Actually had a new brake booster installed back in July. After I got the van back, Everything appeared normal for about 2 weeks. I came home from one shift okay, and the van wasn't okay as I was leaving my driveway. (I had been parked about 10-15 minutes.) I was on my way to my next shift, and when just out of my driveway, I couldn't depress the brake pedal at all...
I'm not sure how many miles I went, 2-3, and it was about 13 minutes later, when I smelled something AWFUL. I wasn't sure it was me at first, but that brake pedal wouldn't depress the whole time I'd been driving, so I babied it to my clients house and called the mechanic. He came out, test drove the van (about an hour after sitting), and said my brakes were fine, but he would tow me home so my husband could look at it. My husband had discovered the shim that was put on top of the pad had slipped, and the the tab on the shim had been rubbing on the rotor. We thought that was the issue. Oh, and also, when I couldn't depress the brake pedal, I could just BARELY touch the pedal at all, and the van would stop. When I let off the gas, the van wanted to stop immediately, as opposed to coasting. So my nephew said it could be the caliper.
My husband replaced the caliper, as it seemed that the front passenger brake was the issue (that was the shim situation as well, and the source of the smell). The van rode again, the brake pedal wouldn't depress, and the smell was back. So he called my brother and his friend, who both said that it sounded like the brake lines were collapsing. We replaced both. I hadn't noticed an issue since, but Thursday night, less than a week after new brake lines, coming back from the store, I smelled that burning brake smell again. My husband had mentioned that on the way to the store, the brakes were hard for about 10 minutes, then were okay again. He tried to do research, and found on a website, many many complaints about the brakes similar to mine, and how when you let the van sit, the brakes work fine again - so the mechanic, or the Toyota service people, tell you your brakes are fine.
My husband said that you have to pull over, turn the van off for a while, the computer for the brakes will then reset, and it'll be okay. Between the issue with the shim, and the new caliper, I drove to work just fine, had to go to my clients doctor's office for her, and I was gone maybe 5 minutes inside the office (5 mile drive from clients house to doctor office). When I got back to the van, the brakes were really hard, and the van was shimmying and and shaking in that front to back motion, not side to side... as if the calipers weren't releasing - but that was after 5 minutes of sitting when the brakes were fine. I don't know what else we can try, if it really is a computer issue with the brakes, and how do we get Toyota to listen to us?
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Actually had a new brake booster installed back in July. After I got the van back, Everything appeared normal for about 2 weeks. I came home from one shift okay, and the van wasn't okay as I was leaving my driveway. (I had been parked about 10-15 minutes.) I was on my way to my next shift, and when just out of my driveway, I couldn't depress the brake pedal at all...
I'm not sure how many miles I went, 2-3, and it was about 13 minutes later, when I smelled something AWFUL. I wasn't sure it was me at first, but that brake pedal wouldn't depress the whole time I'd been driving, so I babied it to my clients house and called the mechanic. He came out, test drove the van (about an hour after sitting), and said my brakes were fine, but he would tow me home so my husband could look at it. My husband had discovered the shim that was put on top of the pad had slipped, and the the tab on the shim had been rubbing on the rotor. We thought that was the issue. Oh, and also, when I couldn't depress the brake pedal, I could just BARELY touch the pedal at all, and the van would stop. When I let off the gas, the van wanted to stop immediately, as opposed to coasting. So my nephew said it could be the caliper.
My husband replaced the caliper, as it seemed that the front passenger brake was the issue (that was the shim situation as well, and the source of the smell). The van rode again, the brake pedal wouldn't depress, and the smell was back. So he called my brother and his friend, who both said that it sounded like the brake lines were collapsing. We replaced both. I hadn't noticed an issue since, but Thursday night, less than a week after new brake lines, coming back from the store, I smelled that burning brake smell again. My husband had mentioned that on the way to the store, the brakes were hard for about 10 minutes, then were okay again. He tried to do research, and found on a website, many many complaints about the brakes similar to mine, and how when you let the van sit, the brakes work fine again - so the mechanic, or the Toyota service people, tell you your brakes are fine.
My husband said that you have to pull over, turn the van off for a while, the computer for the brakes will then reset, and it'll be okay. Between the issue with the shim, and the new caliper, I drove to work just fine, had to go to my clients doctor's office for her, and I was gone maybe 5 minutes inside the office (5 mile drive from clients house to doctor office). When I got back to the van, the brakes were really hard, and the van was shimmying and and shaking in that front to back motion, not side to side... as if the calipers weren't releasing - but that was after 5 minutes of sitting when the brakes were fine. I don't know what else we can try, if it really is a computer issue with the brakes, and how do we get Toyota to listen to us?
- emeraldspring, Stratford, US