Braking Issues

I have noticed a few braking issues since I bought my Tacoma a couple months ago. I'm going to call service and get the truck looked at (and maybe the transmission TSB), but thought Id see what you guys have to say first. Here is what I have noticed:

1) A few times (maybe 3 or 4) in the past two months I have stepped on the brake and it immediately goes down an extra 2 inchs more than normal. Basically, it feels like the brakes are gone for a second which doesn't feel great when your coming to an intersection. This issue has been very sporadic and never happened within a week of each other.

2) Yesterday I was sitting in a traffic and noticed that when stopped, the pedal would very slowly keep going down until it bottomed out (over 30 seconds to a minute). I could pump the pedal back up, but it would still very slowly (under constant medium pressure) start going down. This triggered a "Check Brake System" warning screen to come up on the dash (for a couple seconds).

My guess right now would be a leaking master cylinder, but I could be completely wrong. What do you guys think? I'm going to call the dealer this morning and get it in as soon as possible.

 

have you checked your fluid level? That pedal slowly going down would scare the shit out of me

 

keep your right hand at the ready for E Brake action!

 

It started happening just as I was getting home from camping towing a small utility trailer (~1500 lbs). I kept my hand on the emergency brake the rest of the way home and haven't driven it since. Doesn't give you a good feeling doubting your brakes when towing. I didn't check anything yet, but will check after work and post the status.

 

Call dealer and have them tow it in at Toyota's expense. If the brake pedal slowly goes all the way to the floor, I would not risk driving it, especially since it is brand new under warranty.

 

I had the same problem with my 2016. Took it in for warranty. They said that that's what the brake pedal is supposed to do. when you first press the pedal you get resistance, but if you hold it down the pedal slowly goes to the floor. they said it was a safety to not blow the seals out on the master cylinder.

 

Wtf I need to verify this on my truck because I have not driven any car ever that did this and not one master cylinder has ever blown out on me. I have firm brake pressure always.

 

Exactly, never to the floor.

 

I thought it was wierd too. But i wasn't having any issues stopping, had no leaks and my fluid looks good. they also told me not to pump the pedal. if you pump it sort of hard 10+ times, you will get a brake system alert. i was told it was due to the vacuum system from the master cylinder.

 

Interesting! The brake alert came on for me after pumping it a few times (maybe 10?) after the pedal started going down. As the truck just started doing this after 4,000 km, I'm definitely taking it in to have it checked. I'm going to do a quick inspection tonight to check the fluid and see if anything is visibly leaking.

 

good luck! hope it's nothing like mine.

 

this is bullshit. period.

 

I have to agree. If I was applying my brakes evenly on a long hill, I would eventually lose pressure and thus brakes?

 

it might be. thankfully i havent had any other problems with mine.

 

It is.

 

I havent noticed that. It only happened to me while sitting still

 

Just called the dealer and they will take the truck to right away since its a safety issue. I did a quick visual on the brake fluid and it looks full, and there is no leakage anywhere in the master cylinder area. Ill post an update once I hear back!

 

I hope you get the same news I got!

 

What did you find out about our brakes?

 

I took the truck in on Wednesday, and they took it for a drive but couldn't replicate the issue. Like I said, the issue of the pedal going down a few extra inches prior to the brakes grabbing at all only happened a couple times, and therefore would be hard to replicate. Thus, they sent the info to corporate to see if they had any insight and asked to keep the truck over night.

Today they called and said corporate asked them to take the truck out again to try to replicate the issue, drive another Tacoma and compare the brake feel, do a detailed inspection of the braking system, and then send them a dump from the computer after the test drives. This did not turn up any issues, so corporate asked them to take the truck driving under different conditions (highway, traffic, etc) to continue to try to replicate the issue. This prompted the dealer to call me to ask my permission for their tech to take the truck home and do a bit of driving after hours (he has a longer commute), which I agreed to (I don't drive during the week, so I really don't care if they have the truck till Saturday). If they cant find anything tomorrow, corporate told them to give the truck back and monitor the issue myself.

I fully understand that it would be frustrating to them to replicate the issue as it occurred very sporadically. I am actually very surprised they are still putting effort into it as they could have just said "cant replicate it, nothing is wrong".

I guess we will see what the update is tomorrow!