I have a intermittent problem with the abs. when I go around a right hand curve there is a clicking sound. This happens between 30 and 40 mph. When I go around a left hand curve the brakes will grab, with the skid i-con illuminate , but no fault code. I have had the toyota dealership looked at it. But they couldn’t duplicate. I also had a independent mechanic look at it, he put the computer on it. He also couldn’t duplicate the problem.
Has anyone out there ever come across this problem or should I just sell it and get a new van?
If a wheel grabs (or locks up) the ABS will see that as a skid, so it’s doing what it’s supposed to do by illuminating the skid light. This would not generate a fault code. Has anyone pulled the wheels for a look see?
Yes. All the brake pads & rotors have been replaced. The problem was there before the brakes & pads were replaced.
What would cause it to skid on dry blacktop road
It might be the brakes are being applied even with the peddle not being pushed, or you are pushing the pedal a little but not noticing it. For the latter, make sure to keep your foot away from the brake pedal except when braking. For the former – this being the more likely of the two as the cause – you could feel the wheels after a long-ish drive on flat ground so you aren’t pushing on the brake pedal much to see if any of them feel hot. If so, that would indicate the brakes are being applied somehow, when they shouldn’t be. A collapsed brake hose somewhere likely.
If it can’t be duplicated this may prove difficult to solve. There’s lots of possibilities besides the above, but my only other guess is a wheel speed sensor is failing intermittently. That could cause this symptom. A shop with the proper scan tool can put the car on a lift and manually rotate the wheels to test the sensors one by one. Has that been done? In some cases it is necessary to monitor the signal from the sensors using a lab o’scope. Has that been done?
OK - Here’s a long shot. It may not actually be the brakes at all. If you hear a clicking when turning right and your wheel locks up turning left you could have a CV joint locking up. But as I say, it’s a long shot.
With something this unusual you should demonstrate the problem before leaving the shop. From the shorthand on the repair order it can sometimes be impossible to understand the customers problem. The technician probably spent 45 minutes to an hour road testing and inspecting the vehicle only to come up with no remedy for an unknown problem.
I have tried but I couldn’t duplicate the problem
If there is a clicking sound when you go right, the left CV joint is probably bad. Maybe it is binding and causing the ABS to sense different wheel speeds and lock up.