Is it my ABS? I get a vibration when breaking through my pedal

Why does my ABS seem to vibrate my break pedal when I come to a stop at lights sometimes? It almost feels like the pedal is losing traction and slipping?

 

Your rotors could be warped.

 

Really? I only have 24k miles on the truck.

 

Doesn't necessarily matter. I used to have the same problem with a Grand Cherokee. If my brakes were hot and I hit a deep puddle, it would warp the rotors. Are you in a slide when you notice the vibration?

 

No it is pretty dry here in cali... I did notice it happen today i was in one lane and was braking as I switched to the free lane while approaching a red light it vibrated and the peddle went down further then normal. Would Toyota cover warping under 36k miles?

 

That really doesn't sound like ABS or warped rotors to me. If your ABS was going off then the pedal would be pushing/pulsating up towards you, not sinking further down. More or less the same goes for warped rotors, except without the sound of the ABS system working. Check your reservoir, check for leaks. See if your brakes are spongy at a stand-still. That's what I would look at first.

 

What do you mean spongy? while in park press the break to see if the pedal is weak? I will also check all fluid levels tomorrow and brake lines hopefully nothing has a leak.

 

With your engine off your brake pedal should remain fairly stiff. If it sinks down easy when you push on the pedal, I would consider that spongy.

 

Sorry for the 21 questions... would I need to pump the break? Or would it be pretty stiff right off the bat?

 

No ... you'll get a couple pumps before it stiffens up.

To check for a leak: With engine ON and in PARK (ebrake on). Step on the brake HARD and hold it there. Once the pedal reaches a certain point, it shoudln't move at all. But if you feel the pedal sinking ever so slightly - you probably have a hairline leak. Then - get under the truck (and under the hood) and look for leaks.

I've read other people having problems with ABS engaging too soon (either that or people are using their brakes too hard)..... The ABS will be a hard pulsating feeling in the pedal that you won't be able to over-take with your foot. A warped rotor will probably be felt in the steering wheel also and you should be able to over-take the vibration with your foot the harder you press on it (so to speak-hard to explain).

 

Toyota brakes don't have the same reputation as the Grand Cherokees brakes.

Grand Cherokee rotors are notoriously horrible and their warping problems have been around for years and years. You can breathe on them and they warp (not really, but you get the point).

My husband bought the TSB parts and they're still not all that great.

 

On my 2004 Sienna, once I requested a front brake service (at the dealer), they started (but not finished) the rear ones, after they delivered the minivan I almost immediately felt that "jumping" when braking and I tough what a great work they did... not knowing about the real problem... until it start to bug me that jump (about 3 hours) I called the service rep and they after they "fix" the problem, but it took almost 10 months after that "fix" 3 Toyota Corp calls another 3 dealer visits a "free" rear brake system check from a neighbor that works at Sears that showed my the damaged to the drums (they started... but never finished) that the Service Manager replace all the drum and brake pads for both sides for free. Good for me.

But also think you may have problems with you breaking system if is something like that and you are in your warranty period (time and miles) you may request a replacement or a real fix for it.

 

air in the line or warped rotor


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1dv_y_3EK0

autobrake: RTO