Three problems related to brake master cylinder have been reported for the 2005 Toyota 4Runner. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2005 Toyota 4Runner based on all problems reported for the 2005 4Runner.
I was leaving my house and my brakes completely failed! foot to the floor and nothing happened. There was no warning or back up to help me stop. Luckily I was in my neighborhood and only ran into a neighbors yard (and did not hit any children). I had the car towed to a mechanic who told me the master cylinder was broken and needed to be replaced. After contacting Toyota, the parts dept acknowledged that this was a common issue, and then asked if I wanted the part (for a small fortune). Basically he said either you fix it, or don't drive the car anymore. In addition he compared the brake failure to a tv breaking! a tv?! a complete break failure puts not only the driver, but the general public in serious jeopardy. What has to happen for Toyota corporate to acknowledge this issue and issue a recall?.
Vehicle brakes failed completely. No warning prior to event. The brakes failed while driving. We had to coast into a parking lot and then apply the emergency brake. Multiple dashboard warning lights came on but none prior to the brake failure. There were no symptoms whatsoever of the impending failure. The dealer says the master cylinder failed. There were no serious injuries, however, if this had occurred just moments before we would have been on the interstate driving 60+ mph!.
2005 4 runner v8 had complete break failure at about 23000 miles. Vehicle failed to stop at intersection. Pulled vehicle into parking lot and the vehicle still did not stop. Emergency break had to be applied to slow vehicle down. Took vehicle to dealership and tests found that there was a malfunction in master cylinder. This could have been a very disastrous event. There is not warning on the vehicle when such a failure occurs.