We bought a 99 LE Camry from a family friend. It's got 15k original mi seriously! After having it for 3 months trouble free its got a brake issue now. When you press the brake pedal it starts braking fine but as your slowing down the pedal just slowly keeps going down and down till its almost at the floor when the car stops. I'm glad I discovered this before my daughters crashed into something. We got this car for them to drive. Twin girls who just turned 16 and have their permits but not DL yet. Anyway no fluid leaks and the fluid looks good and the res is full. I was thinking of just having the fluid flushed when I took it in to pep boys. I mentioned the mushy pedal so they did a brake inspection. They think it the master cyl along with doing F and R brakes for the tune of $1030!! Needless to say I took the car home and am looking at options. Not going to have the girls or anyone drive it for now. We have 3 other cars no no rush. Does this sound like a master cyl problem? I tend to think so. I can get a MC at rock auto for $50 to $60 and have another local mechanic do it for much less. Any thoughts?? Thanks, Curt

 

When was the car last driven? Does the car have ABS brakes. Look under hood on the passengers side of the engine for a module having a lot of steel brake lines running to it.

A few things to check:

Air in brake system: Bleed brakes and while at it flush out all the old fluid.

Brake system leaks: Check for signs of brake fluid and dropping fluid in reservoir.

Bad brake booster: Perform brake booster test. With foot off brake pedal, start engine let run for a say 30 seconds and turn off. Press on brake pedal until resistance is felt then release. Press again and determine if the pedal goes slight lower before hitting resistance.

Bad master cylinder: If all of the above is OK then this is most likely the problem.

Was the car maintained for those 15K miles as some items on the car will age out in terms of years not miles.

 

Thanks
I wanted them to flush the brake sys. They said it looks good and I agree. No fluid has leaked res is full and looks good. Of course thats no guarantee
I'l ck the brake booster. I'm going to have a guy I know whos a mechanic take a look at it soon. I'll get some stuff together first. Lots of brake fluid, Master cyl. etc.
The car was owned by an older lady who passed about 7 years ago. Her husband said he would drive it at least once a week. Got the oil changed annually regardless of mi and had all fluids checked at that time. He said its been trouble free. Its runs so good, like new. I do understand the age is 23 years so I've been looking at everything and before this issue couldn't find anything wrong with it. So it was well cared for just not driven much. Thanks again.

 

Take note that the timing belt is supposed to be good for 90K or say 8 years. If it breaks the engine will not be damaged.

The brake issue is most likely a simple.

 

So just to close this the Master Cyl was the problem. Got a local mechanic to take care of it for $350 parts and labor. I'm happy with that.

 

Great job.

Thanks for posting back with the fix.