2022 Tacoma low power braking message

Anyone think that I have a bad vaccum pump?
press the brake down really slow and then pump the brakes lightly and quick and the message pops up.
this has happened a few times in the past few weeks. Finally got it on camera. When braking in traffic going down the road, the pedal feels really spongy and unresponsive. Like there is no power assist or it’s lacking. When coming to a stop I can press the brake with little response from the truck. If you keep pressing (about half way down) then it starts to slow down. Press further and there will be a clicking sound through the pedal. Something seems to not be responding when needed power braking assist. My vaccum pump makes a lot of clunking noises also but they said that was fine a year ago. It blinks each time you press the brake pedal when the light comes on.

 

This has been happening for a few weeks?
Stop fucking driving it and get it looked at.

 

It tells you to look at the owners manual.

What did you find about it there?

 

I already made an appointment. I was asking for an opinion on what you guys thought it was.

 

I had to call Toyota like 20 times to get through today. Effing

 

I was looking earlier but couldn’t find. Just found it:
Says the brake system is malfunctioning or the fluid is low. The fluid is fine so it’s malfunctioning somehow else.

 

that's the way it is here on Maui, I use the email of the last Service Rep that helped me and communicate that way.

 

A spongy feeling typically means there is air in the system. Air is compressible unlike brake fluid. If so, the solution is to bleed the brake lines.

A broken vacuum assist would give it a hard feeling. You can feel it if you turn the engine off while moving and then apply the brakes. You’ll need to press the brake very to get the truck to stop. It won’t be spongy though.

If the pedal goes all the way to the floor, you likely have a brake fluid leak. Bad news!

I have experienced all of the above during my life.

 

I don’t think it’s a leak. I checked everywhere and the level is fine. I think that this may be a booster issue. It’s when you pump the brakes and it needs to build up pressure that it shows the warning light. To me that sounds like it has maxed out or it can’t hold pressure anymore. It’s been making noise for over a year knocking. There is a faint clicking when pressing the pedal down while stopped. Travels all the way down.

also stopping seems to work for now it just takes furthe travel and it’s delayed which is not safe of course.

 

Link to video:
https://youtube.com/shorts/7yPGOdDbu8E?si=c3fAUgrRqiZL3yoJ

In this video I am pressing the brake slowly to the floor. You then hear a loud clicking noise about 2/3 the way down. Afterwards, I lightly pumped the brakes to get booster to build pressure.

 

Check vaccum pump for vaccum.
Chould be >26 in hg

 

Take sounds like air in system. A power brake failure doesn’t feel like that. But it’s hard to be sure without feeling it myself.

Also note that a vacuum boost works on lack of pressure that is caused by the engine sucking air out of a reservoir. It does not build up by applying the brakes.

EDIT: albeit the braking boost force is created by letting air into the reservoir when the brakes are applied, so i guess you could describe it either way. In any case, I’m not going to bet it’s not a vacuum boost failure. You used the word spongy which made me think of air is the system

 

Took it to Les Schwab and they did a bleed and fill complimentary. They did the rears im pretty sure since there was fluid near the purge valves.
I had a dealer put a new axle housing on a few weeks back and I’m betting they forgot something or messed something up. If that’s not it then probably the vaccum pump.

I’m going to mention checking it for vaccum. I believe there is a procedure from Toyota in the TSB they had for this previously.

 

I was able to duplicate it in front of service advisor today. I am concerned for the braking power when I am hauling heavy stuff. The feel of pedal has been slowly getting worse. It was normal when I bought it but then it slowly got more mushy and soft. It can almost go all the way down to the floor when pressing slowly.
The Camry loaner they put me in stops much better and faster without having to jam on the brake pedal. Every car is different but they should have good braking power no matter what driving situation.

 

Hi! Any update on what your issue was, or if they got it fixed? My husband just bought a ‘22 SR5 at the beginning of July. It’s still under warranty but he is experiencing EXACTLY the issue you’re describing. He thought it was happening 3 weeks ago with mushy feeling brakes, but it resolved on his return trip so he wasn’t sure. Today he got the error you’re talking about while he was pumping the pedal. He has an appointment with our local dealer in the morning but I just wondered if they figured yours out so we can know one possibility if they’re stumped on it. Thanks!

 

Hello,
Sorry to hear about this issue you’re experiencing.
I did get my truck back and everything was fine after.
The dealer that worked on it said that they put a brake bracket in the wrong orientation. This was from installing a new differential housing and not putting everything back the way it was supposed to be.
This was causing the truck to use mostly the front brakes for stopping power. Any history on work that has been done on your Tacoma?
I know they had a recall on a lot of newly built 3rd gen’s (389k of them) so it might be possible it was worked on and toyota fiddled with the rear brakes somehow (if he bought it used of course).

 

Thanks so much for responding, we’re actually taking it back to the dealer tomorrow after we got it back last week with them saying they couldn’t replicate the issue. They did put new tires on before he bought it. I’m not sure if the rims were also upgraded by the dealership before he bought it, but I should have him ask them about any work it’s had done as well. He finally got a photo of the error message on the dashboard at least so I’m hoping they can figure it out tomorrow!

 

Definitely have the video/camera footage if you can’t make it do it on the spot or have them replicate the issue. This was very noticeable to me that there was an issue when driving and coming to a stop quickly. The brake pedal felt like it had two stops. First stop was dim(rear drums engaging slightly) and then the fronts engaging all the sudden. Caused my truck to nose dive a few times on the freeway. Good luck and don’t take no for an answer. Give them the silent treatment and sit still until they crack and fix your truck.

 

This is a safety issue and the dealer should bend over backwards to get it corrected.

If not I'd whip out my phone and start videoing the dealers response. You already have images of the warning.

 

It’s unbelievable, they think we are dumb or something. There are lots of different people driving Toyotas so they encounter on top of a ton of customers, those that aren’t as knowledgeable on cars/trucks as the rest of us.
You have to prove to these people that you know what the heck you’re talking about. Not just “something is wrong with the brakes”. Thankgod this error message actually pops up when there is an issue.

When I took mine in for this issue, I was able to replicate it in front of the service tech. He said “when will you ever need to use the brakes like that?”. I was furious inside by his response. And then he said “ok we’ll take a look at it”.
Luckily I can control the emotions and I have a high level of respect for people or else he’d have an ear full. I had to call corporate multiple times in order to get some urgency in this case. And the issue stemmed from their own lack of workmanship. My trust in Toyota and the dealers in slim. First time buying a Toyota. Probably won’t do it again after all the crap this truck has had me deal with.