Im confused here..

Lastnight it got to below 32 degrees here and my car decided to **** out alot of brake fluid.




You can see that its really low in the reserve cup thing but that spot on the ground is big for how much it seems it lost. but anyway...





**** What would make it do this? what should i look into replaceing. Im broke so if a need a new master cylinder this could suck...

**** Anyone have a good one from a parts car they want to donate?

thanks jared

 

Jared,
From the looks of the chassis below the steering gear, it has been leaking for some time. Damn brake fluid eats the paint off, and the rust takes over!
Our seals are getting old and stiff as they approach the end of thier life. I see two possibilities with your problem. The seals beneath the "reserve cup thingy" are leaking (easy fix; pull up reservoir, and replace the seals), or as you suspect, the master cylinder rear seal has gone. Although I dont recommend it, it IS possible to repair the M/C. You can clean up the rust/crud that collects on the bore back there, if it has left only shallow pits; rub with very fine wet-or-dry in a circlular motion; obtain replacement seals and re-assemble, bleed etc. Use brake fluid to clean out every spec of carborundum (sanding) dust.
You should still look for a 'new' M/C in any case, as once the bore has pits in it, your repair will only last a short while...and you dont want your brakes to fail when you most need them!
Dave

 

Brake fluid that is not changed/flushed with some regularity tends to accumulate water. Since water does not really compress it is the cause of mushy brakes and the tendency to heat the pistons up during heavy breaking. This same water will freeze when it gets below 32F. That water freezing in the brake fluid may well explain why a seal or line ruptured.

 

ok update....

my roommate said that the fluid was there yesterday evening about 6pm. it was low 50's temp then.

so umm it leaked some fluid then stopped leaking. strange... now it holds without leaking. it makes no sense.

 

i have a brake fluid leak once it started getting a little cold but the weird thing is i cannot find it leaking anywhere....its not leaking under the master cylinder like in the second pic, and its not pouring out on the ground like in the first pic, so im stumped. i have to refill the "reserve cup thingy" about every 2 days!!! anyone have any ideas?

 

check back by your calipers.....I had a chunk of road tear my brake line once and it only made a pinhole but everytime i hit the breaks PSSSSSSST...it would supersoak the wheel well......just take a look around the outside of the car..

 

cool, that sounds likely due to the area in which i live. there are horrible roads and pot holes and crap because i live soo far out in the country...its raining right now but i think im still gonna go take a look

 

Rotory - If you're not finding any fluid, you may have a master or slave cylinder leaking internally. The fuild gets past the primary seal and gets returned to the reservoir. Acts just like an external leak - mushy pedal, etc. - but no fluid is lost.

 

well thats not the case then nopistons...im loosing ALOT of fluid thats why im soo suprised that i cant see the leak. i have to refill the reserve thing every other day so i would say that is ALOT of fluid. i figured that since im loosing soo much fluid i figured i would be able to see it somewhere. another note on this sibject...i let the fluid level get to low one night and my pedal went to the floor, is it possible that i sucked in air because it was soo low and now i have air in the system or did my M/C just go out?

 

I didn't read everything that every one else has put down yet but I would have to say a brake line or something just froze and cracked. You can get condension on **** and it will freeze and **** up your car.

 

yeah that is definately true, but there are 2 other things that dont go along with that. 1 im not sure if it had reached freezing when it started leaking. and 2 if it was a brake line i would more than likely see this much fluid leaking out somewhere.

 

Rotory- If your brakes are losing that much fluid it should leak/drip at least a little while the car is sitting, try getting cardboard to lay under your car overnight and inspect it in the morning, or if you have a pavement driveway or park inside place a rectangle of masking tape around your car at night, this way when you back out and there is a puddle judging by the position in the box you can tell where your leak is. Mind you if it is a pinhole in a line or if it just leaks under pressure this may not work but usually it points you right to your leak, Good Luck.

 

Have someone push the brake while you look around under the car.....down the frame rails everywhere. I live in TN too, my mother in law lives in the boonies of college grove, and I know how bad the roads are... it's probably a pinhole that only squirts under pressure....

P.s. Way to hi-jack this thread..I'm proud of you...

 

One more thing to check. The master cylinder may be leaking out its rear seal. When that happens, the fluid goes into the power brake booster and either accumulates there, or gets sucked into the engine and burned off. Remove the master and see if it's wet at the rear. If so, you'll new a new master.

 

**** is there any way to see if it leaking behind the master cylinder without taking the whole thing off...that is a hell of a job for a novice mechanic like me. I am gonna get someone to pump the brakes
because it probably only leaks under pressure.

thanks man i do what i can

 

You'll have to remove the master from the booster. It's not that hard - You don't have to disconnect the brake lines coming out of the master. You only want to unbolt the master and pull it out just far enough to get your finger behind it and feel if it's wet. Should only take a few minutes.

 

werd...so i wont even have to bleed the system?

 

My $$$ is on the MC, see how there is no paint underneath it (on the cassis), and on the brake booster (behind the MC).

Star with the obvious and take it from there, but the MC is shot...

BTW - Clean and paint the peeled off chassis, good luck doing it on the booster

 

Sharp change in temp. Expansion and contraction. LEAK!

 

that seems like a reasonable conclusion on what started it because here in tennessee the temperature may vary more than 30 degrees in less than 10 hours(we have weird weather here). But i cant see the damn leak and it is ALOT of fluid none dripping.

you are right about that but the car in the pics is not my car. i didnt start this thread, Jaared did. my car is all nice and clean where his is all rusty and he can actually see where it is leaking from. I CANT and its driving me crazy. i can build some brake pressure when i pump it and it will still stop me i just have to push it to the floor. i think i let air in the system from letting my brake resivior thing get too low and suck in air or im sucking air in wherever the leak is if that is even possible. im an idiot some one enlighten me

 

well i brought my sister to work and since i was on a paved parkinglot i got down on my back and looked around under the car and it appears that the rear passenger suspension arm is covered with some kind of fluid and im pretty sure its brake fluid. so tomorrow im going to take off my wheel and look to see where its leaking. bump also

 

that's what i figured........good luck...been there donr that..will be there again.

 

Yeah... alls well that ends well I suppose. As I have been driving it with barely any brakes(stupid). I have been adding a little brake fluid every 6 hours or so as it leaks out and slowly im getting brakes again, it getting harder and harder to push the pedal to the floor and they are stopping me almost 50% better than when the problem first started. Is it possible that previously I let my fluid level get way too low (which i did) and it could have sucked air in and it is slowly bleeding its way out of the leak? Its a stretch I know.

 

i want to ask this question again because i dont even know if that is possible so would someone let me know?


As I have been driving it with barely any brakes(stupid). I have been adding a little brake fluid every 6 hours or so as it leaks out and slowly im getting brakes again, it getting harder and harder to push the pedal to the floor and they are stopping me almost 50% better than when the problem first started. Is it possible that previously I let my fluid level get way too low (which i did) and it could have sucked air in and it is slowly bleeding its way out of the leak? Its a stretch I know.

 

can a caliper itself leak fluid , say from around the pistons? because i found where the leak is but cant tell exactly where its coming from but its not the brake lines and its not the bleed screw so the only other place could be from caliper itself