bad brake fluid leak
- Mitch Covington
- 356 Fan
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- Location: Asheville, NC
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Re: bad brake fluid leak
Mitch Covington
Asheville, NC
'59 356 Cabriolet
'79 911 SC Targa
Asheville, NC
'59 356 Cabriolet
'79 911 SC Targa
- Mitch Covington
- 356 Fan
- Posts: 200
- Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 4:02 am
- Location: Asheville, NC
- Contact:
Re: bad brake fluid leak
sigh... and then from the same page... 2 different cap sizes.
Mitch Covington
Asheville, NC
'59 356 Cabriolet
'79 911 SC Targa
Asheville, NC
'59 356 Cabriolet
'79 911 SC Targa
- Mitch Covington
- 356 Fan
- Posts: 200
- Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 4:02 am
- Location: Asheville, NC
- Contact:
Re: bad brake fluid leak
Ordered this one...
Mitch Covington
Asheville, NC
'59 356 Cabriolet
'79 911 SC Targa
Asheville, NC
'59 356 Cabriolet
'79 911 SC Targa
- Greg Scallon
- 356 Fan
- Posts: 787
- Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2008 1:12 pm
- Location: Los Altos, CA
Re: bad brake fluid leak
Yea. That's the one I have. I believe I bought mine from Zims, to insure I had the right cap. I hook up the cap to the fluid reservoir and then simply pressurize the fluid reservoir to about 7 lbs I believe. Then just crack the bleeders open one by one in the correct order until the fluid runs with no bubbles. Be sure to keep the fluid chamber topped off in between so it doesn't empty out.
-Greg
-Greg
'58 Speedster
'56 VW Deluxe Microbus
'56 VW Deluxe Microbus
- Mitch Covington
- 356 Fan
- Posts: 200
- Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 4:02 am
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Re: bad brake fluid leak
I should have done it to start with since this is not the original MC, but I went and measured the cap, and it's evidently a VW reservoir with a 27mm cap. Got lucky, canceled the original order (Amazon) on time and got the right one. I much prefer to support our 356 vendors, but will get this by Sunday...Amazon is hard to beat in that respect. This one almost $20 more... go figure.
Mitch Covington
Asheville, NC
'59 356 Cabriolet
'79 911 SC Targa
Asheville, NC
'59 356 Cabriolet
'79 911 SC Targa
- Martin Benade
- 356 Fan
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- Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2011 10:52 am
- Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Re: bad brake fluid leak
I have definitely supported monopolies that I didn’t much approve of because they were very good at what they did.
Cleveland Ohio
62 Cabriolet
56 VW
02 IS 300
04 Sienna
62 Cabriolet
56 VW
02 IS 300
04 Sienna
- Mitch Covington
- 356 Fan
- Posts: 200
- Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 4:02 am
- Location: Asheville, NC
- Contact:
Re: bad brake fluid leak
The new cylinder installation went OK, though I had a hard time getting the bottom fitting lined up enough to get it started. Finally figured out to undo the other end first. I bled all of the lines with the pressure bleeder and it seemed to work well, though after I finished the pedal was very mushy though the car stopped OK. I figured that I'd bleed it again later, and maybe adjust the pads. It was 2-3 weeks before I went to drive it again and by then I had a full, hard pedal! Just sitting seemed to fix it. That's the good news... the bad news is that today, several weeks later, it has TOO much pedal and the brakes are grabbing prematurely... the car stops before it should when on a slow roll. What's going on here? Is it the fluid? Prestone DOT 4 Synthetic (pic below)... I guess I just need to take off the floor board and adjust the play on the rod?
Mitch Covington
Asheville, NC
'59 356 Cabriolet
'79 911 SC Targa
Asheville, NC
'59 356 Cabriolet
'79 911 SC Targa
-
- 356 Fan
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Re: bad brake fluid leak
Did you replace all the rubber hoses?
- Mitch Covington
- 356 Fan
- Posts: 200
- Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 4:02 am
- Location: Asheville, NC
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Re: bad brake fluid leak
I did not... but glad to know that's a potential reason for this. I'm trying to imagine how old hoses cause a increasingly stiff pedal... would you mind? Thanks in advance!
Mitch Covington
Asheville, NC
'59 356 Cabriolet
'79 911 SC Targa
Asheville, NC
'59 356 Cabriolet
'79 911 SC Targa
- Martin Benade
- 356 Fan
- Posts: 12353
- Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2011 10:52 am
- Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Re: bad brake fluid leak
They can act like a check valve, holding that wheel’s brake applied (and dragging). And then the pedal is harder because the shoe/pad doesn’t need to be moved into contact, it’s already there.
Cleveland Ohio
62 Cabriolet
56 VW
02 IS 300
04 Sienna
62 Cabriolet
56 VW
02 IS 300
04 Sienna
- Mitch Covington
- 356 Fan
- Posts: 200
- Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 4:02 am
- Location: Asheville, NC
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Re: bad brake fluid leak
Understood, thanks! Will order new ones today.
Mitch Covington
Asheville, NC
'59 356 Cabriolet
'79 911 SC Targa
Asheville, NC
'59 356 Cabriolet
'79 911 SC Targa
- Mitch Covington
- 356 Fan
- Posts: 200
- Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 4:02 am
- Location: Asheville, NC
- Contact:
Re: bad brake fluid leak
Can I assume the stainless steel braided lines are better?
Mitch Covington
Asheville, NC
'59 356 Cabriolet
'79 911 SC Targa
Asheville, NC
'59 356 Cabriolet
'79 911 SC Targa
- Wes Bender
- 356 Fan
- Posts: 4932
- Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:54 am
- Location: Somewhere in the Gadsden Purchase, USA
Re: bad brake fluid leak
No. They shouldn't be used on a road car. The rubber hoses fail gradually. The braided stainless hoses fail suddenly, as in total brake loss because one breaks. Buy the rubber hoses.
Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.....
- Mitch Covington
- 356 Fan
- Posts: 200
- Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 4:02 am
- Location: Asheville, NC
- Contact:
Re: bad brake fluid leak
Great, thanks! Was about to hit the check out button! Saved me.
Mitch Covington
Asheville, NC
'59 356 Cabriolet
'79 911 SC Targa
Asheville, NC
'59 356 Cabriolet
'79 911 SC Targa
- Doug McDonnell
- 356 Fan
- Posts: 6081
- Joined: Sat Apr 05, 2008 8:21 am
- Location: Augusta,Michigan
Re: bad brake fluid leak
I think you should check to make sure there is the required 1mm space in your brake pedal rod. viewtopic.php?p=420833&hilit=brake+pedal+rod#p420833
1965 356C 2000 BMW 740i Sport 1967 Honda CL77 There is never enough time to do it right, but always enough time to do it over.