Hello everyone,

I'm in need of what's going on with my 2005 Toyota Camry 2.4L (American Build), Non-skid, on the front brakes.

About 2 months ago my L/F brakes just locked up. So, I towed it to the dealership to have the brakes looked at and worked on. They said my Camry was locking up because the L/F caliper is freezing up. So, what the dealership did is replace the 2 front rotors, new brake pads, and new calipers. Got the brake fluid flushed out, also. I spent $ 760 dollars on getting the brakes worked on. Now, after about a thousand miles later and about 2 months, the same thing is happening. The L/F caliper are locking up.

I brought it back to the dealership and they said NOW, that it's the "ABS Actuator Pump Assembly" and the parts/labor would cost roughly $ 1300 dollars.. Now, when they replaced that part. The same problem is still happening. The L/F caliper is locking up. Luckly, when it was locking up I didn't drive the vehicle to far to damage the brand new brakes that was put in the first place.

Now, I'm out of money and my car is still at the dealership that the ASE certified mechanic is puzzled on what's going on with my Camry. I know that this problem is uncommon but, I'm out of money and my car is still in the shop after one week. I need my car and I need my car fixed.

What can I do claim this repair as a mistake on Toyota's part on "mis-diagnosing" my Camry? - And what could be the problem going on with my L/F brakes locking up?

I'm wanting to contact coperate and tell them what's going on because I'm frustrated and I simply can't afford any money to put on my brakes. Do anyone have a direct email address that I can write to the Toyota Corporate offices and hopefully somebody can help me out on resolving this issue I'm having with my brakes?

Any suggestions and help would be greatly appreciated it. Please help.

Regards,
Stomper - "...broke w/o my car.. need help.... fast"

 

Might state your problems at the Toyotanation website. Much larger membership.

Typically bad brake fluid along with system corrosion can cause problems like this. This can also happen if the sliders on the calipers are not free to move. But the dealer should have checked both of these.

There is typically a regional Toyota rep that can intercede.

If no success you can file a complaint with Toyota Corp by phone.

www.toyota.com/help/contactus.

Did this first start happening after a brake job?

 

Hi Toyo,

Thank you for your response. - The problem started before any brake job was done to the car. The system was flushed up and bleed when the new brakes were put in and the same issue started happening. The L/F Calipers are still locking up. Thereafter, the ABS actuator was replaced (thinking that the mechanics thought that was the problem) but, its still doing it.

It's in the dealership right now. Still boggled on what's going on.

 

Talk to the service manager and perhaps even the manager of the dealership (or owner). You spent $2K to date on a problem that is still not solved. That's a lot of money and this problem can be a safety issue.

Try to work with the dealer first as going over their head may turn the off. Suggest you be polite and persistent.

Sometimes something gets into the brake line (corrosion or water turning to steam) and the result is the caliper piston can not retract. The rubber hose going between the caliper and solid brake line sometimes breaks down inside and does not allow the pressure inside the caliper to release.

 

Thanks Joey,

I will do that. I already have written a letter to send to the corporate offices as well as the dealership 'General Manager' - I just hope that I will get some of my money back with a resolution.

Thank you so much, Joey!

Stomper

 

I see it's been a while since this thread happened, but I'm having a very similar issue. My L/F brake is dragging/caliper is locking up. I thought the same thing they thought on yours, so I replaced the caliper, brake pads, and turned the rotors. It worked fine for a couple of weeks, then started up again.

Were you ever able to figure out what was causing it on yours?

 

Please talk to Toyota corporate right away to open up a case as even that takes a while. In the meantime, speak to both service advisers and explain to them that it was obviously their mistake as it didn't fix anything. Not only could you have put your life in further danger by assuming it was fixed, but it wasted a lot of time too.

If they are not willing to work with you, speak with their manager. They are 100% in the wrong and you deserve 100% of your money back for them fixing something that wasn't wrong.

 

I would get my money back, but I did the work myself, so it's not the dealers fault. I worked on the car a while after it happened again and traced back to where the master cylinder piston controlling the LF/RR brakes seemed to be hanging up and keeping some pressure on, so I replaced the MC. It seems to be working now (fingers crossed, as replacing the caliper originally seemed to work to). So I was really hoping Stomper would get back since we were experiencing the same thing to know for sure what it was, if they ever figured it out.