ABS Problem

[marc5868]

Just got back from the brake guy who didn't charge me because this is the first vehicle I had with ABS breaks.  For over 15k miles driving at highway speeds I never had a problem.  Now, at 96K miles every time I hit the breaks with a little force it shakes the heck out of me and my riders in the vehicle.  Brakes, rotors and the system was checked so I don't believe it is what I see posted on the forums that I have a warped rotors after it has been looked at by the owner of the shop.

I am thinking about taking off the fuse for the ABS then taking to the highway to see if it makes a difference.  Yes, I know this is an important feature of the vehicle and would like to replace it in the wintertime but at 85 degrees, I don't need to have this much shaking for an everyday drive. This in my opinion would help me to figure out if it is in fact the ABS as the break shop owner thinks. 

The user manual shows two fuses one is a 20 I believe and the other #1 is a 50.  Any idea which one to pull?????

Any help is appreciated.  I would like to try to take out the fuse today when it cools down a bit and I get home from the office.  Thanks ! ! !    Marc 

Edited July 22, 2016 by marc5868
additional info

[gbhrps]

marc5868,

 

You most likely are not going to get the answer you're looking for here. There are very few wrenchers on this forum. I follow 12 different forums daily for each of the cars I own, and this car forum has the fewest people who actually work/wrench on their vehicles. Part of that being that almost no one has access to the factory service manuals for Lexus vehicles. Lexus doesn't even allow their Toyota dealerships to have access to Lexus services and parts. And to buy one is $600 plus.

 

That said, from years of working on my vehicles, I think you are on the right track. If you drive to a large vacant parking lot, turn off the car and pull one of the fuses at a time, and drive slowly and brake to test the result, you may be able to narrow down the issue. You may find that one fuse over the other, or both need to be removed.

 

Be prepared, however, that several other functions may not work as well. You most likely will lose Traction Control, as well as Cruise Control with the ABS pump disconnected from the system. The transmission may also put the engine into "Limp Mode", meaning that you will only accelerate very slowwwwwwwwwwwwly and it will take forever to get to 50 mph. Basically the car will refuse to allow you to get going fast enough to get in an accident with the ABS disabled.

 

If this should happen, turn off the car, and disconnect the negative battery connection for 5 to 10 minutes. That should reset the Engine Computer and turn off the Check Engine Light. Then again, you may have to replace the two fuses you removed, and then do the computer rest procedure.

 

I don't believe that you'll hurt anything, trying this, just be sure that you have the space to do so and do so slowly so that the car doesn't get away from you. If you have any doubts, get the car to a good independent mechanic who is used to working on Camry's, because the Camry is the Es's baby brother and basically the same car with less options and a smaller price tag. Good Luck!

[TrevC]

I would imagine it is either a brake rotor warpage issue or loose components on either the braking or suspension system.

If it was ABS, it would illuminate a warning lamp on the instruments to show it is invoking...which if that times in with the judder then so be it.

Otherwise, I would advise another independent inspection of the brakes and suspension to determine why there is a violent shudder when braking.

Regards   Trevor

[marc5868]

Thanks guys for your reply. Yes Trevor I thought it was brake warpage because it only happens at high rate of speed braking (getting off the highway or someone cuts me off and I have to apply the brake quickly and harder than normal.  At slow speeds  10-30  I don't feel anything .  It seems to start at the 35-40+ speed that I have a braking problem. I thought about removing the fuse but am going to try another brake company for a 2nd opinion before I start jacking with the fuse or getting into something that I don't know much about like the ABS system.      Regards,   Marc