Sticky Brake Pedal

[vasy]

This is my 2009 XLE I4 with less than 20k miles. It has happened twice in the past 7 days. When I came off a highway and approached a stop sign, I put my foot on the brake pedal to slow down and then took my foot off the pedal once it reached the desired speed. The brake pedal did not come up as my foot lifted up (normally, when you lift your right foot off the pedal, you feel the pedal come up with your foot while maintaining contact with your foot). But as my foot lifted up, I could tell the pedal lost contact with my foot--it stayed depressed. Other than that, the car is running fine. Full brake fluid in master cylinder. No CEL. Coincidentally, both times happened at the same stop sign. The car is out of warranty and I appreciate your input.

[gdanaher]

It's under warranty. Take it to the dealer and let them check it. Might be a vacuum booster issue.

[vasy]

Originally Posted by gdanaher

It's under warranty. Take it to the dealer and let them check it. Might be a vacuum booster issue.

The 3-year basic warranty expired last month. I'm trying to avoid taking the car to the dealer and paying a diagnostic fee only to find out that they couldn't duplicate the problem.

[Donald E. George]

I would think Toyota would be all over this ready to do anything to avoid any publicity about a safety issue. Call the California 800 number in your owner's manual and ask that they authorize your dealer to check this under warranty. Mentioning something about safey,the NHTSA and an attorney might also help.Keep us posted. Regards

[vasy]

Originally Posted by Donald E. George

I would think Toyota would be all over this ready to do anything to avoid any publicity about a safety issue. Call the California 800 number in your owner's manual and ask that they authorize your dealer to check this under warranty. Mentioning something about safey,the NHTSA and an attorney might also help.Keep us posted. Regards

If they check simply by test driving the car for a short trip, the chance to confirm/duplicate the problem is extremely small. It happens very rarely - only twice so far. Does anyone know how to diagnose such a problem? If it's vacuum booster, how do you confirm it's intermittently bad?

[JohnGD]

Intermittent problems are always hard to diagnose. Since master cylinder rubber cups are like one-way valves and the booster push rod isn't permanently joined to the MC piston, the problem is probably in the pedal linkages and the booster.

As mentioned, I'd call Toyota corporate and talk about good will warranty. And I'd also file with the National Highway Safety Administration, in case something happens to you at least there is something on record:

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/online.cfm