Issue with Brakes or Possibly 4WD

2013 Tacoma 4WD 6cyl Dbl Cab: When parked on a decline, truck is difficult to engage into reverse even with brake fully pressed. This led to a bend in the plastic cover underneath the gearshift, which the dealer has replaced. On a flat surface, after shifting into drive and rolling forward slowly, the brakes make a loud clicking sound when pressed and make a clicking sound again when truck is put into reverse and brakes pressed. From time to time, I will hear a similar sound when going fwd in drive at a slow speed, 2-3 seconds after putting the into drive. The dealer claims it is an issue with the brake pads not 'catching' and that new pads will alleviate the issue since there is space created due to wear on pads. Problem is dealer also states there is only 40% wear on the pads. Seems a good reason to sell brake jobs. My primary concern is figuring out what's actually causing it, since worn brakes shouldn't cause the issue or at least haven't on the last 3 Tacomas I've owned. Could it be an issue with the calipers or perhaps that and a combination of something to do with the 4WD gears in the front end? Automatic transmission. Still under warranty.

 

Are you using the e brake when parked on an decline ?

 

Negative. I don't think I've used the Emergency Brake but twice since purchase. The truck will also roll downhill about 3/4 feet after put into park on a decline, almost as if the brakes are slow to engage.

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/157684-brake-click-fix-2.html

 

Thanks. Even if the noise is resolved though, it just smells defective if a truck is difficult to get into reverse with the brake pedal fully depressed and odder to have to get a brake job to get rid of a sound on like new brakes. It's not as much the sound as it is the fact the truck is essentially brand new. This is the first issue I've had with a new Tacoma and is expected out of a Chevrolet, not a mid sized truck that costs 35k, gets poorer fuel economy than some full sized trucks in the same price range and has a trademark brand of having zero service issues. The dealer stated "a lot of Tacomas do this". Not sure it's a good sales technique to advertise a manufacturing flaw when I paid a lot of money for an extended warranty on a truck that's supposed to never see it used. I bought a Tacoma so I could change the oil every 4k miles, do
routine service and then drive it straight through to 400K miles. My 2 cents.

 

I beleive there is a small write up in the owners manual about the e brake .

One more quick question . Is it difficult to select reverse when on flat ground ?

 

Yes, but it's intermittent. More difficult in the mornings upon start up and/or during rain. The replacement plastic plate below the gearstick helped since it was warped. But it will still stick from time to time.

 

ALWAYS USE YOUR EBRAKE!!!! unless you live in a frozen climate.... use the dam thing it will save your trans and stop you from having this issue. This issue is not just the tacoma.... its every auto... if you bind that bitch up in park its gonna be hard to get it out of park. Hell i had to go rescue my moms suburban one time hers got bound up so bad i actually had to push it forward with my truck to unbind the driveline to get it out of park.

This should be your parking procedure...... come to a stop, hold the brakes, shift to neutral, set the parking break, slowly let off your brakes and make sure you dont roll, then shift to park. This makes it to where your trans doesnt bind at all.

 

Always use your E-brake first and then put it in park.

 

I beleive the two above posters are giving you some sound advice .
Wondering if your driveway is on an incline ?
This would mean that the transmission has been forced into reverse since you have owned the vehicle not to mention forced into park as well out of park.
Using the E brake keeps the rear brakes adjusted and saves the front brakes from wearing quickly thus the clunking you feel because of the additional wear and stress on the front break pads .
Now it sounds like you have a broken chunk of park gear laying in your transmission pan . If not broken gearing ,I can imagine a lot of metal shavings due to forcing the trans in and out of park . I beleive the damage that was done to the shifter mechanism is from forcing the shifter out of park and into reverse . I would suggest re-adjusting your shifter assembly so the transition from park to reverse is smooth again .
Here is the procedure http://www.customtacos.com/tech.old...6toyrm/06toypdf/06rmsrc/rm2006ta/02600710.pdf

 

Why are people so against using the parking brake? I always use mine, that's what it's there for.

If it was unnecessary for automatics, the Mfr would remove them to save money.

 

Maybe they are Young? Have not learned yet the hard way.
They will, once they need to spend $5000 on new transmission

 

they are the last resort backup brake when your hydraulica fail, all cars have to have them

but YES take the pressure off the parking pawl !!! sure you don't have it use it but the parking pawl is similar to a single gear tooth. your whole truck is leaning on it if parked on an incline, and your lever releases it.

 

Excellent pic 127 !!!

That pic shows the complete parking mechanism and how small it actually is . Now picture a 4500 pound truck supported on an incline by the tiny rod and tiny gear lugs and you can see why Toyota recommends using the E brake
EDIT . If you are parked on an incline and try moving the shifter from park to reverse or forward for that matter without the e brake applied , you are forcing the parking pawl out of the park gear and thats going to create a bunch of metal in the bottom of your transmission pan .

 

Torque locking the transmission probably not a good idea.

 

fixed

 

Yah Yah ^

 

They told me the brake noise was from the floating calipers.
other than that i don't have shit.