QuestionQUESTION: Hi, it's Jon with the 76 midget (1275 in it). Last year I had a leaking brake
cylinder so I bought a brand new one and installed it/ bleed the brakes. All
seemed fine. This year, and the car has barely been moved since I have been
working on it all the time, the same side rear cylinder has leaked. I opened
up the drum and discovered brown fluid, as well as the rubber on one side
of the cylinder lifted out of position. I popped it back in position (the
rubber) and cleaned it up and reassembled the drum temporarily. Any ideas
why this could have happened again? Last year when I did the brakes, even
after the bleeding, the pedal was quite stiff with brake light on. Could there
have been too much pressure in the system blowing fluid past the seals?
The other side is not leaking and now the brake light is off.
Should I test the cylinder to see if it holds, or is it junk now>>?
JGP
ANSWER: Hi Jon,
You said brown fluid. Was it brake fluid or differential oil? The only pressure in the brake system is the amount you apply with the brake pedal and you can't push hard enough to damage any seals. If it is brake fluid then you have a bad seal or bad cylinder and seal (inside seal, not the outer rubber boot as that is just a dust cover)
Howard
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Never thought about it being diff oil. It did not seem really greasy--it was very
light in consistancy and looked like brown water. Solid brown in color. Humm,
the diff was leaking prior from the hub area and I cut a paper gasket hole a
year ago. Any way to really know what it is>? Note, the rear end was quite
noisy a day ago on test driving the car...
AnswerCastrol brake fluid is not brown and you can usually rub it between two fingers and feel the difference. If you are not able to tell, take a little brake fluid and rub it between your fingers and also smell it and smell the brown fluid. Look inside the dust boot for fluid. There should be none.
Howard
