Well folks..I never post here but I usually browse the threads. I finally decided to mod my tc but I figured I'd start with handling and braking. Well first off..my brake pad is soft..I've had to top off my brake reservoir with brake fluid and the stopping power of my tc has seemed to decrease, that's when I topped off the reservoir. Well it continues to happen so I got curious the other day, jacked her up, and checked every single pad inside and out and the pads seem normal?!! Am I missing something here? Is this normal for a car to do? The pad is fine, especially the rears, yet it squeals and braking performance has gone down. Any help would be appreciated. I may get me some Hawks in the very near future..but any insight would be helpful. Thx SL.

 

do you have an air in your brake lines?

what is your mileage?

the tc's brakes are pretty good, they aren't grabby brakes, they have a very linear pedal travel, not like some cars where you just tap the pedal and the brakes grab immediately.

are you having to push the brake pedal all the way down to stop, or is it just feeling soft?

 

How will I know if I have air in the lines? Well when I first got the car I noticed it was definitely better than my 2000 Eclipse LOL. I get subtle braking when I press on them, but in order to get something pretty effective..I have to push down hard (not all the way though). I guess its feeling soft as well..I'm not quite sure but from what you explained..its all of the above haha.

 

you'll probably know if there's an airbubble in the brake fluid if your brake pedal feels soft. liquids, unlike gases have a more defined volume (can't be compressed easily) so if there's no airbubble(s) in your brake fluid then the pedal should feel pretty firm. gases (air) have a less defined volume (can be compressed really easily) so the pedal feels soft. hope that helps you out.

 

hmm when I press my brake it goes far down, and when I'm at a stop and pump the brake I hear air in the brakes. I thought maybe my master cylinder was shot idk

 

also, my brakes use to squeal like hell about 1000 miles after i bought the car brand new. the dealership resurfaced the pads and the squeal continued a few miles after the resurfacing. i personally thought the oem tC brake sucked. if i remember correctly, they're the same units recycled from the last generation celicas which is why they suck as hell on our tC's which are a few hundred pounds heavier than celicas. i bought the stoptech stage 2 kit which solved my issues, braking improved somewhat over stock but no more squealing issues.

 

I was thinking about just upgrading my braking system anyway. Any kits available that can fit in my stocker 17's?

 

just get better brake pads.. porterfield makes an awesome carbon-kevlar pad. the R4S www.porterfield-brakes.com

 

How does it compare to the infamous Hawks?

 

I have the EBC Ultimax pads on mine, and they're definitely grabbier than stock and pretty cheap too.

If you want to get rid of the spongy, squishy feel to the pedal get some stainless brake lines installed

 

SS brake lines don't change the feel of the brake pedal on the tC under normal and slightly aggressive driving conditions.

Like the other said, you may have air in the lines and you should have your brakes bled... just make sure its done with the engine running.

 

^^^ "spongy" is subjective. When i first got my tC I thought "man, these brakes are soft" because i couldn't really modulate braking like I was used to. A lot of play in the pedal.

I was used to my old 91 civic though with it's upgraded brake cylinder and SS lines though...

So yeah, could be air but i'd be surprised if it needs bleeding without anyone having opened the lines (ex. installed calipers or something)

 

Lots less brake dust from what i've seen of those with Hawks. The brake dust is the same as oem. No noise, works in all temperatures -10 to 100, from what I've experienced. Mileage is about 50-60k on the porterfields. And the brake feel, 1/8 - 1/4 pedal travel and the car is STOPPED! Any more than that, you're going to be kissing the dashboard. lol Only thing I found was breaking in took some time, for the brake material to transfer to the rotors/discs. After that, they were good for a long long time.

but im talking the R4-S pad, not anything else, since the other stuff they have is not for the street.

 

I haven't touched my brake lines as yet. Never have (got the car last June or so as in 08 model). I did however bring it into Scion service, but for the same reason. I felt the brakes weren't as powerful as it was when I first got the car. Maybe I'm just being paranoid lol.

 

you're not alone i've seen it myself as the pads wear, the brake fluid will go down, and if you replace it up to the max level, the brake pressure and "feel" return. A lot of people will say don't replace the fluid replace the pads, but not when there is still a lot of pad left. Another thing to check is the sliding pins on the caliper, they seem to go dry every 15,000 miles, but that should be brake service time anyway. If the sliding pins are dry and not greased up, you'll notice that you have to hit the pedal more to stop.

The service manual calls for a lithium soap based grease, but so far the toyota dealers don't have a clue where to find it.

So if TOYOTA is reading, would ya help us find this Lithium soap based grease? Why specifiy it in the service manual if no one can find it?

 

how pretty interesting how Toyota will mention stuff that their dealerships don't even know about.