skinnayyy

When i push down on my brake pedal, it kinda pulsates back throughout the time that i'm braking. It also does it at slow speeds, it's not just at fast speeds although it does it at higher speeds more. I have plenty of fluid. and when i bought the car in february from the toyota dealer, everything on the car had to be at least 50% so i don't think i went through that much of my brakes in 4k miles for them to be bad yet?

any suggestsions for what it is?

Nunyo

your brake rotors could be warped and may need to be resurfaced. If they are badly warped, the rotors may need to be replaced. heat can cause premature rotor warping, or if the brake calipers are bad (ie brake piston seals going out) this can damage rotors as well. caliper seals can be replaced, but its a shop job unless you have the knowledge and resources to do it.

getaforknjob

iTrader: (-1)

It very well could be a caliper is shot.
I had the same exact thing happen to mine, and one of my calipers seized on me.

Thank you warranty.

skinnayyy

haha yeah unfortunately.. .no warranty for me lol

getaforknjob

iTrader: (-1)

Ouch...

skinnayyy

yeahhhh how much would it cost for new calipers? or to get the calipers fixed? and how would i go about checking if it's the caliper that needs to be fixed/replaced? i just don't want to waste a bunch of money ><

Go4shoped

Have you ever replaced your rotors? or resurfaced them? How many miles are on the car? How many sets of pads have you gone through?

Rotors are the most common cause for pulsation. I'd take a stab at them first. Calipers are expensive.

Silverstreak-tC

Before you go and buy calipers make sure to check the conditions of the rotors first. Try to feel for any uneven surfaces any ridges and also check if the pads are wearing out unevenly, and if so then resurface the rotors. If the pads are wearing unevenly then the calipers need to be serviced. Do these inspections first before assuming that its the calipers and also check to see if the seals are out on the calipers.

Nunyo

agreed, i would start with rotor wear analysis before just replacing calipers.

heres signs of a warped rotor


signs of a seized caliper, notice the uneven pad contact striations on the rotor

skinnayyy

alright thanks for the pictures ill check out when i get home. im hoping its the rotors because i was aboit to be getting a stage 2 brake kit in a couple days

jobunaga

it sounds like your abs is kicking in. do you know if the brake pads have ever been changed on the car?

skinnayyy

well i bought the car as a certified used car in february, and i've only put like 6k on it. They said that to be a certified car that wheels, brakes, wipers, etc had to all be at least 50% life. So I'm just assuming that i didn't go through the brakes that fast.

skinnayyy

i took some pictures... and here's what i got!

front (left and right both look the same)


left rear



right rear




so it looks like i have some bad calipers on both of my rears

Nunyo

your rear brakes are gone. I would get those checked asap. The calipers look like they might be seizing up, especially the right rear. If you dont get those checked or fixed, your rotors will gain further damage, if this happens, the option of resurfacing them will not be possible if the calipers start to create gouges too deep to repair. the fronts also look like the rotors have been resurfaced to hide any possible issues with them, but they look ok from the pics. Running a finger from top to bottom of the rotor can reveal any gouging of the rotors by the calipers also. Rotors wont stay perfectly smooth through the life of them, but heavy gouging on the rotors are not a good sign either. The color of the rear right rotor also shows high heat generation (black color) because the calipers are not distributing brake force evenly across the whole rotor surface.

Your vehicle should have some kind of warranty because it is a certified vehicle, but it may not cover normal wear and tear of certain parts on the vehicle. If thats the case, I would go to an independent brake specialist, get an estimate, go to the dealer ask them to fix the problem and if they come up with some BS about its not covered except for the calipers and they state theres nothing wrong with the calipers, show them the estimate from the independent shop if it states that the calipers need repair. At least you wont have to pay for that portion.

But thats just me, I've been in the car dealer bizness and trust me, they can be some sneaky *****.

skinnayyy

would the calipers be something that could get repaired or would i have to get all new ones? and how much (estimate) would it be to fix them if they could be fixed?

Silverstreak-tC

Yah your rears looks gone for sure. You can have your calipers rebuilt if you want but then you have to wait. Or instead of buying a new one you can buy a rebuilt one.

skinnayyy

well i do the banking for an auto place so having them rebuilt is no problem. it's there right now because he was looking at it to see what was all wrong with it. I'll know tomorrow what i gotta do!

sciontc_mich

you might not have to rebuild them. I had sticking calipers as well, thanks to a dealership that used the WRONG sliding pin lube (they used silcone, DO NOT USE THIS!). Have you checked the sliding pins? Mine were burnt because of lack of the correct lube causing it to seize up. Lubed it up with the correct Lithium Glycol Soap Grease from Toyota and replaced the burnt sliding pins. All is well now!

Might want to check that first before buying a new caliper, unless of course you find the caliper's piston is binding.

Oh and the Toyota part number for the correct sliding pin grease is
08887-01206 it wasn't cheap like $13 but it is the right stuff.

skinnayyy

is it easy to get to the pins? i'll have my car back today and then i'll know what they found out to the problem.

but 13.00 dollars isn't expensive when you look at the price of calipers ^^

sciontc_mich

it's easy to get to the sliding pins. On the rear, one has to come off to be able to move the caliper. The other is mounted at the top, using an 8mm hexagonal socket to remove it. So not hard to get to at all. The brakes on the tC are the easiest out there.

yes calipers aren't cheap. IF it's just the pins binding up then just replace and lube. let us know what they found.