Hissing Sound From The Brake Pedal

[Amila G]

Hi Guys,

Got 3 issues on my corolla CE110.

1. There's a hissing sound from the brake pedal when I push it and release it. This wasn't there a long time ago, but started couple of months back. Is this normal ?

2. When I start the car with the foot firmly on the brake pedal (to test the brake booster), it goes down very slowly. You don;t notice it unless you keep pushing on the pedal really hard. When I checked in a van (with the same engine) the pedal went down really quick when the engine is started.

3. Brake fluid, master pump washers, liners, pads were changed about an year ago but I notice now the brake fluid has become dark in color (not very black but like dark brown or so).

Are those normal or do I have a problem in the brakes ? Apart from that I don't have big issues with the braking performance but the car feels a bit unwilling to stop in hard braking but the pedal is hard. Also the brake pedal travels only about 1.5 inches in normal braking and a pal said it is too high and should travel more.

According to a mechanic I don't have an issue but from the experience I don't trust those bloody mechanics so I need advice from you guys.

On a side note about 2 years ago I had a master pump washer failure in colombo and lost brakes, luckily in slow moving traffic so didn't hit anything.(Master pump was replaced after that due to corrosion in it) After that I'm kinda too concerned about the brakes .

[slcamel]

I had a same kind of noise prob in my FB15 long time back - Changed the Brake Saver/Booster.

http://www.aa1car.co...ary/booster.gif

Check your saver rubber seals where the arm rod/shaft goes in.

Edited January 25, 2012 by slcamel

[NRX]

I too have the exact same issue with my FB13, a hissing sound when releasing brake, and the engine RPM drops and tries to stall when this happens. This wasn't there before going for a carburetor tuneup.