does your brake pedal go to the floor?

gonzo

gonzo

New member
i can routinely press my brake pedal all the way to the floor. when i have already come to a stop and am sitting at a stop light, with very little effort, i can push the pedal all the way down. i spoke with the service department about this and they said that it is completely normal to be able to do this.

seems wierd to me, somewhat unnerving.

anyone else have this "normal" condition on their 4runner?
 
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gonzo said:
i can routinely press my brake pedal all the way to the floor. when i have already come to a stop and am sitting at a stop light, with very little effort, i can push the pedal all the way down. i spoke with the service department about this and they said that it is completely normal to be able to do this.

seems wierd to me, somewhat unnerving.

anyone else have this "normal" condition on their 4runner?
Click to expand...

Sorry, but my wife has the 4runner today.

If the brake pedal touches the floor, it typically means your brake master cylinder is going out. There is a hydraulic seal in the master cylinder that is allowing brake fluid to pass.

I would go to another dealer and get a second opinion.
 
You mean after you're stopped right? Not when you're actually using the brakes to stop, right?
 
gonzo, I think your service department guy is full of it. I can't see any way you should be able to push the pedal to the floor, at any time, if things are working correctly.

I'd suggest taking it to a different mechanic. I'll bet you've got something failed or broken, but (especially if your 4Runner is 2003 or newer, with the electric brake booster instead of vacuum) I can't say I know much about what the failure would be.

Is the vehicle leaking anything from under the hood or from the wheels?
 
gonzo said:
i can routinely press my brake pedal all the way to the floor. when i have already come to a stop and am sitting at a stop light, with very little effort, i can push the pedal all the way down. i spoke with the service department about this and they said that it is completely normal to be able to do this.

seems wierd to me, somewhat unnerving.

anyone else have this "normal" condition on their 4runner?
Click to expand...

Pretty sure that is not normal. I have owned many vehicles and I have never had one where the brake pedal would go all the way to the floor. I would get a second opinion.
 
No way is it suppose to go to the floor.

Are you able to press it down to the floor in one swift step? Or does it sink down to the floor gradually with constant pressure? If it's the latter, it's the master cylinder.
 
My '03 2wd SE does this too! I'm going to the Toyota dealer this Friday to get it checked out.


For anyone in socal, which Toyota dealership do u guys recommend for service? I'm planning to go to Longo.
 
Ghostface80 said:
My '03 2wd SE does this too! I'm going to the Toyota dealer this Friday to get it checked out.


For anyone in socal, which Toyota dealership do u guys recommend for service? I'm planning to go to Longo.
Click to expand...

I'd vote for Longo or Northridge Toyota (close to me, far from you).

My pedal does not go to the floor.
 
This should not happen ever. If the fluid level is OK you either have a bad master cylinder or air in the line.

Koz
 
Yeah this isn't normal. The only time the brake pedal has touched the floor in any of my vehicles is when I've been bleeding the brakes. Otherwise the fluid pressure keeps it from bottoming out.

Take it to a different dealer and get a second opinion. This could turn into a safety issue if you let it go...
 
This happened to me a few times when I first got the truck. In my case it would be difficult to keep the truck stopped at a red light or stop sign as the pedal gradually sank lower and lower.
 
If the brake pedal won't go down to the floor for normal to hard braking but goes to the floor when very little brake pressure is applied for a steady time like if you were going to ride your brakes going down hill.......

I would be suspecious that the master cylinder is bypassing fluid from the primary piston to the secondary piston through the seal.
it will only get worse untill even moderate to hard braking wont make enough pressure to keep the seal from leaking as it becomes more damaged.

I once watched a lady in front of me come down a long hill. She started braking early but when she came up to the instersection I realized she was going to blow right through it. A cop was at the cross street and pulled her over just a little bit down the road.

She swore to the officers that her brakes failed and the officer got in and stomped on the pedal several times to show her that it was working and proceeded to write her a ticket even though she swore her brakes failed. After hearing her sincerity I explained to the officer that I was an ASE master certified Tech and wanted to check something. He decided to let me. As soon as I applied light pressure probbably just as she was coming down a long hill the pedal would start to slowly sink all the way to the floor. When you pressed harder on the pedal it would create enough pressure to expand the seal and keep the fluid from bypassing between the seondary and primary piston in the master cylinder.

Long story short. She got out of her ticket..... :bigok:

Any confedent tech should be able to see if it is for sure your mastercylinder or something else once they inspect it in person. If there are no external leaks and no air in the system what I mentioned would be my guess. One thing is for sure.... Your pedal should not go to the floor.


As a side note I remember seeing a ford escape that the customer had put front pads and rotors on and thought there was air in the system because the pedal would go to the floor. After bleeding the brakes and bleeding the abs with a scan tool because I thought it was air and that maybe the master cylinder had run dry when the customer changed the pads. To my suprise the abs bleeding did not improve the situation. At that point I decided to remove the wheels and look and the rotor's and pads on the calipers for any clues and bingo...... There was a spring that the customer had installed backwards. Turned it around and all was perfect but man did that ever throw me for a loop.
 
Last edited:
just got it back from the dealer. once again they said that this is completely normal. HOW CAN THIS BE NORMAL?!?
 
gonzo said:
just got it back from the dealer. once again they said that this is completely normal. HOW CAN THIS BE NORMAL?!?
Click to expand...

Can they let you test drive another 4Runner at the lot and compare the two? Or better yet, ride with the tech while he tests both trucks back to back.

Or try another dealership. Good luck, hope you get it fixed pronto.
 
In my opinion this is a safety issue, and potentially a serious one. Sharp4runr has a good idea, and I think you're within your rights to demand to drive another vehicle that does this. It's hard to figure why a dealer would approach this so casually, since they might have liability problems if you have an accident due to this.

Mostly I would 2nd Sharp4runr's advice to try another dealership. If they are handling this problem this way, how can you trust them to be competent to fix it (or anything else)?

On the subject of Sharp4runr's advice, I have a little story that's similar: I had a house built years ago and there was a terrible color mismatch on part of the roof that faced the driveway and street. The builder, rather surprisingly, was quite reluctant to get the roofer to fix it. I asked him to show me *any* house within a mile of me that was as bad. He knew he couldn't, and immediately agreed to fix it. And when the supervisor of the roofing outfit came by I happened to be there and he said "This is terrible, of course we'll fix it."
 
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