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Diesela does Miami Redux

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DrEntropy

DrEntropy

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Gave the Old Gal a treat on Sunday, changed oil, filter and air cleaner in anticipation of a Christmas trek 240 miles south, to the in-laws' Christmas celebration. The 'mits went down earlier the previous Saturday, to help her mum with baking and other prep for the fete. Diesela's run down was an uneventful one on Christmas eve Monday. She sat, relaxing in a parking spot at mum-in-law's abode while we employed Mitsy's Camry to do the local traveling back-and-forth to the various gatherings on the eve and Christmas day. This AM, Boxing Day, I set off for the return trip. Stopping about two hours short of the hovel to make a couple phone calls to arrange to stop in Sarasota for a visit with my pal and partner in the resto shop we had for years there. I'd been tapped to deliver some of mum's hand made cookies to him (she is a German baker of repute). After the calls and plan to meet him, I looked around Diesela and saw what appeared to be some sort of liquid on the left front wheel and tire. Brake fluid! Checked the master cylinder fluid level, no discernible loss from the "pre-flight" check before leaving! hmmm.... no loss of pedal, no undue pulling or lack of braking prior. Decided to ~gingerly~ proceed. Got to my pal's abode and we sprayed it down and hosed it off, he got the cookie delivery, we then crawled around under the front end with pressure on the pedal and found NO evidence of a leak point. The consensus between the two of us Eurotrash restoration guys was there must be a pinhole leak in the flex hose. Made the last fifty miles with a high pucker factor, much anticipation of what was going on in traffic around me. Arrived at the hovel with no evidence of a brake issue. She got us home, unscathed.

Tomorrow when the sun allows investigation, the fault will be found.
 
Case solved?
dog-pee-on-tyre-800x430.jpg
 
DrEntropy said:
Gave the Old Gal a treat on Sunday, changed oil, filter and air cleaner in anticipation of a Christmas trek 240 miles south, to the in-laws' Christmas celebration. The 'mits went down earlier the previous Saturday, to help her mum with baking and other prep for the fete. Diesela's run down was an uneventful one on Christmas eve Monday. She sat, relaxing in a parking spot at mum-in-law's abode while we employed Mitsy's Camry to do the local traveling back-and-forth to the various gatherings on the eve and Christmas day. This AM, Boxing Day, I set off for the return trip. Stopping about two hours short of the hovel to make a couple phone calls to arrange to stop in Sarasota for a visit with my pal and partner in the resto shop we had for years there. I'd been tapped to deliver some of mum's hand made cookies to him (she is a German baker of repute). After the calls and plan to meet him, I looked around Diesela and saw what appeared to be some sort of liquid on the left front wheel and tire. Brake fluid! Checked the master cylinder fluid level, no discernible loss from the "pre-flight" check before leaving! hmmm.... no loss of pedal, no undue pulling or lack of braking prior. Decided to ~gingerly~ proceed. Got to my pal's abode and we sprayed it down and hosed it off, he got the cookie delivery, we then crawled around under the front end with pressure on the pedal and found NO evidence of a leak point. The consensus between the two of us Eurotrash restoration guys was there must be a pinhole leak in the flex hose. Made the last fifty miles with a high pucker factor, much anticipation of what was going on in traffic around me. Arrived at the hovel with no evidence of a brake issue. She got us home, unscathed.

Tomorrow when the sun allows investigation, the fault will be found.
Click to expand...

Hope you find it soon. Break issues can go from bad to very bad in a hurry (I have unfortunate lived experience)
 
Overcast day, 78°F, jacked up the left front, off with the wheel and hosed her down with cleaner. Pressure on the pedal revealed naught as a leak around the flex hose. Pull out the pads, well, the outer one anyway. Inner puck solid as a rock and pad stuck. Off with the caliper and see that there's fluid seeping around the piston seal. New caliper, flex hose and a new set of front pads are in her near future.
 
DrEntropy said:
Overcast day, 78°F, jacked up the left front, off with the wheel and hosed her down with cleaner. Pressure on the pedal revealed naught as a leak around the flex hose. Pull out the pads, well, the outer one anyway. Inner puck solid as a rock and pad stuck. Off with the caliper and see that there's fluid seeping around the piston seal. New caliper, flex hose and a new set of front pads are in her near future.
Click to expand...

You didn't need to lug around all that extra weight in your wallet anyway! :excitement:
 
Basil said:
You didn't need to lug around all that extra weight in your wallet anyway! :excitement:
Click to expand...

It has resembled a pinch on th' butt. Though not as uncomfortable as doing the actual replacement task. Had to order the caliper and flex hose from a parts store, the Benz house wanted FIVE times what it cost to wait a day!

EDIT: Thank goodness I've got a RELIABLE car! The MG got me to the parts stores to gather up the parts needed!
 
Glad you got it sorted. Two years ago, I had to rescue a friend whose new Honda motorcycle had broken down. Drove up in my '53 MG, and used the 60+ year old tool kit to get the guy back on the road.

Rescue.jpg
 
Not completed yet... needed a second set of hands (or feet in this circumstance) to help bleed the thing. Too lazy to rig up a German translation for the English EZ Bleed. Mitsy arrived back from her mum's place late yesterday, I'll enlist her aid... err... foot, later today. And I've got to repair the pad sensor harness as well. Solder and heat-shrink work. One of the old pads was down into the sensor and no warning light. Harness looks like rats had been at it, only attached to the hub connection by the plastic insulation on one of the wires. That task will entertain me before Herself climbs outta th' rack and gets her coffee.


UPDATE: System bled, whoever did the rebuild put a frickin' SAE 5/16" hex-head nipple in it. PITA! Inner puck on the right side was a bit reluctant to recede, as well. In any event Diesela now has new front brake pads.
 
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