Brakes

[henryoh]

2000 ES300, brakes are not effective, the fluid level is good, the pedal feels as normal. the pads and rotors are in a servicable condition however the brakes feel like the servo is not working correctly.

[KBRX330]

I get about 70,000 miles out of a set of factory pads. But sometimes in Winter they have gotten a glaze on them and lose some friction capability and feel that way. I replaced them once at 45000 miles due to this but now I just take the car to the power car wash in Winter and blast them a bit for $2.00. That seems to get the salt off and they return to normal. Try spraying them liberally with some Brakekleen aerosol non chlorinated brake cleaner that you can get at Autozone and then rinse with water. Make sure the brakes are cold when you do this.

[lenore]

You both live in the snow circles. I would suspect taking the pads out and just lubing the points of contact where they touch the caliper would help tremendously. I am particularily talking about the areas of the spring inserts and also the relubing of the locating pins that the calipers float on. They may just be hanging on corrosion and debris...

[KBRX330]

You both live in the snow circles. I would suspect taking the pads out and just lubing the points of contact where they touch the caliper would help tremendously. I am particularily talking about the areas of the spring inserts and also the relubing of the locating pins that the calipers float on. They may just be hanging on corrosion and debris...

This is true. Plus the pads get a salt glaze on the face that touches the rotor. I switched lubricants to Permatex Synthetic Brake Lubricant (green stuff) and any noise or hanging up has gone away. Now I just give them a good powerwash once a month in the Winter and all is good. The salt is really destructive here. I looked at an ES down in Florida earlier this year and the brake rotors on a 2010 looked brand new. Mine look 100 years old.