CactusKing

Good morning!
I need some guidance...I have poured over the forums extensively and have not found anybody that has had the same issue that I just had, and it has stumped my mechanic as well. I recently bought(Friday) a 2008 Lexus LS600HL (Launch Ed) with 122,000 miles in Florida and drove it 950 miles back to Little Rock with no issues. Clean Carfax, & pretty extensive service history, including new hybrid battery and hybrid fan assembly installed last May(confirmed over the phone with the dealership that installed it). The 12v battery was dead when I got there to pick it up, but we jumped it and after driving 950 miles it recharged, and I had it tested at AutoZone the next day and it tested "good". Love the car, everything seemed to be functioning properly and no check engine lights or error codes/issues.

I drove it with no issues all weekend, and Monday morning decided to test out the "Hold" Brake feature for the first time. While driving I activated the "HOLD" system with the little light appearing on the dash, and when I came to a stop light the second "hold" light came on, and I took my foot off the brake, with the car holding the brake, and everything appeared to be functioning as it should. When the light turned green I applied the gas, but the car did not move for a second, then it LUNGED forward abruptly and I smelled the odor of burning brake pads. 438 horsepower lunging forward kinda put a smile on my face, but I knew something wasn't right, so I started to pull over, but before I could the dash lit up like a christmas tree, and it cycled 3 different alerts on the dash (I can't remember exactly, but I think it was "Check VSC System", "Check PCS" and "Check Hybrid System". It resolved to stay on the "Check Hybrid" screen and advised me to pull over immediately and call my dealership. I pulled over in what I assume was limp mode, and the smell of burning brake pads was overwhelming. I called a tow to my favorite local shop (wasn't prepared to get bent over by the dealership yet) and when we arrived he brought out his code reader and checked the system. NO CODES. Car started up no problem, no dash lights anymore, so he test drove it with me in the passenger seat, and it drove perfectly normal. Since I needed an oil change anyway, I let him keep it for the day and change oil/check brakes/give the car a general inspection. He called me later that afternoon to pick it up, and even said he had taken it on a 30 mile "test ride" (I think this was more for his enjoyment than anything, but I like this guy so I was totally cool with it!) and it drove like a dream.

I thanked him and took the car on a few errands, but eventually later that evening on my way to dinner the I started smelling that brake smell, and heard the V8 revving really loud, then the whole Christmas tree of death again and "Check Hybrid System" message again. I "limped" the car into the nearby restaurant parking lot and let it sit while I ate and did some iPhone research (to no avail). Since I was really close to home, my buddy agreed to follow me in his car to try to get the car to my house instead of leaving it there. I got halfway there, having the car stall out, turning it off, restarting it, driving a few minutes further, stalling out, restarting etc. At first it sounded like the v8 was on, but limited, but towards the end it was only the hybrid battery, which I'm afraid died, because a new error message appeared saying "Check Traction Battery" and the car died for good.

Has anyone had any issues with the "Hold" brake feature failing? Any insight or advice is much appreciated. I know I can just tow it to the dealership and pay them a bucket of money to try 13 things before finding the right one, but I'm hoping to at least get a good idea of what may be going on before taking it somewhere. Thanks!

jdanielca

no mechanic, BUT it sounds alot like the issue is complicated by your car being a hybrid. I assume after the first "HOLD" incident you have stopped using the feature? funnily enough I have been testing it out on my 460 these past couple of days too.

What it sounds like is that whichever pads are activated during brake hold.. are sticking? that is why you have the brake smell? they are clamping on and failing to disengage? And seems like when the hybrid starts off the V8 is not the first to engage but the battery, which I am guessing s connected to some kind of toque convertor of some sort (no real idea) which connects to the drive wheels. I am guessing the sticking pads are giving it resistance and causing the electrical systems to shut down (hopefully) or all this could a s symptom of the battery failing, because the battery now has to overcome the brakes and because there is a lack of power there is some kind of lag and thats why you have that lunging forward problem... i am basing this on the logical train of thought i would follow if this was my car and i encountered the same issue.

since the car is dead...i would of course to begin with stop using the brake hold feature... maybe disconnect the main battery etc and do the usual "hard reboot" if that does not get the car going... the have the battery checked by some hybrid battery people i assume people who specialise in prius batteries do the Lexus ones too.. if they find a fault with that then you have your main problem.... but as a precaution I would narrow down which pads activate during brake hold and have those serviced... pads replace if needed is not then just get everything removed cleaned and lubed up... that is what I would do.

CactusKing

Very logical thought process!
I have not had the "Hold" feature turned on since it first failed, and have NO intention of ever turning it on again! lol!
I have a friend's friend who is a "Lexus Specialist" independent mechanic, who I spoke with this morning and he's going to bring his code reader to the vehicle and go through it with me this afternoon. Maybe he'll find something. I'm afraid that since driving in limp mode drained the hybrid battery I may have to have it trickle charged to get it running again. Compounding issues. I'll do some research on what brakes are engaged when using the Hold feature.

213374U

Sounds to me like you sat with "HOLD" on for too long, it automatically set the parking brake, and you attempted to drive away with the parking brake engaged. I believe it's ~3 minutes or so that if the car stays in "HOLD" and does not move, it will engage the parking brake. You have to then disengage the parking brake manually (lever below the push start) in order to drive away. It's why when I'm in a drive through I'll leave enough room so that I can inch forward every 2 minutes or so to make sure the parking brake doesn't engage.

Being a hybrid there is potential that you damaged something when you did the above. Be sure to let us know how this all turns out for you.

Congrats on the new car though, hope you get many miles with many smiles

riknchar

That's what it sounds like to me, also. This is very common. My 2008 LS600hL seemed to have a fairly short "fuse" when in Hold mode to engage the parking brake (though there was a warning on the dash that told you it had set the brake). There's a really funny story on the forum somewhere about a person having a crazy experience with just this issue (I haven't seen it for a couple of years, but it should be still available by searching). My 2010 LS600hL has a much longer delay before the parking brake is set, which I greatly prefer... Good luck!

CactusKing

Wow, I had no idea it would engage the parking brake...I guess that is a possibility, although I don't think the stop light was 3+ minutes long...I guess regardless, if the parking brake was engaged for some reason that certainly would explain a lot of the issues I had. Maybe if I get the system back to a full charge I'll find that the12v is in need of replacement. Even though it tested good after driving 950 miles, if it drained all the way down again it could be bad now. I'll do some troubleshooting with this Lexus guy today. Thanks very much for this extra info!

jmcraney

There may be some information at this link that may be helpful: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...iculous-3.html

CactusKing

Ohhh, thanks!

UZ214

UZ214

nsaldanh

I would also think that the car went into park mode. It's supposed to take three minutes though before it does that.

Maybe the lights were due to a weak battery. All kinds of errors crop up with a weak battery. They go away once it's been addressed.

CactusKing

From what I understand if the parking brake is on, isn't it supposed to show a light on the dash? Since I had never used the feature before, I was staring pretty hard at the dash and know there were no other strange lights on other than the 2 "Hold" lights. I am about to have it towed to the shop. I wonder if the feature just hadn't been used in so long that something got stuck/malfunctioned.

Outofspec

213374U

So what you're saying is that anyone with a car still under the extended warranty should use the Hold feature more often?

Outofspec