Brake Fluid leaking ?

I have an 2005 vintage....I have brake fluid leaking up front somewhere.....the first 10,000 miles I went thru a 12 oz bottle.....in the last 2 months I have used 32 plus oz......and only drove less than 25 miles.......hardly any drips on the floor......Seems like the master is leaking lightly but i don't think it is the major place.I tipped the car up and i guess there was a pool in there somewhere where it was being caught and it came flowing out..............anybody else have a problem like this??
i'll be calling vintage this morn and see what they say.....any other response would be appreciated.

Joe, sounds like you have a minor leak by the master cyl. Carefully get it to VS, or any local garage for that matter, and they should be able to fix you up in no time. It COULD be worse, though. Sometimes when the m/cyl. fails, it leaks IN the car and ruins the carpet. Ask me & Gordon how we know. :(

A good rule of thumb is this. If you have to add that much brake fluid then don't drive the car.

When I've had customers complain of fluid loss, I've found several things wrong. The seal where the piston and push rod come together leaks and that can usually be checked by removing the black rubber gator boot, if it's wet then it's leaking. Some MC's use a rubber push fitting for the reservoir. Those can occassionally leak and, the reservoir and line that leads to the MC may be cracked or loose. Additionally, on one vehicle, I found that the screw in brake line fittings were SAE threads and the MC had metric threads. On another, both were metric but the fitting was cross threaded.

By all means, get if fixed, as James Dean said, "the life you save may be mine"

You NEED to verify if it is leaking in the seam between the pan and the floor. If it is collecting in there you will have a major premature rust issue that needs to be fixed.

FIRST- Find out where it's going? Don't take this lightly! You may want to drill a small hole in the back seat area near the tunnel from the bottom to see if it will leak out. If it does it means that it got between and needs to be fixed/flushed.

i had the same problem, jacked front of car up, removed front wheels and used that purple degreaser all around the master cylinder and hose it off, repeat till its clean and look for leaks.
my master was shot so i replaced it myself, $35 for part, it is a PITA to remove replace.

Good pointers. Also check your brake hoses; one of mine broke and I bought two replacements: one to install immediately and the other one to have around just in case. You can do that install fairly quickly and easily and it's always a good idea to bleed the front brakes to insure good performance. Whatever it is, don't despair as it is a fairly easy and inexpensive fix as all replacement parts for these cars are reasonably priced. Where else can you see that nowadays?...

Check the junctions between your hard lines and the soft lines to the wheel cylinders. I had one that just wouldn't seal up to a braided stainless soft line, and I had to make a new hard line from the master cylinder. Heck, check all of your connections.

Are your brakes soft or weak or do you need to pump them several time in order to get them to work . . . or are you just finding fluid pools where you park?

If the brakes seem fine theres a good chance that the blue hoses that connect the brake reservoir down tubes to the nipples on the top of the master cylinder have come loose, cracked, or are just old and leaking.

Cheap and easy to replace, most hardware stores sell the hose by the foot. Gotta use that blue hose though, regular fuel line won't last long.

Of course, if the brakes are bad as well as leaking, just track it from the cylinder on down. You'll find the leak no sweat.

Luck!

TC

I think you got it Larry.....thanks for all the help.....vintage suggested under the resovoir.......but i think it 's the exit end of the master cylinder.......thanks again.....and like a dummy i just kept filling it up over and over.

Wow.....Information overload!!

Just to add a little more:

I've not had a lot of luck with those $35 dollar replacement master cylinders from either Taiwan, China or Brazil. I put them in, and after a few months they leak. Maybe it's me, but I doubt it (I don't leak........yet).

I've had MUCH better luck with German Master Cylinders. You'll have to hunt a little more to find one, and it'll cost around $50-60 bucks, but I haven't had one leak yet.