Brake fluid level affecting pedal ?

[paulhumphries]

I recently came to my car and found the pedal went a lot further to floor then normal.
I'd done a lot of miles in the modern familly car just before so assumed, intitally, that is was just the difference in vehicles.
Brakes still worked as before but I decided to check fluid level - dropped around 1".
I topped up, pumped pedal a couple of times and now it's as good as before.
I cann't find any leaks so suspect it's because the shoes need adjustment.
I'm going to investigate thoroughly but wonder if this is normal - shoes wear, need adjusting and thus more fluid is required to displace piston. The level drops in master cylinder and there is just insufficent left to provide a hard pedal ?

Or is it a warning sign that the master cylinder is about to fail ?

One thing for definate is that when I fit a remote reservoir under bonnet it will have a brake fluid level warning light !


Paul Humphries.

[rayofleamington]

i'd say it is most likely a warning sign that something is failing.
After adjusting the brakes you could keep an eye on fluid level and pedal performance, but remember to be very careful in case the brakes do fail!

[bmcecosse]

After use there is a small residual pressure maintaine din the system - to keep the shoes near the drums. This has to be removed when fitting disc brakes to Minors. When the car sits for a while - this small pressure seeps away and the shoes relax back to the adjuster stops. So - initially you need to pump them up and then they should stay there at least for the rest of the day! It makes sense to keep an eye on the fluid level - but the remote reservoirs seem to have their own problems!

[jonathon]

'Some' remote reservoirs BM not all.

[bigginger]

I've never had any problems with them anyway, so it CAN'T be true...

[bmcecosse]

Me neither! I agree Jonathon - not all, but fair number reported on here. I have no idea what makes.

[phil63]

what are these "problems" with remote resevoirs ?? got me worried now , i am just about to fit one !!
Regards Phil

[Willie]

Well, my trouble took the form of an unstoppable leakage with no apparent
cause! My type of remote reservoir is the white plastic type and It seems,
after much fiddling that it is impossible to fill it to the normal amount without
it leaking from the cap area. I have marked a new level at 2/3rds of the
capacity and it is now leak free. This still means that there is twice the amount of fluid than in the old system and,of course, it only needs a quick
glance under the bonnet to check for fluid loss.

[rayofleamington]

what are these "problems" with remote resevoirs ??

some of the reservoirs may or may not have had poorly formed outlet pipes so that either the pipe doesn't seal on them and/or that they can snap off, getting brake fluid all over the engine bay