trhs75

My daughter's '99 has developed an occasional noise when braking which seems to come from one or both front wheels. It sounds like the ABS is activating, but it happens with soft braking and it doesn't interfere with slowing the car. It's sort of a soft rat-a-tat-tat sound. I just replaced her front brake pads and calipers due to a frozen caliper on one side, and I had a little bit of hope that the noise (present before the caliper stuck) would stop. Unfortunately, it hasn't changed. If the ABS parts were cheap, it might be worth replacing things like the deceleration sensor or the wheel speed sensors. Unfortunately, these parts are expensive. It doesn't feel or sound like a warped rotor. Has anyone experienced this?

salimshah

Let the evidence lead to the diagnosis instead of hunch. Soft braking should not activate ABS. Does the ABS light come on in the dash?

I would start by re-examining the brakes and shims. Make sure the pads and the disc do not have any grease/oil.

Salim

maxSteel

There are a number of low speed ABS activation threads.

When the ABS activates you feel it in the pedal and hear a rumble.
As Salim says, soft braking should not activate the ABS, but it can. In my case it was caused by a cracked tone ring. The ABS light did not illuminate.
To diagnose, disable the ABS to see if the problem goes away.

I never fixed mine, it's been broken for many years.

trhs75

Excellent tips -- thanks! The ABS light doesn't illuminate. I don't think it's the pads or shims since the problem was present before they were replaced. I tried to clean the rotor and the new pads well during installation. Update: I disconnected the ABS a few minutes ago, and the noise went away. I tore the fuse apart getting it out; I should have just disconnected something.

maxSteel

That's bad. Definitely need to look at the threads for help. I think that fuse is bolted underneath.
I removed the relay instead:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...ml#post9648329

Until the ABS light comes on it's harder to isolate which one(s) are bad. In my case I could feel a cracked ring was loose on the axle. Once the light is on you can put the ABS in test mode and count the ABS light blinks.

trhs75

You're right about the fuse -- thanks! Yes, two nuts hold the prongs from underneath. The entire top portion of the fuse box has to be lifted out to get at them. I'll look up ABS test mode -- is it in the DIY section?

maxSteel

See this post and the post it references
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...ml#post9104458

trhs75

Thank you for the link!