Master Cylinder

[Tun]

Good day All,

I have 2006 camry LE 4 cylinder with 31000 milage.
I have noticed my break padel become soft n the more I depress, padel is more going down. I found break fluid isn't reduce and car is still stop when I depress the break. People said its because of defective master cylinder.
Any one know how to check the master cylinder whether it is good or not.

Tks & brgds
Tun

[Redline_Me]

As far as i know only drum breaks have a master cylinder. Try bleeding the breaks, if thats not it check your calipers.

[Dave's]

As far as I know the reservoir which contains the brake fluid is part of the master cylinder regardless of the type of brakes. I'm not a brake specialist but to my knowledge, if you pump up the brakes until the pedal is nearly full up and you hold pressure on it, they should remain tight. If the pedal sinks, even slowly, you have a leak, your brake rubber lines may be 'ballooning' or your master cylinder is defective. Don't feel shy about bashing me if I'm wrong. I'm a big boy and know things have changed some since I used to spend a lot of time working on vehicles.

[gdanaher]

Redline--You are right. You should never comment about things that you know nothing about. Every car has a master cylinder if the car has a hydraulic braking system.

Now, if the pedal is going toward the floor slowly when depressed and you have to pump up, then yes, there is a seal leak. Easy to diagnose. If the seals at the wheel cylinders are bad then they are leaking fluid at the wheel. Look on the underside of the wheels around the calipers or drum cylinders if so equipped. If no obvious fluid is seen, then the seals in the master cylinder are at fault. Since you don't know much about the subject, take it to a shop and have them replace the master cylinder and bleed the system. Any air in the hydraulic lines will compress and resultantly not provide any braking or at best a spongy pedal. Get someone to do this who knows what they are doing so that you don't kill yourself or anyone else.

[Redline_Me]

Maybe i miss understood, but i thought he was saying that his brakes weren't releasing. Meaning the pistons on the calipers were not retracting. My bad

[Tun]

Good day Redline,Gdanaher & Dave,

Thank for all your advice. I don't see any leaking fluid at the wheel so it could be defective master cylinder. Will bring my car to dealer to find out and
thanks again for all advise.

Brgds
Tun

[njerald]

Bleed your brakes first.

[gdanaher]

My guess is that if the OP is asking how to check a master cylinder then he has no idea how to bleed the system and will wind up worse off than when he started. Some jobs might be very easy for you and me if we know what to do, but if we are clueless then it could be all @#$%^&*().

[Tun]

Hi Gdanaher & Njerald,
Well understood. Will bring my car to dealer next week.
Thanks again for all good suggestion & advice.
I really appreciate it.
Brgds
Tun

[Mike Gerber]

While at the dealer see if you can check another car the same year as your car with the same 4 cylinder engine. See if it feels the same to you. I've heard many people complain that Toyotas of this vintage have soft, sometimes even spongy brakes.

Mike

[gdanaher]

Soft is one thing. Being able to push it slowly to the floor and then pump it back up is any matter totally.

[JohnGD]

You have a 2006, so I'm not sure if the comprehensive warranty still applies. But if the master cylinder is bad then you need to have it replaced, do expect about $300-500 at the dealer.

Originally Posted by Tun

Hi Gdanaher & Njerald,
Well understood. Will bring my car to dealer next week.
Thanks again for all good suggestion & advice.
I really appreciate it.
Brgds
Tun

[gdanaher]

The new part is about 121 bucks at O'Reillys Auto. Similarly priced elsewhere no doubt. Figure an hour labor to r and r the part and bleed the system. If you know what to do this is a driveway job. If you don't, let someone do the job. Dealer is fine but pricey.