Brake issue...

[97camryman]

So my girlfriends brakes on her gen 3 suck. They are spongy and the pedal goes all the way to the floor. New pads, rotors are fine, lines have been bled of air bubbles, what do you guys think? Master cylinder?

[justchillinjefe]

check to make sure the rear calipers arent frozen, i had similar symptoms and that was the problem.

[ECale3]

The brakes are pretty spongy in general. Maybe some upgraded brake lines would help. I haven't figured out how to remedy it on my car yet either, although i'm hoping my soon to be upgraded brake system will help (with pedal feel, obviously it will help with stopping).

[Dave's]

Assume you've checked but just in case- the flexible line to the right front brake on my '92 was swelling out like a balloon with brake pressure applied. Sure it would have popped eventually. So you might want to check all of yours. But master cylinder's quite likely IMHO.

[Jeeves]

I'd point at the master cylinder or a poor bleed job.

[Eye8Pussies]

if this happened right after a brake job/maintenance, then I would say a very poor bleed

if this happened all by itself, then I would say master cylinder

[Camrymatic]

This was happening in my get 3. The pedal went all the way to the floor. Yes, it was the master cylinder. There was a leak in the piston and the hydrolic pressure was lost as some fluid escaped past the seal instead of pushing on the pads. You are looking at about 250 parts 200ish labor. I would get a quote from the mechanic on how much the sylinder is and if it sound high, buy it online, should save some $ that way.

[Hajoca]

I would not wait.
D/L the service manual's BRAKE section at the top of this forum
Get a rebuilt master cyl form a parts shop (NAPA, carquest, etc.)
Get lots of fluid... (For my cavalier, I had bought an entire litre, just to be sure)
Get (or borrow) a flare nut wrench set.
Bench bleed it, that is important.

Install.

[Davee]

Originally Posted by Hajoca

I would not wait.
D/L the service manual's BRAKE section at the top of this forum
Get a rebuilt master cyl form a parts shop (NAPA, carquest, etc.)
Get lots of fluid... (For my cavalier, I had bought an entire litre, just to be sure)
Get (or borrow) a flare nut wrench set.
Bench bleed it, that is important.

Install.

WOW $250 US for a master cylinder -- sounds high ?

[1kdude]

A reputable toyota mechanic told me just replace the master cylinder with a new Aisin one, they make the toyota cylinders anyway and its much cheaper without the toyota name on it. Also replace the lines with stainless steel ones (tirerack, goodridge, $137), made a real difference on my gen4.

Don't cheap out on brakes, they can save a world of hurt.

[Jeeves]

I'm pretty sure Aisin is OEM for Toyota..