2002 camry: my boyfriend just told me he accidentally added power steering fluid to the brake reservoir a couple monthes ago…while i floored it on highway, i only reached 40, when let off gas, car came to a quick stop. later i jacked up rear and was able to turn back tires to rule out e-brake being stuck,when car is in nuetral and pushed (forward or backward) it comes to a stop whithin a foot or so ( it seemed like the brakes were being depressed) possible transmission or brake issue?
Sounds like the front brakes are binding. Driving the car like this could damage the transmission. If the tranny isn’t bad yet, it will be soon if you keep driving it.
Can’t tell you if this is due to power steering fluid in the brakes, but it certainly could be related to improper brake fluid. Brake fluid has to handle heat, water, and contaiminants. Power steering fluid could be causing corrosion in the calipers and making them bind up.
At the least you need to flush all the old brake fluid out of the system. More likely you are looking at new (or rebuilding) all 4 calipers, some new pads, and a couple of new rotors.
Putting power steering fluid into the brake system will cause all the seals which the PS fluid touches to swell. So most likely you have damaged the master cylinder seals. This can cause the fluid to become trapped and give brake application as the fluid heats up.
At this point, you will probably have to replace the master cylinder, the ABS unit, all brake hydraulic hoses, all calipers, rear brake cylinders (if you have them), and flush the system thoroughly.
Your boyfriend should have had the master cylinder reservoir emptied and the whole brake system flushed as soon as he realized his mistake. That might have forestalled the replacement of all the above items.
Hope this helps