Slight play in brake pedal, new issue

Maintenance/Repairs
,
1

2013 Toyota Corolla

I drive it very gently. A friend drove it briefly and after that the brake felt a bit weird like the position had changed slightly or that the pedal was a bit loose. I tried touching it with my hand and realized that it moved from side to side. Touching it made it worse.

I have no problems braking, the brakes work normally.

It’s just that:

  1. When the brake itself is not in motion/stationary, the brake pedal wiggles a little.
  2. I can feel motion get transmitted through the brake now, like I’ll feel it when the windshield wipers move or if I change from park into drive.

I’m guessing I just need to get the bolts/screws/etc tightened. Just afraid that if they work on it, they might make it worse (since touching it made it much worse), or that they might tighten the brake back into a different position than it was in before my friend drove the car.

2

So get it checked. It isn’t a problem the nature of which would jeopardize the operation of the vehicle even if they play with the nuts & bolts. If anything, it’ll more than likely be a simple hardware problem… if it’s actually a problem at all.

NOTE: that “wiggle” is not at all abnormal. Brake linkage attachments are not high tolerance exacting connections. It’s more important that the linkage be free to operate than it be totally free of movement.

My guess is that it’s simply the normal anxiety that one feels when one has loaned his/her new car to someone. But don’t let my guess deter you from getting it checked. A good nights sleep is important too, and well worth the few bucks it’ll take to get it checked. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

1 Like
3

If the pedal mounts or pivot points do need adjusting doing so will make it better not worse. If they need attention not doing so will definitely make it worse. Have it checked, stopping is kind of important.

4

It should be relatively inexpensive for a shop to do a visual check of the brake pedal linkage. On my own Corolla I had a problem one time with the clutch pedal where the return spring fell off. That made it feel like it was slightly loose. So a visual inspection, I think that’s the next step.