IDK what to do now....

My Tundra has been mine for 3.5 years from 53k to 95k miles.

Love my White 2014 1794 Edition it is a 2 owner, clean, well maintained, never offroaded truck that I spent over 9months searching over 500miles along the east coast for......but....


First off, my truck regularly gets 10.5-11.5mpg around town, 12-13.5mpg Hwy, 7-8.5mpg towing a 5k lb 16ft enclosed cargo trailer.
This alone is almost enough to break my heart and make me sell my baby.
We are a Toyota family of multiple generations....
My 98 4runner under my 10-year ownership went from 200k miles to 300k miles daily use without ever breaking down on me even once.
Just fluid maintenance, brakes, and 1 alternator.

A few days ago, I took my truck in to the local dealer for an oil change, a brake check, and a flush and fill of the brake fluid.
As of last week, my truck has an intermittent brake problem where randomly the pedal goes 3/4 of the way to the floor, then grabs.
This happened 3 times, and 1-2 pumps of the pedal brought it back to normal.
Except one instance it took 10 pumps....
They said the brake check was free so why not have them tell me what's wrong then maybe I'll go fix it for way less money....

I was told it may be a $900 installed, national backorder, Brake master cylinder.
They claim my master cylinder has a slight seep at the bottom which I can't find.....that is the cause of my problem, or it was my fault (me a retired mechanic with 1000+ brake jobs done) from replacing the front pads and rotors around a year ago.....for a problem that just started a week ago.
But they are not sure that's the cause, let's start here they say...
Did I mention truck ran perfect and never had any warning lights or malfunctions?

They declined to do the brake fluid flush, saying this could make it worse (Impossible, it could only help the situation) and make them liable for a master cylinder or whatever.

My research shows folks with this issue who have done the master cylinder, only to sometimes also have to do a $1000+install dealer only ABS unit, or a $2500+install dealer only ABS Proportioning valve.
This is totally unacceptable.

I also found some folks solution was related to water vaporizing into gas pockets in the brake fluid which travels to the ABS system and get stuck, they claim.
Their solution was to drive down a dirt road over a dozen times and trigger the ABS system fully dozens of times so the pistons and valves in the ABS push the gas pocket out?
So, I did this last Saturday and so far, so good.
We will see if the issue returns, like when I'm towing my trailer again, or the jon boat I want to buy soon....

But wait, it gets better!

They also tell me my water pump is leaking!
I'm sure it is, even though I don't smell it, and my gauges are rock solid, and the fluid was not even low, but Toyota is known for this, and they can leak a long time before it gets serious.
It's caused by a poor design used on several different engines and vehicle models where a rubber seal starts to fail letting fluid escape, not mechanical failure like 99% of other water pumps.
This is another $900 dealer repair.

Lastly my serpentine belt is showing wear, and may also need a belt tensioner, do both they say, $450

Now I'm faced with a decision, start throwing money I don't have the budget for at my baby to get her fixed up, and keep burning gas like it's free, or trade her in for a domestic pos truck I don't want because I won't touch (and can't afford) the new POS Tundra with a 10ft pole.

I'm so upset about this situation.....
Some one play me a violin please, I am sinking....

 

I think you should keep it.

You would have to find a dirt-cheap, near-similar replacement to come out ahead.

A water pump and serpentine belt are wear items. They'll have to be replaced at some point.

Fuel mileage... if you end up taking even a 5,000 dollar hit to "upgrade", just imagine how much fuel you can buy with that.

The brake situation sounds like a scare tactic.

I would bet between taxes and registration, you will end up paying 10,000+ extra assuming you get into something similar.

The numbers aren't there to justify letting it go based on the info provided.

 

Sound like there is air in your brake system. A simple bleed should rectify that.

Then you need to find someone who is HONEST to work on your rig and give you advice.

 

Savage

 

Take it to a different Yota service center.

 

Good point, though I never buy new anyway, depreciation is for other suckers to pay for (present company excluded, you do you)

I think I will likely fix it as needed, for now, while I dream of a supercharger and a computer that can get better MPG out of this amazing engine.

 

Your exactly right!
Hence why I want a complete brake flush and new fluid, but they won't do that at my local dealership.
Guess I'll have to drive over a hour away to a different owner dealership and try again without mentioning any brake issues.

This dealership did give me honest info, I'm not claiming their lying, just being dicks about the brake fluid over bs liability crap.
I'm more mad at my actual truck over the weird brake problem and a leaking water pump under 100k miles.

I normally do most of my own work but very recently moved 2 states to the SC low country and am getting divorced.
But, I live on family property in a 1-bedroom efficiency with no pavement/concrete and no garage, and my tools are packed up in a trailer and it's hotter than a lizards ass in the desert down here, plus humid enough to not need sex lube, and the bugs down here in the swamp make it like living in Jurassic Park.

So was not planning to have to do any major repairs to what I thought was my rock-solid truck.
I was planning to start fluid maintenance at the dealer each month knocking them all out one by one....

 

Most definitely fix it and keep it.

 

Thank you!

Wish we had a sinking boat emoji lol.

 

Yes sir, I plan to do so, even though the next nearest is the same owner so my issue is likely in their system.
Have to drive to Charlston SC area to a different owner Toyota dealer and try again without mentioning any brake issue, just need fluid maintenace

 

Yea I think so to.

My wallet hurts.....

 

I'd keep it.

If it needed a new transmission or engine, it'd be debatable.

Re supercharging... I always wanted it too on my '15. My readings have shown that putting a SC on is hard on the truck and will likely shorten the life of it? So I live with using the Turbo button (tow/haul) when I need, ahem, want, even MORE get up and go.

 

Agreed, this issue while possibly expensive, is not as bad as those.

Forced induction is only hard on a motor if you push it to far with boost, or romp the crap out of it to much and don't maintain it.
If I get this truck to the point I'm comfortable adding it, after its paid off, and I save up the money, I will certainly add it and then keep the truck until I die, or it gets totaled by someone.

 

I think most mini vans are lucky to get 10mpg in northern Virginia, especially if you are anywhere close to 66 when it turns in to a parking lot. Ha.

If you REALLY wanna get rid of it, I’ll make you a lowball offer…

It does sound like air in the system or a bad mater cylinder. I’ve had vehicles with bad master cylinders but the pedal usually held enough pressure to stop fine, it just bled pressure when sitting at a stop and the pedal would fall. The dirt road ABS activation is just the non-Toyota Scanner way of cycling the ABS; they can do it techstream but it doesn’t sound like they want to. Given you are an experience mechanic, what is the condition of the brake fluid? Is the master cylinder cap faulty letting moisture in to the system?

 

@Bob Can this be a thing.

 

https://nationalspeedinc.com/packages/toyota/toyota-truck/2007-2021-tundra/tundra-xk50-platform/

They are in Richmond.

You try Springfield Toyota service center?

 

Yea living down here in SC low country now, the difference and lower stress of not having to deal with the NoVa traffic is amazing!

No, I don't REALLY wanna get rid of it, but thank you.

Trade in value is just under $30k and I owe $10k on it so I'm doing ok for now.

Yea they could have cycled the ABS and done the brake fluid flush I asked for, but they don't seem to know about this random weird issue I got.
Plus, they feel that will break the seeping master cylinder further, putting them on the hook for it failing after I leave because they are stupid.
Murphy and his posse of laws abducted me as a young child and put a GPS way up my ass, he always finds me eventually

When the pedal drop issue happened even though it came back after 1-2 pumps the pedal did have some leakdown for a few days afterward.
After my cycling the ABS manually, the pedal is firm again, for now.

The brake fluid "looks" fine, but I am past due on getting it changed with getting divorced and packing and moving and work and life
The cap seems fine, my engine bay is clean but dusty from all the recent moving/towing (which I was fixin to schedule a detail for before this bs happened)

I think I might be fine with getting the fluid swapped, the fluid is just old, and I moved to, and have been in a VERY high humidity environment for 2 months now.
If the Master goes out, or the pedal issue persists, I will certainly do the master cylinder, but with a National backorder I am screwed anyway, and ain't no aftermarket parts going on my Toyota.

I already tried that, I went cheap Amazon/ebay trash with the failed clock spring last year because Toyota thinks theirs is made of Gold.
Now if I hit the horn to hard, or hold it too long, I get the airbag light again until I restart the truck

I was planning on picking up and OEM one here eventually before this all happened...

Life is fun sometimes.
I need to find a safe place to fish for bass down here without alligators trying to eat me!

 

Thanks but I moved to SC low country recently.

No longer in my home state of VA.

I just updated my profile info so this doesn't come up again, sorry about that!

 

Is this your picture… I saw it on Murphy’s fridge.




Also, they sell gator repellant at most sporting goods stores. Comes in different flavors. I prefer 10mm scented.

 

LOL!

Yes, I have a similar gator repellent with me at all times, but I'd rather not have the stress of worrying about gators while I'm trying to fish.
I won't even use my $4k motorized fishing kayak down here and was looking for a cheap (aka unicorn) jon boat so I'm at least more than 3" off the waterline and harder to flip.

That was before my truck got sick.
Maybe it got covid, or more likely malaria, from being down in this swamp lol.

 

COVID - likely. EVERYTHING is a COVID symptom these days. Malaria? In my experience, malaria feels more like this…

 

Have you considered a used OEM master cylinder from a low mileage totaled truck?

 

I have not considered this, thanks!

Not sure I would, but maybe if mine goes out and I'm desperate.

 

This.

Doing brake pads may cause a vapor bubble traveling from the caliper up the brake line, yes.

I was suffering from spongy brakes in my Volvo for a few years, until it degraded enough to be just dangerous. A dozen of bleeds did nothing. Then I investigated a topic a bit more, plugged in Volvo's diagnostic software and scanner, and turned on all 4 ABS in/out valves. Immediately after I was able to evacuate a few huge air bubbles from one brake line. That restored the brakes.

Triggering ABS will do about the same job.

 

If you drop your Tundra for a big 3 because of these issues, you're just trying to hide from problems with a clear sheet. The big 3 will likely cause you significantly more problems and it sounds like that's exactly what you're trying to avoid. Keep in mind it's a 9 year old mechanical vehicle. As others have said, find a trusty mechanic that can fix all of the issues you have (if you can't do it yourself first) and keep the truck you enjoy and know that you will have minimal problems for another 9 years.