DupermanDave

You guys are probably getting sick of my questions. But here comes another one:

I added brake fluid about 3 months ago. Filled the reservoir up. Now it's lost some, and it's quite obvious. It's not below the max level yet, but it will be in about a month. It's obviously leaking from somewhere.

Where can the brake fluid leak from? I can never see any apparent drips or wet spots wherever it's parked. I even went in and pumped the brakes and looked for fresh drips. Still can't see any sign of a leak at any of the wheels.

I did a search on these forums and couldn't find many resources. What's the typical solution to fixing a leaky brake line?

abecedarian

have you looked inside the rear drums to see if any is leaking from the wheel cylinders?

leebee

as your pads/shoes wear, the fluid level will reflect this as lower level in the reservoir. you should pull the rear wheels/drums as abe suggested, could be a slow leak that dries up enough not to be seen.

lee

DupermanDave

The wheels are due to come off in a month or two. I was going to sand down the rims and paint over them (rust is not a decent color on a black truck).

So I'll start with the rear drums and check for a slow leak.

I was unaware that the fluid level is reflective of pad wear. My pads are wearing awfully fast if that's the case. But it's still good to know.

just a 22re

if you have cheap pads then yes they will go down very fast but if you go and do pads you should always do rotors or get them cut so everythings betterfor ya but if its got a very very slow leak then it could just be the rear wheels leaking but also just a quick check you can do is take a fashlight and look at the brake pedal and check to see if it leaks from there ive seen it in a few differnt cars and trucks hope it helps ya

desconhecido

You'll probably find that one of the wheel cylinders on the rear is leaking a bit. You can get along like this for a long time, and you already have. Keep the fluid topped up and get to it as soon as you can, it's a situation that should be remedied.

You can rebuild wheel cylinders, but they're not very expensive, so I've never bothered. Seems like when you replace the leaking one that the one on the other side begins to leak shortly, so you might want to just go ahead and replace both at once while also replacing the shoes and having the drums surfaced while your at it.

abecedarian

I agree with desconhecido.
If something on one side needs replaced, it's likely the same part on the other side will need it soon as well, whether wheel cylinders, shoes, drum, wheel bearing, etc. It's an extra cost but well worth doing since you're going to have things apart anyhow.

Jay351

Always do these kinda things in pairs. Especially brake componants. If one failed the other is gonna fail soon.