weighs.

I have found the brakes to be less than adequate on this car and need to use the tiptronic gearbox to help slow it down on most occasions.

The flipside of this is that I did more than 60,000 before my brake pads needed changing and after 80,000 miles it is still using the original disks.

Compared to my old LS430 it is a thing of wonder as that needed brake pads AND new disks every 10,000 miles.

Greetings across the Pond!

Good to communicate with another LS600 owner.

My issue turned out to be a combination of the regenerative braking and a little bit of warpage which my dealer corrected.

Have you had any other issues with your beast?

Best,

Hank

It sounds like they fixed it for free?

Yes they did. I've been doing business with this dealership for over 10 years and they've been good to me.

[Lightning Conductor]

Hi Hank, Thanks for your warm welcome. My LS600HL has a few faults but they are very annoying if you consider that the car costs £92,000 fully loaded!

The UK is very expensive to own a car in and to own a car is an invitation to get robbed by the Government at every opportunity!

My main gripes with the car are as follows - No option to have TV although it has two screens to watch DVD's on! The top BMW, Audi's and Mercedes have all had this option for over ten years so why haven't Lexus fitted it yet. No option to have Digital radio either.This is bizarrely backward for such a forward thinking brand don't you agree?

The rear passenger door doesn't seem know it's shut and you need to get out and slam it to kill the alarm on the dashboard! I've had the lock changed twice but it remains a problem.

The driver's headrest will suddenly go up and down as if pre-tensioning for an impact, despite the dealer resetting this it continues unabated!

The seatbelts constantly tighten which is a fault on all the Lexus i've ever owned. This means that you slowly get squeezed to death as if they have used an Anaconda to make the seatbelt. This means that you can't simply pull the belt to ease it off but have to undo it and start again which really gets annoying.

The dashboard has a stupid light on the centre console that tells you the passenger airbag is turned on, this is completely unnecessry, too bright and very distracting when driving at night, I really can't see the point of it?

The locking wheelnut key that you use in conjunction with the wheel brace is at least 15mm too short, I had mine taken off as it is impossible to remove them if you get a puncture. I'd like to strangle the moron that specified that idea!

Mine is about to be taken off the road for a week to go to the technical centre as three visits to the dealer have failed to fix my foglights.

Apart from those little problems it really is a great vehicle and the whole brand are very reliable generally.

I like it for its sheer engineering quality and great performance although the wheels are a bit skinny considering that they are 19" alloys.

I may still buy a Bentley later in the year as they are my favourite car and have become more reliable recently.