TL;DR: See title
I finally tracked down the remaining leak in the brake system which hasn't left any visual evidence.
It appears the 6 month old master cylinder has leaked into the booster. berkeley.
So can I drain it and go on my way or does it need to be replaced?
Depends on how comfortable you are with the possibility of being surprised with a loss of brake boost. I'd at least rinse and dry it to remove the fluid that's in there.
In reply to GameboyRMH :
Yea going to rinse it once I take it off just wasn't sure if the diaphragms are rated for DOT 3 exposure or not and what standard practice was.
I know with older cars, brake fluid leaking into the booster would lead to booster failure. I don't know if there have been any material improvements since then.
Silicone based brake fluid is less corrosive than glycol based. Not sure how it will affect the diaphragm. Which type are you using? How would you clean it?
Dot3 glycol based was thinking full removal and water flush unless there's a reason not to.
Brake fluid leaking into the booster is usually/often because the booster itself is bad, on designs where the end of the booster is supposed to be sealed off. Bad booster is the cause, not effect, in other words.
The fact that the master died after six months makes me suspect the booster.
In reply to Knurled. :
Thanks Knurled. I'll try the booster first then because it seems like there's some locally in stock. The MC seems to be unobtainable except online. Plus it'll give me a chance to examing the MC on the bench.
It's a little weird because the fluid loss only seemed to occur when ABS enagages or heavy braking. So I just assumed it was the master cylinder once I found where the fluid was going.
Having go, with no whoa, is not a good idea. I would follow Knurled's advice. Check out both, and replace as needed.
In reply to Dirtydog :
Yea I'm a little iffy about doing things half ass on the brake system but I really hate shotgunning parts. Just curious what standard procedure was since I've never had one go bad before. The local wrecker has a booster so I can at least give it a go that way. I can return the RockAuto order for the MC if it isn't the culprit (crap they shipped it quick.)
Thank you everyone.
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