Brake pedal stiff/hard when starting car

G

GT2QQ0

Member
Location
Markham, Ontario
Not sure how to explain this, but whenever I get into the car to start the engine, when I step on the brake the brake pedal is hard. Brake pedal feels stiff when applying pressure onto it, feels as if there is something restriciting the pedal from going down. You can't press down much because it feels like its fully pumped.

After you start the car, it releases and goes back down. The same end results/feeling as if you had stepped on the brakes multiple times while the car is off until you can't step down anymore. The brake feels like that when I get in to start the car.

Is there a problem? I have a 09 FX and I don't think the brakes have ever been changed, I bought it used last year and its now got about 80,000 km's on it.
 
Power braking. Steering wheel is probably also hard to turn: power steering.

"The brake booster uses vacuum from the engine to multiply the force that your foot applies to the master cylinder" - http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/brakes/brake-types/power-brake.htm

When you pump it a few times after turning it off it eventually depletes that vacuum. I assume the same thing happens over time. One issue with those runaway Toyotas was that people would turn off the car and then lose braking after they pumped it a few times.
 
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I just tried this on my 1st gen FX. Once i turn it off i have 1 full brake pedal pump after becomes real stiff. Maybe after u turn pff ur car u step onto ur brake pedal. Then when u come back its stiff.
 
MTN FX said:
Mine is only stiff And hard when turned on :eek.:

---------- Post Merged at 06:00 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 05:58 PM ----------

I must be getting old:rotfl:
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:laugh: Sounds like how it should work. You're not getting old.
 
Mine needs to be played with for a while and pumped a few times before it's stiff and hard. Maybe it's getting too old.

t'talk
 
GT2QQ0 said:
haha thanks! So its normal that is ALREADY stiff, even though I haven't touched the brake pedal at all since I last turned off the car?
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Lol yes... every car does it. Just confirmed with my 1992 F-150.
But it took 3 small depresses until I couldn't depress anymore
 
g0ldm4g3 said:
Lol yes... every car does it. Just confirmed with my 1992 F-150.
But it took 3 small depresses until I couldn't depress anymore
Click to expand...

I know that normally after a few depresses you can no longer step down anymore. I just find it odd that its already stiff before even touching it. Cause it was never like that before when starting the car, I used to be able to actually step down on the brake before hitting the push start button.

Now, every time I get into the car, the brake is already stiff hard and barely budges when I step down to start the car.

Just finding it odd that it always feels fully pumped/stiff even though it was never stepped on.
 
80,000 miles on original pads is allot are you sure they have never been done? I would check them and your brake fluid level. I've seen cases where when the pads were worn way down and the brake fluid was low so the owner would add brake fluid then later when they changed the pads and had to push the caliper pistons in to accommodate for the new thicker pads the brake fluid that was pushed back into brake reservoir causing it to be overfilled.I had to bleed some fluid from one of the bleeder screws to lower fluid level to correct level.
 
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