Leaking brake fluid

[hitthebricks]

My daughters 99 Intrigue is leaking brake fluid from right below the master cylinder but I can't find the exact place its coming from. When the pedal is pushed it's firm at first and stops the car fine but will slowly go all the way down and then there is no brakes until you release and press again. Would a master cylinder leak fluid like that?

Thanks HTB

[Macgyver55]

In a word....Yes!

[Jeremy airjer W]

Yup, master cylinder....

If/when you replace it I would suggest going with a new unit verses a remanufactured. The remains are awful tempting but you may not get a good one the first time, second time, or even the third time. Yes they are less expensive but sometimes it's just worth paying a little more and only having to do the job once.

I will also suggest, if you decide to do it yourself, to pull all the wheels and make sure the bleeders open before you pull the master. If there frozen and you do not have a torch than you can still drive it to a local shop to have them heat up the bleeders to see if they will break free. If this has aluminum calipers and the bleeders are frozen just get new unloaded calipers and save yourself the time.

[hitthebricks]

Sounds like good solid advice.

Thanks

HTB

[hitthebricks]

When bleeding how many lines do you do at a time?

[Jeremy airjer W]

Two things can influence the bleeding process. One is air and the other is clean fluid.

Since the fluid in the system currently probably looks like a bad cup of coffee I would suggest bleeding all four corners until the fluid is clean. This will be a good indicator as to when you have bled an appropriate amount of fluid to push any air that might be in the system out. A couple more times on each corner just to make sure there is no more air coming through and you should be done.

Once you are satisfied that there is no more air in the system a test drive will confirm whether or not you have bled all the air out.