my brakes decided to die on Q45

[yawnraval1]

Hello Folks, I have a 90 Q45 that I purchased at the beginning of this summer. The car had a fuel pump issue that took me forever to fix. as a result the car sat for a while while I was chasing parts for the fuel pump. After getting the fuel pump fixed and buying a new battery I get behind the wheel and crank the engine. Great!!!!!!! the fuel pump worked. But the brake pedal went all the way to the floor. I opened the hood and found the reservoir for the brake fluid and it was dry......Yikes....Obviously a leak. I inspect below the master cylinder but see nothing unusual. So there is a definitely a mystery going on. I inspect each wheels caliper and see nothing unusual there. Somehow, over three months, the brake fluid has disapeared from my reservoir. I decide to refill the system and bleed the brakes. (2 man job - going LR,RR,LF,RF per the manual) we got tons of air out of the system but were never able to get the brakes to firm up. The right front bleed valve took forever to clear of air.

Any ideas???? Again I haven't owned this car very long and am a total newbie to it's engineering design. Does anyone out there know of anything else I could be checking or a diagnostic I could perform to determine where a leak may be originating?

[qship96]

visual inspection starting at resivour,continue thru lines,abs module to all 4 lines under car to each caliper- somewhere you will find a wet area!

[elwesso]

my guess is one of the lines on where the calipers is leaking..... either that or your MC is shot.

[DrewQ45]

I'll bet that one of your rubber brake-lines have ruptured like mine did....

"Here is the brake line that popped... the break occurred just below the metal crimp and just before I got on the highway (phew). My foot sank right to the floor and I almost ran right through the light...It was my fault for not changing them sooner...Better pic below this one...."



Fill up the fluid, turn on the car, push the brake HARD all the way to the floor, hold and have someone inspect. This shouldn't be hard to spot... that much fluid has to show up somewhere. Also, check calipers....a piston seal may be bad in which case you should have fluid running down the inside of your rim.

See links...

zerothread?id=110515

zerothread?id=114717

[yawnraval1]

Hey Thanks guys. I truly appreciate it. I have been out all day and just now saw the responses. I will check out all of the lines tomorrow and let everyone know what I find.

[yawnraval1]

definitely the master cylinder. I inspected the system starting at the MC and right where the mounting flange of the MC attaches to the booster you can see nothing but curled up paint running down the booster, underneath and then down to the car frame. Thanks for everyones help.

[Q45tech]

What happens when you don't do adequate system flushes. The fluild decomposes with absorbed moisture and eats the seals.

[yawnraval1]

Hey Paul................Thanks for the hook up with the MC. INstalled and working great.............All the lines are solid as well. Great help!!!!!!!!!!!!! I appreciate it.

[3rd Q]

Hey Paul................Thanks for the hook up with the MC. INstalled and working great.............All the lines are solid as well. Great help!!!!!!!!!!!!! I appreciate it.

Glad you could use it. The guy I bought the parts car from had recently replaced it, so I hope you get plenty of life out of it.

Thanks,Paul