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Hi everyone,
I have a 1998 Toyota Tercel has ~190,000km on it. It was always serviced by a mechanic. For the past year or two it has had a very spongy brake pedal. The pedal almost sinks to the floor. The brakes also pulsate when applied at high or even medium ( 50 – 100 km/h ) speeds. Even without brakes applied I can hear a very faint cylindrical scratching sound on the front driver’s side. It would scratch faintly at a certain point on each rotation of the wheel.
From now on I would like to start service and repairs on my own. Since this is my first time I have come here for advice. I understand from watching EricTheCarGuy youtube videos that this is probably a warped rotor and faulty master cylinder. But because this is my only source of transportation that I need Monday – Sunday, I cannot risk having it nonoperational for more than one day.
Can you guys ensure me that this is the problem?
If so, what type of rotors/brake pads should I be getting? Remember this is a light car at almost the end of it’s life, I’m not looking for super high performance parts.
Would you guys have some specific tips such as tools needed, what to look for, etc?I thank you for any help provided. 🙂
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Are you losing any brake fluid? You may have leaking rear brake cylinders instead of a bad Master cylinder, but given your year of car, it may very well be bad master cylinder.
Replacing a master cylinder is a fairly straightforward job, A couple of brake line fittings (flare nut wrench is best to remove these, but not an absolute necessity unless they are really stuck) as well as a couple of nuts which hold the MC on to the vacuum booster…. The part that must be done properly, is that a new master cylinder must be bench bled. Most MC’s come with tubing and fittings (some with instructions as well)… Just ensure all air is removed from the MC before you install the replacement back on the car.
Rotors are very simple as well, remove the wheel, remove the caliper and then just take off the old rotors… Sometimes they can get fused on pretty well, so if you are replacing them, don’t worry about using a hammer to knock them off…
It is always best to use OEM parts, but in the real world with the expense, it gets pretty pricey… I use aftermarket parts for both of these jobs and have had minimal issues with them… Also, I use ceramic brakes, the cheap pads will have dust all over your wheel and you cleaning it off every week (if you have alloy rims..) and will wear much faster…. I recommend trying to find good quality aftermarket parts…
Best of luck,
-Karl
ToyotaKarl pretty much said everything. Follow the video’s and what ToyotaKarl said and you should be fine. Good luck to you and keep us posted on how the job goes 🙂
see if this helps.
Just want to add, if you do not find any leaks, the spongy pedal could be the result of air in the system as well, so it might be worth bleeding the brakes first before condemning the master cylinder.
I will try to bleed the brakes first to see if that helps, in case there is air stuck inside the sealed brake system.
As for the brake pad purchase, should I buy brake pads WITH shims or without?
Keep in mind that all we can do here is provide advice. We cannot guarantee a result. That said, in addition to what’s been posted above, the brake pads themselves can cause a spongy pedal. If the backing is rusted or covered in disc brake quiet goop, this can also cause a spongy pedal. Much of this is covered in the article I wrote on brakes for this website. I’ve also written about the noise you describe in the Diagnosing Noises article. Here’s a link to both of those.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-brake-problems
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/diagnosing-noises-in-your-car
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