Brake Master Cylinder problems of the 2001 Toyota Camry

I was driving home from the dr. S and noticed that the brake pedal was making this loud noise and the pedal went almost to the floor but it had a crunchy noise and I knew that the brakes were not the same when I left my house. I pulled over and got out and noticed that the brake fluid was low and I had to go buy dot 3 and put it in the master cylinder. I kept driving it until I could find out what it was an was told that I needed a brake booster, but the car only has 87,546 mile's on it.

Several months ago, my 2001 Toyota solara began to shudder, sometimes violently, while driving down the freeway at 60+ mph. While pulling over to the off ramp, and applying the brakes to slow down, the brake pedal itself would fight back, pushing against the pressure. An inspection by the local dealership revealed no front end alignment problem (the front end had been aligned less than 10,000 miles earlier), and a check by the tire company did not reveal any uneven wear on the tires. The problem would manifest itself intermittently, and only after traveling more than 5 miles on the freeway at speeds in excess of 60 mph. I took the car to another dealership last month and, after a test drive with the mechanic, it was determined that the brakes were engaging when they heated up after driving more than 5 miles. The solution suggested was to replace the brake booster and master cylinder at a cost of $1400! I was told by the mechanic that continuing to drive the car under these conditions would result in the brakes locking up - a very scary situation. The dealership assured me there had been no bulletins or recalls associated with this model and problem, but I cannot believe that my solara is the only Camry model to experience this seriously dangerous condition. I have driven american cars in the past - one, a Buick lesabre, for more than 13 years and more than 180,000 miles without a problem of this magnitude. I feel that drivers are discouraged from reporting this particular problem, keeping it off the bulletin list and avoiding any recall.

Toyota solara 2001 had to have brake vacuum assist part replaced. Check engine light kept coming on. Was told that this would cause harm to catalytic converter and eventually may stop on highway. Car only has 60,000 miles on it and has excellent care. Was told by dealer that Toyota had recall of this part for their corollas for that year, but not the solara. This cost me $800 and could have resulted in damage to catalytic converter. Toyota should have to issue a recall for all the vacuum assist drums for that year since the part is the same for any model.

Brake fluid failed causing master cylinder seals to swell. It could not have been contaminated since no one ever touched the braking system since car was new. Mr.