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Tessa Pitman Posted on Mar 28, 2012
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Losing brake fluid with no leak

Low brake fluid light came on, friend put more fluid in. said my brakes seemed fine. I haven't noticed any leaks. drove 850 miles and brake fluid light came back on. haven't noticed bad breaks etc, course this is a newer car & i'm use to driving my 97 escort i had for 12 yrs. looked under hood can't see anything out of the ordinary, very clean, what could be causing this?

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  • Tessa Pitman
    Tessa Pitman Apr 14, 2012

    Ok so i finally got down to the ground laying on my side to check out the rear right tire area, just filled up brake fluid. I clearly saw fluid on inside of wheel/actual tire, then i started seeing a slow drip on a line (black small sized tube sorry i'm not sure what it is) looks like where the connection is to the metal piece is where it's leaking, has a slight slack to it compared to other side. Got a buddy going to take a look at it Monday, pretty sure it's just the hose or whatever it's called.

  • montehammons Apr 14, 2012

    Yes, glad to hear you found it. Sounds like the rubber brake hose (line) is the problem. Get a new one, install, bleed the brakes to remove air in the line where you had to break it loose, and you should be good to go.

  • Tessa Pitman
    Tessa Pitman Aug 28, 2012

    Forgot to let everyone know that wishful thinking would have been the brake line hose, but it ended up being the brake caliper. Cost me $174 for parts & labor....geesh! Thanks for everybody's input :)

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2 Answers

montehammons

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  • Pontiac Master 5,531 Answers
  • Posted on Mar 29, 2012
montehammons
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It's a sealed system, so it's got to be going somewhere, leaking somewhere (or boiling off from severe braking operations over and over). Since you likely haven't experienced extreme braking, it must be leaking somewhere.
You will have to trace all your brake lines from the master cylinder to each wheel to check for any sign of leaking. Front calipers are easy to spot leaks when they leak. If you have drum brakes on the rear, you may need to pull off the drum to check the wheel brake cylinders. Peel back the rubber boot on each end of the wheel cylinder and look for any fluid leaks there.
Another place to check is at the back of the master cylinder. If a seal is bad there, it has been known to leak fluid inside the car, under the dash. Feel around the carpet under and behind the brake pedal for any wetness. If you find brake fluid there, you will need the master cylinder replaced or rebuilt.
Hope you find the problem. Don't forget to check the ABS system and brake lines, too.

oneStan

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  • Master 614 Answers
  • Posted on Mar 29, 2012
oneStan
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You wouldn't be able to see the brake fluid leaking into the Power brake booster, but when the master cylinder leaks, that's where it goes to, and then on into the area just behind and below the brake pedal on the inside of the car.

Feel around behind & below the brake pedal and feel the carpet, and you may notice it being wet if the leak has gone on for a while.

Otherwise, if you lose fluid and have no leak around the outside, it's going into the brake booster.

Good luck!

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4 Related Answers

Anonymous

  • 5 Answers
  • Posted on Jan 26, 2009

SOURCE: Brakes spongy and fading

you need to bleed the brakes you have air in the lines.If you do it your self remember to start at the farthest caliber from the power brake booster.

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Anonymous

  • 2702 Answers
  • Posted on Oct 22, 2009

SOURCE: 2004 BMW ci with 58K miles Car leaks reddish

oh dear, this is going to be very bad new for you,take it from me the ATM fluid is leaking out of your gearbox, it could be a rear gearbox oil seal, it could be the front gear box oil seal leaking, even the oil cooler or pipes leaking but it is leaking some were, and if its got to be took out to put in a new seal your going to need to sell a kidney or some outher part of you to pay for it, if you can put up with the leak just keep filling up your ATF fluid dont let the gearbox run dry or its realy going to cost you, as it will seize up on you and burn its self out, thats a new gear box then??? costly very costly! if its only a little bit of oil leaking give the motor a good wash down with a power hose under it and fill the atf up go for a drive say 10 miles then look under it, look for fresh oil (ie:red oil) around the gearbox at both ends of it, if you see any that is proof its leaking bad!!! park it over a sheet of paper over night will show how much it leaks too, i would put up with it as long as pos bet if its due for an MOT give it a realy good power wash down first to get rid of any oil, a little leak will still pass, a big un, wont! any oil seal can just fail on you like this one has but they fail much faster if they get over heated due to lack of oil in them
sorry for the bad news, think of selling the kids to pay for a new gearbox,, now there's an idear?

Craig Lovick

  • 247 Answers
  • Posted on Jan 07, 2010

SOURCE: '97 Ford Escort leaking auto transmission fluid.

The front seal could be replaced, and not have a problem. If you have a shop other than a transmission shop do the repairs, make sure the torque converter hub is inspected to make certain its not scratched/scorn. If the trans shifts properly and the fluid is not burned or smells burned, this would be an easy repair. If the trans fluid smells burned, and hasn't been serviced regularly, the rebuild would be the way to go. Also, ask what the warranty for any and all repair are on your vehicle. Normal warranty is 1yr, 12.000 miles in the automotive business.

tedalvarez20

Ted Alvarez

  • 193 Answers
  • Posted on Oct 07, 2011

SOURCE: instrument panel needles goes nuts back and forth

same thing happens with my 2000 windstar, if you could take the instrument panel out, and unscrew the the back of the instrument panel that covers the circuit board and clean the circuit with a brush, pure bristle brush is best 'coz they're stiff and gets all the dust that accumulated on the circuit board. some dust particles contain conductive material and shorts the circuit board and cause the trouble you have, ever since i did that no more trouble. and to those who are planning of replacing your instrument panel should do this first. it'll save you money. by the way i am a mechanic

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