Brakes...frozen?

[eclipsed21]

If anyone can help me, I would be so grateful. I live in New York. It was -2 degrees this morning. I go to my truck, a 99 4-runner, start it, let it warm up about 5 minutes, put it in reverse, and end up halfway down the road before I have to throw it in park to stop. I had no brakes. The pedal was stiff, I couldnt push it down. I put the truck in drive and went back up the driveway where I had to put it in park to stop it. I dont mean they worked poorly, there was nothing. There was no brakefluid under where the truck was parked (my mom said to check incase a line had broken, there is brake fluid in the reservoir under the hood. Can they just be frozen, and if so, will they thaw? Im not very mechanical, but I really dont have the dough to pay toyota 200 bucks or so to look at it unless they have to.

Thanks for any ideas

Stephanie

[black gts]

hey im from calgary, we just finished with that storm, ne ways, i had the same problems on my 90 celica, i believe they were frozen, but there has to be a leak cause the air is whut freezes so, i had my line bled and its seemed fine so hope that helps

[stewybear]

Hi you guys,

It might be worth having you're brake fluid changed. It is hygroscopic and absorbs moisture over a period of time. This MIGHT be a cause of freezing. The effect of this moisture is certainly enough to rust the brake pipes from the inside out. Maybe it can freeze too.

Just a thought.

Regards

Stewybear

[fireman]

The past few mornings its been foolishly cold (-6 F) here in Massachusetts, too, my father and I have had the same problem with our 4-Runners (a 2000 and a 2001). I've found (after 2 days of ending up on a very busy street) that its the first application of the brakes that is tough, like cold hydraulic fluid resistant to moving. If I stand on the brake pedal, the truck will stop. Not quickly by any means, but the brakes will work, feels like the power assist isn't working.

To get around this, before I pull out of the driveway, I pump the brakes a few times until the pedal moves like its supposed to. Once the pedal moves, the brakes work normally (or as close to it as they can). I don't know if thats the proper fix for the problem, but it beats the $200 trip to the dealer.