Sticky Brakes - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

rlhjr20002 · 03-02-2010, 04:17 PM

I own a 2003 Camry XLE and have experienced the following problems with my brakes. In early January 2010 I parked my car in my garage and applied the emergency brake. The following morning I went to drive to work and I noticed that the brake pedal was depressed on its own, with no effort by me. I found it odd that the brake lights were not on. I released the emergency brake and the brake pedal remained depressed. I turned the car on and tried to back out of my garage, but the brakes were frozen in place. I could not move without really revving the engine and almost flooring it. I turned the car off and on a few times with no effect. Finally in frustration I just started pounding the brakes really hard and finally this unfroze the brakes and allowed the brake pedal to unfreeze and let me drive the car. From that point forward everything was fine that day.

Just yesterday (February 28) this happened to me two more times. In the morning, I tried to back out of the garage and the brakes were frozen again. It was not an overly cold night – outside it was in the upper 20s, but inside it was above freezing. The one thing I did the night before was get my car washed. I wondered if possibly getting the undercarriage of my car washed might have had some effect on all this.

Anyway, the final occurrence happened later on February 28 after I started driving for about 10 minutes. I was slowing down to go into a turn, and then getting ready to accelerate coming out of the turn, when I noticed that the brake pedal remained depressed after I took my foot off the pedal. I had to pump it a couple times to get it to free up. After that I was able to drive normally.

Any ideas about the problem? I am getting concerned over the safety of this car. I don’t want to drive it if I can’t rely on the brake system to work correctly.

GT-R · 03-02-2010, 04:22 PM

Everybody else have sticky accelerator pedal and you have sticky brake!

Maybe it's time to replace the brake pads?

eskymi · 03-02-2010, 04:32 PM

I don't think the temperature or the fact you washed your car has anything to do with it. Do you notice a burning type smell, this could indicate a caliper hanging up maybe.

Or I wonder do they still need to bleed the brake lines if air gets in. I wonder if this could account for the behavior. Or low brake fluid.

I don't know enough about modern cars to know if any of this applies...for all I know they might have drive by wire brakes now....YIKES>

I do not know if any of these apply http://www.garage411.com/Brakes but this website gives lots of troubleshooting.

rlhjr20002 · 03-02-2010, 04:42 PM

Thanks, I had the dealer check this and that was not the problem. I appreciate the thought.

rlhjr20002 · 03-02-2010, 04:44 PM

No burning smell or anything else unusual. And I had the dealer check the brake fluid and bleed the brake lines. Still nothing. It has the dealer at a loss. They say they have tapped into their Toyota network and no one else has had this problem before, ever.

eskymi · 03-02-2010, 04:54 PM

The only other thing I can think of would be maybe the dealer could lubricate some parts. I don't know if that is possible but it's all I have got.

I am sure that someone with more knowledge than I will be on here soon and be able to help you further.

If you figure it out, let us know. I have never heard of it before, but it is an interesting situation.

Donald E. George · 03-15-2010, 12:51 PM

Very interesting problem. You didn't say if you have the four or V6.My 20004 LE with the V6 has rear disc brakes. The rear discs have a smaller integral drum with shoes for the parking brake. The Camry uses two types of brake pedal support assemblies. Normal type and Link type. [Toyota's terminology] Both types use a brake pedal return spring. That return spring serves to deactivate the stop lamp switch assembly. I think there is a much stronger spring in the brake booster. That is why it is so hard to apply brakes when the engine is not running and the small vacuum tank is depleted. The rear shoes on drum brake could be hanging up on the backing plate and not retract. There are 6 lube points where Toyota calls for "high temperature grease". Perhaps the booster push rod is out of adjustment. Not likely though.A good brake man should be able to troubleshoot the problem. You may not find that man at Toyota dealer. Look for a reputable brake repair shop. [Not one that installs mufflers and calls itself a brake shop] Pleas keep the forum posted on the repair denouement.