Losing brake fluid

I have personally had my brake fluid reservoir go dry and turn the light on exclusively from pad wear.

It wasn't low enough in the system to start sucking air, but the float was sitting on the reservoir floor.

The pads were far from metal to metal months later when I got around to replacing them (and naturally my dumbass overflowed a ton of brake fluid everywhere when I recompressed the pistons and pushed the topped-off fluid right back out).

Wasn't from a leak unless it magically fixed itself when I refilled the fluid.

Not to say that its anymore likely that this is OP's problem over a booster leak or anything else. But it is the simplest and easiest to rule out, which should be the 1st to check before starting to price out new brake boosters and cylinders.

 

Interesting, thanks for the info.

 

Shop called me earlier today. Both sides of rear axel seals are leaking. Shoes and brake cylinders will be replaced too. And it ended up just being the master cylinder leaking brake fluid apparently. They said the brake booster doesn’t need to be replaced but the MC will be.

 

It wouldn’t be hard to figure out the volume needed to push the pistons all the way out until the backing pads are on the rotors. Just measure the brake pad friction material thickness and use the volume formula with the piston diameter x8.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/tacoma-brakes-swaps-and-tech.468271/

Then measure the volume of the reservoir.

 

Well geez. Glad it's being handled.

 

What about the bearings?.....those are half the parts costs...

 

He said they’re going to inspect those too and if they are compromised then they’ll be replaced. But he said he’d call me back if that’s the case and he never did soooo

 

Replace them now.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-gear-oil-contamination.815496/#post-29247303

@Bishop84 this is another blown axle seal / bearing replacement debate (no one’s really debating, yet haha).

 

My trust on those to do the seal right is low too....

.....if you've watched those timmy vids, there has been a frequency of those failing again within 20K....

another words....need someone competent and not in a hurry.....a rare animal these days.


After 6 mos of prep......I thought I could knock em out in a couple or three hours....
not even close......

 

Luckily I’m putting my trust in a shop that solely works on Toyota and Lexus. I’m very acquainted with the owner in fact and he actually gave me a lot of advice when I was dealing with my head gasket issue awhile ago. At one point he even subtly offered me a job haha

 

I’d just do the bearings - once they’re blown out of grease from the gear oil, they’ll wear and get excessive runout, eventually damaging your new seals and then you’ll be pulling the axles, new bearings, brakes, and seals.

I did them minus the press work where I brought the shafts to a machine shop for $45 a side on my wife’s 300k 4runner. $250 in parts ain’t all that bad for a 300k mile wear item. A reputable shop should be able to reuse the tone rings.

https://www.yotashop.com/wheel-bear...XA0_qHLKchKlV5tBOiacKMQoIdk_CvxEaAs15EALw_wcB

You can also get the part numbers from Timmy’s video.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AVhSDnw2ugo

I would not want to pay someone to do this twice or go through the hassle of redoing the fix myself including the brakes and seals twice - not a whole lot of extra time or money to do it right the first time and avoid all that.

 

I tend to agree with that.
You could flush and repack em, but any contamination would cause em to fail on down the line....

New ones will have sterile factory grease.


You'll find this job is so expensive......you wont want to revisit for a while....


its like the $950 dealer spark plug job on the '21 tacoma.......better be damn good spark plugs.....

 

I didn't say that. I said/implied if the fluid level drops, and there is no obvious leak, it could be going to the MC. OP said he took his chevy to the levy and the resi was dry. That's not pad wear. Context of the OP's post and all that jazz....

 

The resi Full / Low lines are indicative of normal fluid levels in the range of new and worn pads. If it falls below the low line and the light comes on it's a general warning that there could be an issue. Any issue, leak or otherwise. Fluid level will lower slightly as pads wear. That's normal but it's not too much.

 

Fair enough, I misinterpreted your response.

 

Just picked it up from the shop.

New brake master cylinders (3 total?)
New shoes
Drums cleaned and machined
Both rear axel seals
Brake fluid
They even fixed the broken zerk fitting on my spc ball joint.

$1500 otd.

 

Damn. Sounds like $1300 labor. But glad its good to go!

 

That's actually a reasonable price for all that labor. I'd reckon axle seals are 2-3 hours per side alone for most shops.

 

Pull a wheel, pull the drum, remove brake line from brake cylinder, remove e-brake cable, slide axle out, slide hammer out old seal, tap new one in, replace parts, bleed brakes. 2-3 hours is not even close. I could easily replace both sides in 2 in the driveway and I've got pretty solid OCD when proj'ing on the rig. Did you mean wheel bearings 2-3 hours per side?