2001 Tundra Brake Issue

While driving down the road I noticed it was becoming harder and harder to maintain speed. Noticed a funny smell and pulled over. Front brakes (both sides) were scalding hot and I could have sworn I noticed a little smoke coming from each of them.

Let it cool off a while and was able to make it home. I let it sit while I was out of town and when I returned home, the brakes acted as normal but I only went around the block to test them.

Today, I found out that a few months ago my father-in-law had graciously decided to top off my fluids. This included filling up my brake reservoir with ATF.

I did some research and found that ATF might be causing the brake issue, so I tried bleeding the brakes a while back to flush all of the old fluid out and put new fluid in.

Ive bled brakes on numerous vehicles and this one was acting weird from the start. Normal bleeding procedure: back pass, driver followed by front pass, driver sides. I didnt get past the back brakes. I tried the passenger side and after the 2nd squirt of fluid, it just dribbles out. NO pressure at all when the brake peddle is pressed down (which now goes to the floor). Tried the passenger side with the same result. No air was let into the system. I used tubing that went into a partially filled bottle, only opened the bleeder after the peddle was depressed and closed before it was let up.

So whats the deal? Surely it cant be driven now and I need to get it fixed. Was the ATF the culprit and now I need a new master? Or is there something I'm missing that yall see?

Sorry for the wall of text, I was attempting to be thorough.

 

You're going to need new everything.

Anything that has a rubber or rubber seal in contact with the fluid will need replaced. Petroleum based fluids will swell rubber in brake systems.

 

Well that is definitely not good news. All of the lines are metal so would that just mean replacing front calipers and master cylinder or are there more things to replace as well? This will be a first if I have to replace more than that.

 

Master, calipers, wheel cylinders, possibly the proportioning valve, ABS pump, and I believe there's at least a soft line at the rear axle.

You'll also have to flush out the hard lines. If it's your only vehicle it might be worth talking to your insurance.

 

Ouch