• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

any problems with brake fluid in the footwell?

Share this page

K

Kevin Genoff

Senior Member
Offline
When my master cylinder went, every time I hit the brake fluid squirted onto my shoe, along with slowly dripping out all winter. It was no big deal to me, as I was redoing the interior anyways.

My question is - is it likely this could happen again? I just put new carpet in my Sprite, and I don't want brake fluid on it.
mad.gif


Should I try to attach a catch pan underneath the clutch and brake cylinders? Has anyone done anything to insure against this?
 
Hi Kevin,

You should be checking the brake fluid level in the reservoir on a regular basis. If it goes down at all you should immediately check to find out where it is leaking and get it fixed. You didn't actually say if you were driving the car like that but having reliable brakes is THE most important thing to have working on the car. It's worth changing brake fluid at least every 2 years and rebuilding the brakes every 4 or so. You won't need to worry about your carpets if you keep the brake maintenance up plus your shoes will last a lot longer!
thirsty.gif


Cheers,
John
 
When I bought my car the PO said the master was just rebuilt. I think his rottweiler did it...

Any way I had brake fluid every where for the first 2 weeks of owner ship then decided that I would buy a reconditioned master, problem solved. But the way its set up, even if you spill the tinyest amount, it winds up in the foot compartment. I usually put rags down now so i dont wreck my new interior when I top it off after bleeding. the previous reply was well stated,, if you only have standard MC like me, if you lose fluid you lose all brakes AND clutch, its something not to take chances with if it needs repair, and is certainly something to do in the fluid check at every tank ful of gas.
 
thanks for the replies..

No, I still have never driven the car. I bought it after it sat for 10 years. I rebuilt the master cylinder last summer, but it was pretty corroded and bad. Seemed to work OK. I put it away for the winter, and this spring, I notied the front reservior was empty. Then I pushed on the brake and saw it shoot all over my foot, and finally noticed a nice spongy carpet.

I agree brakes are important
wink.gif
So, I just bought a whole new master cylinder for it. I am like 99% done restoring the car, and I just don't want brake fluid all over my nice new carpet
frown.gif
So, I'll watch it and put down rags and whatnot.

Again, thanks for the replies. I am hoping to have it all reassembled and ready for plates this weekend. That means it might actually be driven next week!
grin.gif
grin.gif
driving.gif
What a concept!
wink.gif
 
willy
my cylinder went out in a drive in movie.quite a
surprise when i started it in gear. had to wait
until the lot emptied and drove it home.a trick
every BMC driver should learn. really tricky getting it in and out of gear from a dead stop.
luckily it was just the clutch slave. you can
approximate the year by the fact that there were
still drivein movies.BMC's,chicks and drive ins.
i just had a flashback!!!!
gregg
 
Back
Top