rexassian

I recently repaired my valley plate and am now seeing some strange issues:

fuel smell under hood, mostly on the driver's side
after sitting overnight, brake pedal extremely hard, making it hard to press in enough to activate the push-button start

Feels like the reserve vacuum to help push in the brake pedal is completely drained overnight. I usually have to put my weight behind pressing the brake pedal to get the light to turn on for the push-button start. I'm guessing this is fuel evap related since that's about the only thing I can think of that combines vacuum and fuel smell. But I ran my hands along the fuel lines behind the intake manifold and also the evap valve on the driver's side. I can't feel any leaks but of course, that doesn't mean much. Is there anything else to check before I go starting to replace hoses?

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

Your brake booster is dead. That's the only reason for a hard brake pedal on start up. It's common. There's only one hose from the manifold to the booster, but that won't cause a hard pedal at start. You can try replacing the check valve, but ultimately, the booster has failed.

rexassian

Interesting. But the brakes work perfectly while driving. Does that still fit with a broken booster? Any thoughts on the fuel smell? TIA

symatt

Had the fuel smell issue after having mine done as well. I took it to a different mechanic and it turned out the fuel line gasket was leaking or the line got cracked i forgot which one, but it was in the back of the engine, he has to put it on a lift to see. Have a lexus specialist check out the car

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

100% fits. Brakes work fine with the engine running, but the booster bleeds down while sitting. Definitely needs a new booster. That job isn't fun. The ABS pump has to come out, so you'll be bleeding brakes by necessity when you've completed the install. The booster has nothing to do with a fuel smell. That has to be a leak. Lots of opportunities for fuel leakage if the mechanic didn't properly torque the fittings. I did mine without removing any fuel rails or injectors, but all the connections to the rails are removed, so there's plenty of room for someone to make a mistake. I didn't have any issues with fuel smell after doing mine.