so I park my car in the driveway and everything is fine. I come back two hours later and go to start it. Everything is going well until I engage the brake pedal, which I discover drops almost all the way to the floor before beginning to work now. I proceed to shut the car off and find a puddle of brake fluid lying underneath it... I check the master cylinder and find no noticable problems/leaks (except that the fluid is completely empty). I check for the source of the leak, which appears to be coming from one of the brake lines directly under the drivers seat area. In addition, when i depress the brake pedal the car makes this noise like air being pushed out of a small opening. Is this just a busted brake hose or something more?
This is my first car so excuse me if this is quite obvious

 

You will have to replace that entire line, or a more reasonable solution would be to get a flaring tool and put a male and female end where the line is bad. I do not believe there is a junction under the car at that point so replacing a small run wont work (I could be wrong).

 

Does the leak start inside or outside of the car? If the carpet is under the pedals is soaked with fluid, or the leak is behind the brake booster, the master is bad. If you know/can see the leak coming from under the car, then the line to the rear brakes is bad. That's the longest brake line on the car going from the proportioning valve to near the rear axle. If the line is bad, replace all of it, it may be weak in more than 1 place.

 

The leak start underneath the car, i believe on one of the metal lines heading towards the back of the car, so I guess I'll need to replace it... will i need to bleed the brakes after this?

 

Yes, you will definitely have to bleed the brakes after this. By replacing that line you are introducing a good bit of air in to the system. Just follow the FSM's instructions and you will be fine, it's not a terribly difficult job.

 

replacing the entire line is from the master cylinder to the rear axle is a must. do not use compression fittings, use unions and join two flared sections if necessary. you will need to bleed th eentire system of air. to find the exact leak, put some more fluid in the resivour and pump the brake pedal and have someone look under the car to ensure your leak is where you think it is. it does sound like the brake line has rusted and has developed a pin hole leak.

 

Thanks!
One problem though. I've been searching for a replacement line and can't seem to find one
Anyone know a good place to look?

 

you'll have to go to your local auto parts store and buy it in sections and buy unions as necessary.

 

ok thanks!