Brake Failure? Or Accelerator Stuck?

[Marg]

I have a Lexus 220d SE, not yet a year old. Coming up to a queue of traffic stopped at the lights I applied the brakes but nothing happened - the car kept on going at a constant speed. I hit 2 cars as I shot past them, went through a red traffic light then managed to stop using the handbrake. The Lexus garage says it can find no malfunction. Anyone had a simliar problem? I don't want the car back!!

[Raz_IS200]

Hi Marq,

Welcome to LOC and congrats on your 1st post :D

I don't think you'll get much help on the IS250/220D here...but if you post up the same thing here http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/ind...p?showforum=127 I think you'll be in better luck :D

Once again, welcome to LOC and I hope you get the ans to your question!

[Steve]

i have moved this to the correct section

Marq

Sorry to hear about your car.. thank goodness no one was hurt.

We have not seen this type of problem with the IS220 on the club. However a common problem with the IS200 was the carpet mats getting caught under the accelerator which kept the car accelerating..... happened to me and very scarey.

do you have an auto?

[Marg]

i have moved this to the correct section

Marq

Sorry to hear about your car.. thank goodness no one was hurt.

We have not seen this type of problem with the IS220 on the club. However a common problem with the IS200 was the carpet mats getting caught under the accelerator which kept the car accelerating..... happened to me and very scarey.

do you have an auto?

No - the car is manual.

[Scarlet Pimpernell]

OMG - that's bad - at least you're OK...

Did the brake pedal move at all? Can you recall? Was it sticky or did it hit the deck?

The problem could be down to the servo not working...but you'd expect the Lexus guys to look it over and see pretty quickly.

Good luck!!

[Marg]

OMG - that's bad - at least you're OK...

Did the brake pedal move at all? Can you recall? Was it sticky or did it hit the deck?

The problem could be down to the servo not working...but you'd expect the Lexus guys to look it over and see pretty quickly.

Good luck!!

I was lifting my bum off the seat with the effort of pressing the brake which I think felt normal. It all happened so fast!! The bloke who followed me thru the red light cos I'd hit him and he thought I was escaping (!) said he didn't think my brake lights were on - he would have thought I was stopping if they'd been on, but he can't be sure. I KNOW I was pressing the brake pedal.

[DEANOROW]

My accelerator got stuck under the mat this morning, it was a good job i was on an open road and was running the car in low boost. But by reading about this in the forums before, i was able to free the pedal rather quickly as i was aware what the problem was.

Going to get some of the retaining screws for the mats tonight

Welcome to the club and im very sorry to hear about your car

Deano

[Scarlet Pimpernell]

OMG - that's bad - at least you're OK...

Did the brake pedal move at all? Can you recall? Was it sticky or did it hit the deck?

The problem could be down to the servo not working...but you'd expect the Lexus guys to look it over and see pretty quickly.

Good luck!!

I was lifting my bum off the seat with the effort of pressing the brake which I think felt normal. It all happened so fast!! The bloke who followed me thru the red light cos I'd hit him and he thought I was escaping (!) said he didn't think my brake lights were on - he would have thought I was stopping if they'd been on, but he can't be sure. I KNOW I was pressing the brake pedal.

Dunno about the new IS, but a brake light switch is normally an actuator/switch at the pedal column itself. It works when the pedal is pushed. Sounds as if the pedal wasn't moving inspite of your attempts, but like I say I dont know how this cars work...

Do you have rubber mats over your carpet ones? I do, but mine are Crocodile clipped in place and so anchored with the Carpet OEM's.

Can you remember if the engine raced to red line when you pushed the clutch in whilst braking? Dunno, but it's possible that your accelerator was negating the braking effect if you were engaged in gear when it happened...these cars have a heck of a lot of torque...

[tyrrp]

OMG - that's bad - at least you're OK...

Did the brake pedal move at all? Can you recall? Was it sticky or did it hit the deck?

The problem could be down to the servo not working...but you'd expect the Lexus guys to look it over and see pretty quickly.

Good luck!!

I was lifting my bum off the seat with the effort of pressing the brake which I think felt normal. It all happened so fast!! The bloke who followed me thru the red light cos I'd hit him and he thought I was escaping (!) said he didn't think my brake lights were on - he would have thought I was stopping if they'd been on, but he can't be sure. I KNOW I was pressing the brake pedal.

OK, I know this is going to sound a bit off but the reason I ask is because it happened to me once. Luckily there were no other cars around to hit so I got away with it.

Does the new IS have a foot rest to the left of the clutch pedal? What happened to me was that I put my foot on the rest, thought it was on the clutch then brought my right foot over to the clutch pedal instead of the break. Foot went right to the floor but the car kept going. It took me a second or two to realise what I had done before I corrected myself.

I know it sounds a bit mad but I still don't know how I made the mistake. Even when I do it on purpose to test it feels so wrong that I can't believe it happened at all but it did.

[Marg]

OMG - that's bad - at least you're OK...

Did the brake pedal move at all? Can you recall? Was it sticky or did it hit the deck?

The problem could be down to the servo not working...but you'd expect the Lexus guys to look it over and see pretty quickly.

Good luck!!

I was lifting my bum off the seat with the effort of pressing the brake which I think felt normal. It all happened so fast!! The bloke who followed me thru the red light cos I'd hit him and he thought I was escaping (!) said he didn't think my brake lights were on - he would have thought I was stopping if they'd been on, but he can't be sure. I KNOW I was pressing the brake pedal.

OK, I know this is going to sound a bit off but the reason I ask is because it happened to me once. Luckily there were no other cars around to hit so I got away with it.

Does the new IS have a foot rest to the left of the clutch pedal? What happened to me was that I put my foot on the rest, thought it was on the clutch then brought my right foot over to the clutch pedal instead of the break. Foot went right to the floor but the car kept going. It took me a second or two to realise what I had done before I corrected myself.

I know it sounds a bit mad but I still don't know how I made the mistake. Even when I do it on purpose to test it feels so wrong that I can't believe it happened at all but it did.

Thanks for your reply and suggestion. The pedal I was pressing would not go all the way to the floor so I know it was the brake - it felt totally normal apart from it would not stop me.

[Scorps01]

So to stop it did you depress the clutch and turn the ignition off?

[Marg]

So to stop it did you depress the clutch and turn the ignition off?

When I eventually stopped after pulling on the handbrake I turned the ignition off. I can't remember when I put the clutch in because it all happened too fast and I was too concerned about not having a major accident at the traffic lights.

[Lex Bhoy]

Could it be a sticking valve in the brake servo? had a similar problem a few years back with a Pug 406, left me with no servo assist & rock hard brake pedal.

[Steve ( West Mids )]

I had total brake failure in my IS250SE auto, but the pedal went to the floor. Didn't work again after. Was deemed to be Master Cylinder but I am awaiting Lexus GB to come back to me on what they said in Japan when it went back for inspection.

Different I think to what you had.

[Mike_B]

I think diesels normally have a boost pump to create vacuum in the servo, as there is so little manifold vacuum on a diesel. The effect is that the pedal appears to operate normally but there is very little force transferred to the pads, hence the lack of braking. Does the Lex have a similar setup? If it's an intermittent fault in the pump, it may fail once and then be OK again later on...

My Dad's Escort had it fail and a similar thing happened, though he didn't end up in quite such a dangerous situation as yourself!!

[Pat k]

I have a Lexus 220d SE, not yet a year old. Coming up to a queue of traffic stopped at the lights I applied the brakes but nothing happened - the car kept on going at a constant speed. I hit 2 cars as I shot past them, went through a red traffic light then managed to stop using the handbrake. The Lexus garage says it can find no malfunction. Anyone had a simliar problem? I don't want the car back!!

Marg; I had a similar experience 2weeks ago, i have a 2007(Sept) IS220d with 36k km, i was dring on the motorway on cruise control, exit the motorway and pressed the brakes (pedal was hard) to slow down and nothing, nothing , nothing pulled the handbrake in desperation twice and nothing, tried to get the car around the roundabout but going too fast, slapped off kerb at speed. Lexus have been testing the car for the last two weeks and cannot find anything, myself and my wife are at wits end, i'm 100% about what happened ! Like yourself we cant drive that car again. How did you get on in the end ? can anybody else advise ?

[Steve ( West Mids )]

I'm assuming that if the accelerator was stuck you would have depressed the clutch.

Did the brake pedal not move at all, was it was solid at the top of it's travel?

If the pedal is snot moving then suerly the master cylinder piston ( s ? ) must have siezed? As otherwise it would have a choice of four calipers to push against and give.

In a case like that gears may be the only way to slow it down ..................... but as you know you get very little time to make a choice / decision.

I never did get an answer back on mine ( master cylinder failure ) after Lexus supposedly sent it to Japan for examination.

[egnot]

Have you had the Rear Brake Caliper recall done? The first symptoms I got when mine started paying up was braking and not getting the reassuring G force movement forward, felt as if the Car was on Ice. It gradually improved over the next day or so. Lexus Bristol did the Rear Calipers and changed front discs. Unfortunatly just before the recall so that cost the lease company!

[Parthiban]

That is a pretty frightening problem! Glad no one was hurt and you managed to avoid a serious accident.

First thing though, the 220d is a manual isn't it? Did you work down the gearbox to slow the car down? Would have thought the combination of that and the handbrake should get the car to stop?

[ibby]

That is a pretty frightening problem! Glad no one was hurt and you managed to avoid a serious accident.

First thing though, the 220d is a manual isn't it? Did you work down the gearbox to slow the car down? Would have thought the combination of that and the handbrake should get the car to stop?

But that split second..

most people forget.

I would be looking straight at the master Cylinder and servo.

[kenfoxy]

This situation is one of the most scary things I have ever heard. The stuff of nightmares. If the brake pedal was solid then it warrants a complete stripdown of the brake system until the fault is found followed by a full safety recall. The car should not be driven at all.

[Bazza]

So to stop it did you depress the clutch and turn the ignition off?

i hope not !

if you turn the ignition off you will loose your power steering and may engage the steering lock !!

depress clutch, or knock it out of gear and apply handbrake then steer into a safe space and allow the car to coast to a stop

this was a common thing on the is200 and just about every time it was the mats jamming the accelerator

Lexus have no responsibilty as they say the mats should be clipped in the clips as provided !