Soft brake pedal

Tiny
MEMSAUNDERS
  • MEMBER
  • 2009 TOYOTA RAV4
  • 4 CYL
  • 4WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 150,000 MILES
My brakes work okay, but the pedal slowly goes all the way to the floor with sustained foot pressure. My mechanic has replaced the sliders and the master cylinder and has bled and checked the lines (the fluid level has always been okay and there has been no sign of a leak). I hear a sporadic rubbing sort of sound coming from one of the back tires, but it is not associated with applying the brakes and sometimes I do not hear it for days. What the heck?
Wednesday, November 8th, 2017 AT 4:48 PM

3 Replies

Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 12,963 POSTS
Sounds like you still have a bad master cylinder if there are no fluid leaks. The pedal dropping shows fluid transferring someplace. Master cylinder is the most likely. Not uncommon these days to get junk parts straight out of the box.
Try this test. With the engine off, pump the pedal a couple times to drain the vacuum booster. When the pedal gets hard, stomp it hard and hold it, does it still creep down?
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Wednesday, November 8th, 2017 AT 9:12 PM
Tiny
KYLE_B
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
Hey, I also have this same problem (2007 Rav4) and no, it doesn't creep down. I've also replaced the master cylinder and brake booster, drained the brakes (professionally), and replaced calipers and replaced rubber hoses. Still no fix. Any help please, I'm so confused.
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Saturday, August 7th, 2021 AT 6:30 AM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 12,963 POSTS
Okay, you say it doesn't drop when you hold the pedal with the engine off? However if you hold steady pressure with the engine running it does slowly drop? If that is the case it has a pressure leak somewhere or it is bypassing in the master cylinder. A way to isolate where the issue is would be to disconnect the lines from the master cylinder and then plug the ports. If it still does it the master cylinder has leakage past the seals and pistons.
If it doesn't then it is downstream of the master cylinder and you can repeat that testing at the components. As I said above it's unfortunately common to get bad parts these days and getting worse.
Now if you are saying that it doesn't have pedal drop but is still spongy, you have air in the system somewhere. I've had vehicles that took 2-3 bleeding sessions to get all of the air out of the small ports and lines.
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Saturday, August 7th, 2021 AT 1:35 PM

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