ABS Loud Clicking Sound

Hello everyone this is my first post on here. I've browsed through numerous threads and have read lots of good information here in the past so I figured I might as well sign up

My car is an '05 and currently has 191k miles

Before I get into my problem I want to fill you guys in on todays events. It all started when I ran out of gas about 3 miles from the gas station I was on my way too. I don't know the distance exactly and I'm not sure when the car ran out of gas. After coming out of a sharp corner I immediately noticed the car would not accelerate past 55 MPH. I stayed at this speed for about 1/2 miles while I determined that the car was out of gas. I continued to drive at a slower speed in hopes of making to the gas station. I was so close when the battery dropped down into the red, I immediately slowed down and got on the side of the road. After getting on the shoulder the car beeped, MDF displayed problem, and red triangle of death appeared. I shut off the car and called for help. When my help arrived we put about 4 gallons in the tanks and she started right up. No lights on at all to my surprise. Continued on my way without any problems.

Fast forward to tonight: While driving home the ABS, (!), and Brake lights illuminated shortly after turning on my road. Approaching my house I noticed the brakes to be spongy. I stop in front of my driveway, I decided to test out the breaks instead of pulling in so I step on it then slam on the breaks. I'm about 500 feet from my driveway at this point when I put in reverse and back down the road into my driveway at around 10 MPH. Entering the drive I noticed the lights suddenly turn off. Some more back and forth break tests and back on. At this point I grab my OBDII scanner and see if we get any codes. No codes related to the ABS or break system, I did however have a couple Toyota codes related to running out of gas. I have access to an Autel scan tool with dealer level service capabilities but not until tomorrow night.

The ABS pump has a noticeable ticking/clicking sounds every time the breaks are pushed. Before I go out and buy a new one I figured I would get some input. Has anyone had this exact problem? What did you do to fix it?


Sorry my post is so long

 

The engine revs just like it always has and the HV battery charged up in no time at all. I was even able to drive in EV mode through the town where the gas station was located. This was less that a mile away from where I ran out of gas! After leaving town and cruising at highway speeds for another few minutes the battery was almost full. Coasting up to the first stop sign I was able to get it up in the green. HV stayed in green for 95% of the remaining trip only dropping into blue while climbing a steep hill. Descending the hill put it back in the green and it stayed there until I arrived at my destination. This is completely normal and I always arrive at this particular destination with the HV battery in green only missing one bar from the top.

Unfortunately it cannot but my friends scan tool will. I'm not really concerned about the HV battery as it appears to be operating normal.

The ABS system did not appear to be functioning when I was doing the majority of the break test. Normally pushing on the breaks with more that a feathers worth of force will result in enough breaking force to throw you through the windshield. The clicking sound was observed while stopped or at very low speed while depressing the brake. I did take a video but I haven't reviewed it yet to see if the sound is audible. I will check the break fluid as I haven't done so yet. I'm not exactly sure what you mean by the breaks being properly gauged? Thank you for the input

 

Here is the video:

The lights are not on at this point and the ABS system is attempting to work.

I haven't attempted to check the break fluid yet. Its currently pouring outside and the garage is a little to cluttered.

 

I've actually been looking into getting one of these. I've got a bunch of old laptops and a copy of pretty much every version of Windows there is

For the price of it, it better! He spent upwards of $3,500 on this scanner

Will do

 

Sorry for the misunderstanding, it was raining pretty hard and I don't have enough room to pull the car in the garage.

In the video the noise is most noticable at the 45 second mark. It can also be heard around the 20-22 second mark just not a pronounced.

 

Ahh I got you now, I will give it a check soon and let you guys know where the levels at.

 

Sorry took me so long to get back but I wasn't able to access the forums at all yesterday. It must have been down for a while but I see everything appears to be working for now anyways.

The noise the brake pump was making was not normal, Ive never heard it make such a pronounced clicking sound ever. Actually I've never heard it make a clicking sound at all before. Its normal sounds is more like a light hum when the breaks are applied and most noticeable when you but your foot on the brake before starting the car.

I never made it to my friends house but I did find a possible cause. The 12v battery! Voltage is dropping extremely low and I even witnessed it go down to 8.9v while the car started up. There was a pretty big load on the system at the time but I really have no idea how it managed to start with voltage dropping that low. Break fluid isn't down very far, maybe a quarter of an inch from the full line. I'm starting to thinks its being caused by low voltage. I have the exact moment the lights first came on on video but whats strange is it happened when the car went into EV mode not while using the brakes. So does anyone know if the charging voltage/amperage from the DC to DC converter is lowered when the car is running in pure EV mode?

My scan tool can read Toyota codes and did display the proper codes after I ran out of gas. I can also go in an view the dealer level codes but thats it, no way to clear them. Nothing new has showing up in that list since I bought the car. It seems to just be a history of all the codes that the car has ever thrown which is only 9. Surprisingly the codes related to running out of gas didn't get stored in that list but I was able bring them up on the main screen.

I also made a video for YouTube today about checking the 12v battery. With all the technical difficulties and sounds anomalies it didn't come out as planned but I put it up anyways.

If anyone want to check it out here it is:

 

I was able to reproduce the ABS failure four times last night driving in EV mode. My theory on the reduced amperage in EV/Glide modes seems to be true but unconfirmed.

My 12v battery obviously needs replacement. So far it hasn't prevented the car from starting without being run down first. I drive it so much that the battery doesn't ever get a chance to loose its charge but cold weather will be the death of it.

The cost of the batteries recommend here and other places is really whats prevented me from replacing it. I would love one of those Optima yellow tops but at over $200 I cant justify the cost. I'm considering a deep cycle marine battery as a cost effective alternative. I can pick up an 800CCA@0°F deep cycle marine battery with the correct size posts for around $100. Anyone have any input on this or recommendations on batteries in the $100 +/- range?

Edit:
Here is the video of the first occurrence, I was able to reproduce the failure four more times. Hard acceleration after the failure will increase the systems voltage enough to remedy the situation.