alsuwaidi

Hi there,

I've been driving my 07 LS460L today. The roads have been covered in water puddles due to heavy rain yesterday. suddenly I used the brakes and all ABS, VSC, and TRC lights came ON with the Message Brake malfunction stop in a safe place and call the dealer. I was near my home so I checked if the brakes were working which they did and drove slowly home.

I plugged the scanner and the ABS code came saying " stroke sensor".

I've erased the code and drove for 30 minutes with no problem. Then suddenly the brakes turned extremely sensitive where a small application of brake results in very strong braking the whole car would shake.

I had the same code 3 months ago which I've erased and then the same symptoms happened and disappeared after programming the ABS with the scan tool.

I have no problem with replacing the stroke sensor which should be under the Brake pedal. But I still have my doubt whether it is the main source of the issue or there is an electrical short somewhere especially since it was also raining when it happened 3 months ago.

Any help or ideas are appreciated

swfla

iTrader: (1)

Failure of brake pump and accumulator is a known issue with the LS460. The stroke sensor rarely comes up in discussions. Brakes are the only thing that will stop your 5000 lb vehicle. I reviewed some of your past posts and see that you used TS to flush your brakes. It sounds like that even with your own TS this is stumping you. Time for a professional diagnosis.

alsuwaidi

After doing a quick search on YouTube it seems that this problem is more common than I thought. Specially on the LS460 & the Toyota Prius.

I'll be replacing the Stroke sensor. The sensor requires a simple calibration process.

I'll make sure to keep this thread updated.

dan25man

I had water get into the blower motor on the passenger side because there was a ton of debris (leaves + sticks) that had built up under the front cowling. (Plastic bits under your wiper arms). It's not too difficult to pull the wiper arms off, undo the plastic and see if that's how water is getting in. Else if your windshield is not OEM (or has been replaced). They may have done a poor job sealing it letting water trickle into your cabin.

Are you finding damp spots inside?

Unrelated to Lexus but I know if some Subaru Foresters (2017ish) they had a recall on their brake sensor had because it failed prematurely. It's possible this stroke sensor just went bad and needs to be replaced.

alsuwaidi

Thanks for the reply. No there are no damp spots and the puddles weren't that big to begin with.

A quick update:

Today I was on the phone with a relative. I mentioned this problem to him. He asked his friend who owns a workshop and a 460.

The owner replied that it is common to happen due to the speed sensors on the wheels getting wet and dirty.

I will replace the stroke sensor regardless of this. It is on order right now. Don't want to risk part like this failing on me while driving.