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2013 Tacoma Brake Issue

Discussion in '2nd Gen. Tacomas (2005-2015)' started by mikecat18, Oct 12, 2020.

  1. Oct 12, 2020 at 7:21 PM
    #1
    mikecat18

    mikecat18 [OP] Member

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    Replaced the brakes on my 2013 Toyota Tacoma Prerunner in February. Last week I bled the brakes because I can press on the brakes and almost get to the floor board before they start engaging. It happens more often than not lately and getting concerned. I usually like to do the work myself, any suggestions would help on a fix...
     
  2. Oct 12, 2020 at 7:26 PM
    #2
    IL Capo

    IL Capo Well-Known Member

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    Sorry to hear about your troubles....lets see if we can help.

    What is the hight of the fluid in your brake fluid reservoir? Do you see any leaks around the callipers and or drums?
     
  3. Oct 12, 2020 at 9:03 PM
    #3
    azzwethinkweiz

    azzwethinkweiz Well-Known Member

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    Definitely sounds like it needs to be bled more. I believe certain trims have a bit of a procedure that must be followed if the fluid level drops low enough in the reservoir. Something to do with the booster. I think the TRD OR trims have this booster but I am not sure about other trims. Might be worth looking into that. Sorry I can't help more. I have had luck in the past with vehicles that have been stubborn to bleed by using a hand bleeder like you can get from harbor freight. It pulls vacuum on the bleed screw end and pulls the fluid and air through the system and out the bleeder... just have to keep adding fluid to the reservoir and start with the furthest brake and then work towards the closest brake, pumping until no more air is present... that's just how I've done it in the past. Good luck. EDIT: Meant to say, start furthest then work to closest, my bad
     
  4. Oct 13, 2020 at 3:23 AM
    #4
    Too Stroked

    Too Stroked Well-Known Member

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    Did you replace the calipers by any chance? The reason I ask is that if you install the calipers on the wrong sides, the bleeder ends on the bottom, not the top. In that position, you'll never get the air out.
     
    Last edited: Oct 13, 2020
  5. Oct 13, 2020 at 6:30 AM
    #5
    GP_spence

    GP_spence Well-Known Member

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    Mine did something similar once, but it was more intermittent where sometimes the brakes would have to be mashed all the way to the floor to engage. Sometimes they were normal. My mechanic thought the brake lines needed bleeding but that didn't solve it. Turned out he didn't torque the front axle nuts down enough when he was working on my front wheel bearings. Just something to check in case you've had other front end work done recently.
     
    BillsSR5 likes this.
  6. Oct 13, 2020 at 7:58 AM
    #6
    mikecat18

    mikecat18 [OP] Member

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    All good things to look at... no front end work done...did not replace the calipers..

    gonna try what azzwethinkweiz suggested...
     
  7. Oct 13, 2020 at 8:12 AM
    #7
    gearcruncher

    gearcruncher Well-Known Member

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    Assuming when you say you replaced the brakes it means on all 4 corners ?
    Did you adjust the rear brakes using the star adjusters before you put the drums on ?
    Do you use your emergency brake on a daily basis ?
     
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  8. Oct 13, 2020 at 8:26 AM
    #8
    BillsSR5

    BillsSR5 Looking out for #1

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    if you search>Spongie Brakes in the 2nd gen section youll find a lot of what happen to you stories about this, I had exactly the same issue, I bled, re bled, used a Mityvac no love still soft, took it to dealer who used a BG brake bleeding machine got love for $128. I think its because when your pushing back the pistons to put in new pads existing air in the system gets pushed back into the ABS system or master cylinder and its extra hard chasing all of it out doing traditional bleeding methods, this is only my guess im no brake expert. the answer might be from now on crack the bleeders to let air escape into a bottle not back into the system when replacing the pads.
     
  9. Oct 13, 2020 at 8:47 AM
    #9
    Too Stroked

    Too Stroked Well-Known Member

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    In a properly bled brake system - like the OP had before the brake work - there is no air in the system. That means there is no "existing air to get pushed back into the system." And air does not get in from cracking the bleeder valves open unless you do something seriously wrong. In fact if one doesn't crack the system open, there isn't even a need to bleed the system.
     
  10. Oct 13, 2020 at 11:58 AM
    #10
    BillsSR5

    BillsSR5 Looking out for #1

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    have you changed out your pads yet?
     
  11. Oct 13, 2020 at 12:05 PM
    #11
    Too Stroked

    Too Stroked Well-Known Member

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    Yes - on the truck, my Scion and many others.
     
  12. Oct 13, 2020 at 12:08 PM
    #12
    BillsSR5

    BillsSR5 Looking out for #1

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    when I changed mine out without opening the bleeders I have gotten the same scenario exactly as the OP, I didn't open the system at all but got a spongey brake, so have many others ive been in contact with trying to figure out why, in my case I just replaced the front pads with OEM pads when this happened
     
  13. Oct 13, 2020 at 12:13 PM
    #13
    Too Stroked

    Too Stroked Well-Known Member

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    You can't get air into a closed system. That's why several of us are leaning towards a mechanical issue like the rear brakes being out of adjustment.
     
  14. Oct 13, 2020 at 12:17 PM
    #14
    BillsSR5

    BillsSR5 Looking out for #1

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    no I did all that, it helped some but really didn't firm up the pedal, this is a stand alone issue and I didn't have a bad master cylinder either, my hypothesis is some how air or maybe dirty old fluid got pushed into the ABS, im still just guessing at why, still blows my mind why it happened like that, if you search the 2nd gen forum>spongey brakes youll see quite a few examples
     
  15. Oct 18, 2020 at 11:39 AM
    #15
    mikecat18

    mikecat18 [OP] Member

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    Well, I needed to connect the Tacoma to a computer to bleed the brakes. Once that was completed, the brakes were back to normal. You cannot manually bleed the brakes without the computer to make them function properly.

    back on the road safely..
     

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