Obvious signs of leakage would point
to a failing brake master cylinder. The brake master cylinder tends to
leak on the brake booster in the engine bay. Check for signs of the black
paint peeling underneath the brake booster. There are brake master
cylinder rebuild kits available for a very attractive price, but we recommend
swapping in a whole new unit for less headaches. Original brake master
cylinders are not guarantee to work after a rebuild kit; pitting or scoring of
the inside bore will not be fixed with a rebuild kit. The brake master
cylinder bore needs to be rehoned for the rebuild kit to work properly.
Most people don't have the tools to properly rehone the bore, so it's a lot
easier just to get a new unit.
If you're loosing brake fluid
mysteriously, but you can't see any obvious signs of leaks, check all the brakes
lines in the wheel wells first. If the brake lines are not leaking, the
brake master cylinder can develop an "invisible" leak. Changing the master
cylinder will usually solve the problem.
If your brake master cylinder
is original, we highly recommend to change it now just for preventive
maintenance. All the hydraulics tend to fail at this point in time for all
FC3S models.
Questions? Comments? Send mail to:
reted@fc3spro.com
12/26/2003