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Bad Brake Seals? Need Advice.


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scrapdizle
New User

Mar 30, 2012, 9:15 AM

Post #1 of 15 (2416 views)
Bad Brake Seals? Need Advice. Sign In

Ok, so a couple of weeks ago i had to do something really important and noticed my brake light was on. after inspection i noticed low brake fluid levels and did not have any brake fluid available so i used power steering fluid (dumb, i know) anyway, my neighbor told me that i needed to remove ti asap as it could ruin my seals. well not my brakes are locking up and engaging when im driving without me pressing the pedal.

what do i need to fix/check/change to resolve this problem. thank you.


dmac0923
Enthusiast

Mar 30, 2012, 9:38 AM

Post #2 of 15 (2400 views)
Re: Bad Brake Seals? Need Advice. Sign In

first completely flush out the old fluid in the system by bleeding the brakes at all four wheels.
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(This post was edited by dmac0923 on Apr 1, 2012, 4:37 PM)


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Mar 30, 2012, 10:18 AM

Post #3 of 15 (2388 views)
Re: Bad Brake Seals? Need Advice. Sign In

OH my God! You haver no idea what you just did. Even a couple3 of drops of that stuff can taker out every rubber component in the brake system. You could be looking at thousands to fix that now and simply removing it won't help you now.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Discretesignals profile image

Mar 30, 2012, 11:10 AM

Post #4 of 15 (2372 views)
Re: Bad Brake Seals? Need Advice. Sign In

PS fluid will make the seals in the brake system swell. Your going to be replacing just about everything in the brake hydraulic system. Expensive boo boo.





Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.


Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Tom Greenleaf profile image

Mar 30, 2012, 6:34 PM

Post #5 of 15 (2329 views)
Re: Bad Brake Seals? Need Advice. Sign In

Cooked! You plain can't use an oil in brakes or everything made of rubber is already ruined - smart move! Not safe now so park it!!!! Brace for possible being out a thou or more! Maybe tons more if with anti-lock brakes. Don't even try to fix this yourself as you've already proven you are too stupid!

T



(This post was edited by Tom Greenleaf on Mar 30, 2012, 6:50 PM)


nickwarner
Veteran / Moderator
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Mar 30, 2012, 6:39 PM

Post #6 of 15 (2321 views)
Re: Bad Brake Seals? Need Advice. Sign In

The good news is you will find your brake fluid leak that caused you to add fluid. The bad news is you're going to be replacing every single brake component that touched that contaminated fluid to do so. I'm sorry this is the end result of what must've seemed like a small thing, but this is the reason there are different fluids sold for each system. If they mixed harmlessly we would see much less selection on the store shelves. We can talk you through the step by step to replacing and bleeding your system if you are up to it, and the tools you will have to buy are far cheaper than the labor a shop will charge you to undo this. I hope anyone that is searching archived posts comes across this and it may serve as a warning to others of what not to do. Please let us know if we can further assist you. I'm certain this is a mistake you will never repeat.


dr.donut
User

Mar 31, 2012, 4:07 AM

Post #7 of 15 (2299 views)
Re: Bad Brake Seals? Need Advice. Sign In

DON'T DRIVE THAT CAR , you may have brakes for 1/4 mile then your pedal will go right to the floor, can't stress that enough


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Mar 31, 2012, 8:18 AM

Post #8 of 15 (2278 views)
Re: Bad Brake Seals? Need Advice. Sign In

OP hasn't been back since thread started so apparently he's already hit something...........LOL



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



nickwarner
Veteran / Moderator
nickwarner profile image

Mar 31, 2012, 4:03 PM

Post #9 of 15 (2266 views)
Re: Bad Brake Seals? Need Advice. Sign In

He's not the only one out there who's done that, and most keep trying to drive it. People wonder why I drive a Suburban, its because you never know who might hit you and I like to be able to walk away from the crash. Terrible gas mileage, great survival rate.


Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Discretesignals profile image

Mar 31, 2012, 4:52 PM

Post #10 of 15 (2253 views)
Re: Bad Brake Seals? Need Advice. Sign In

He/she might not come back from shear embarrassment. We all make mistakes. Ain't no thing unless you make the same one more than once.





Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Mar 31, 2012, 5:37 PM

Post #11 of 15 (2243 views)
Re: Bad Brake Seals? Need Advice. Sign In

I figure his brakes should be starting to lock up right about now.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



scrapdizle
New User

Apr 12, 2012, 7:44 AM

Post #12 of 15 (2173 views)
Re: Bad Brake Seals? Need Advice. Sign In

Well I took my car to an ACTUAL mechanic and he was able to siphon the ps fluid from the top of the master cylinder reservoir because ps fluid is lighter then brake fluid. He inspected the master cylinder seals and found one faulty. The fluid never made it out of the master cylinder. I went ahead and bought a seal kit for the master cylinder and replaced all the seals.

Not one person gave any useful advice here that is the reason I have not returned here, I'm glad I have friends that actually know wth they are talking about rather then relying on misinformed backyard mechanic's.

Total cost to fix? $15


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Apr 12, 2012, 7:48 AM

Post #13 of 15 (2170 views)
Re: Bad Brake Seals? Need Advice. Sign In


Quote
Total cost to fix? $15


Yeah, right................. We'll see



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Discretesignals profile image

Apr 12, 2012, 10:31 AM

Post #14 of 15 (2155 views)
Re: Bad Brake Seals? Need Advice. Sign In


Quote
Well I took my car to an ACTUAL mechanic

One that works at Jiffy lube?

There is too much liability to take a chance in that the other seals in the system were not contaminated. If a customer brought in a vehicle and admitted to contaminating the system with PS fluid, he/she would be sold just about all the hydraulic components that had seals. The reason is if something happened and the brakes failed cause we siphoned what we thought was PS fluid only from the master, we would be seeing someone's lawyer in the future.

All the moderators on here are all professional technicians and shop owners. We weren't bullSh!tting you because what would we get out of it if we were?





Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.


nickwarner
Veteran / Moderator
nickwarner profile image

Apr 12, 2012, 5:34 PM

Post #15 of 15 (2140 views)
Re: Bad Brake Seals? Need Advice. Sign In

Never seen my SnapOn guy put my shade tree on his route. He must think its an actual place of business for some reason.






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