Dear Fellow TL owners,

I have TL that seems to have a brake grind when I go over rough bumpy roads or speed bumps while applying the brakes.

I just noticed it today that if I am going over the speed bump and the rear wheels are jarred (hitting the speed bump a little harder) while applying the brakes, I will get this grinding sound from the brakes as if the ABS is kicking in. Anyone notice this condition.

I'm going to do some furthing testing on speed bumps with just front wheels while applying the brakes. If I find that this only occurs because of brake application while in motion and the rear wheels are jarred, I'll have to bring this machine back to the dealer to see what they think. Just need to know if anyone else has experienced this issue. Otherwise, this may be just something isolated to my car and I'm going to get it fixed one way or another.

 

Sounds normal to me. All my ABS cars have done this to some degree when breaking over rough surfaces. My guess is a wheel gets "light" enough (hops) to lock and trigger the ABS on that particular wheel. Once triggered there will be a very quick "buzzing" at that corner of the car until the system returns to non-modulating on that brake.

I'm betting you notice this more on hard stops and and as the car is closer to being stopped. For example, hitting an expansion joint or pothole just before the car actually stops.

 

I've noticed a simular problem
I have to travel downhill street to enter the parking lot at my work. While going downhill and ready to turn right in to my work the entrance is slightly up hill. So I press the brake and turn right and I get a slipping/grinding from my front brakes. I assume from the abs because it's the only time it ever occurs.

 

Thanks guys. Appreciate the quick feedback. Anyways, I've scheduled an appointment with my dealer to complain about this and see what can be done. It just doesn't feel normal to me so I don't feel that this is acceptable performance. It gives me an uneasy feeling whenever the grinding occurs when I don't expect it. I can understand this if I'm going for a panic stop and feel the pulsing action from the ABS. But under the same of driving conditions (same roads), I never experienced this when I had my 1992 Acura Legend sedan at the beginning of 2005.

 

Post back with your results. I'm guessing the dealer says it's normal but you never know. So it is best to have it checked out if you are uncomfortable.

If they don't find a problem, consider this:

Unless you moded your Legend, the TL has much lower profile tires. If you have the MT then they are at higher pressure too. The TL is not that soft and has a more anti-sway in the suspention than the Legend. This all adds up to more potential for lifting at the corners. Even if the wheel doesn't lift off the pavement it is much lighter for brief instances as it bounces. This will cause lock-up at that corner for sure. That's going to cause the caliper to modulate (grind) for a short but noticeable amount.

I'm not that happy about it when it happens either but you want fast response in the ABS. Consider a slowly reacting ABS if the conditions are really slick and how much you wouldn't like that. It is a lot easier to control things before they get out of hand than to reel control back in after the skidding starts.