leaking brake fluid

[CHIEF88]

Hey all,

Last few days I've been having to refill my brake fluid every time i get into my car. Could it be that the brake fluid is the wrong Dot rating or has something gone askew ? It is leaking at both front wheels, It has always leaked slowly since I've had the car however since going up a size wheel it seems to be leaking at a lot faster rate. Any ideas ?
Car is an 87 Hilux front disc brakes, rear drums. (rear doesn't seem to leak tho)

cheers, Dean.

[Brainless]

could be the seals on the calipers,

the reason the bigger tyres could be making more of an issue is because by adding bigger tyres you now require more pedal force and its squirting more fluid past a dodgy seals,

below is link to a seal kit for the front calipers
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Toyota-HILUX-LAN ... dZViewItem

[CHIEF88]

Do you know if they are hard to change ?

Also it leaks over night so i guess the seal is broken now lol

[Brainless]

Due to it only being seals i cannot see it being that hard, only thing is make sure you remember how it goes to gether as you pull it apart.

somebody else on this forum may be able to shed more light on how difficult it may be,

take the wheels off and have a good look at were the leak is emminating from it could also be a failure of the rubber portion of the brake lines they perish over time and can get splits.

i would also recommend not driving until you have found the source of the leak as it may have a full failure and drop all fluid whilst driving

[CHIEF88]

i would also recommend not driving until you have found the source of the leak as it may have a full failure and drop all fluid whilst driving

well u coulda told me that before I went to work (joking)
I forgot to read before I turned off my computer During my first delivery at work went to pull up to a set of lights, realised I had NO brakes had to use the handbrake as a brake (not as bad as u think cause my handbrake has a lot of slack in it) just to get back to work.. and its raining which made it all the more worse and if anyone knows the St Lucia they will know how hilly it is too .... quite an experience
To get home after my shift I topped the brake fluid back up and thought id chance it as i live 2 mins away from work, got back to my house and the brake light comes on, open the hood to see its empty again
I'm gonna take the wheel off tomorrow see if i can't find the source then buy some seals.
Lesson learnt

[RAY185]

i would also recommend not driving until you have found the source of the leak as it may have a full failure and drop all fluid whilst driving

well u coulda told me that before I went to work (joking)
I forgot to read before I turned off my computer During my first delivery at work went to pull up to a set of lights, realised I had NO brakes had to use the handbrake as a brake (not as bad as u think cause my handbrake has a lot of slack in it) just to get back to work.. and its raining which made it all the more worse and if anyone knows the St Lucia they will know how hilly it is too .... quite an experience
To get home after my shift I topped the brake fluid back up and thought id chance it as i live 2 mins away from work, got back to my house and the brake light comes on, open the hood to see its empty again
I'm gonna take the wheel off tomorrow see if i can't find the source then buy some seals.
Lesson learnt

Dude, absolutely no offence intended here at all but in the interest of your safety and the safety of others on the road........take it to a mechanic and get it fixed properly.

Brakes are not to be messed with if you're not absolutely sure what you are doing. The fact that you knew it was leaking around the area of the front wheels but had to ask for a source of your leak on an internet forum leads me to believe that you should not be pulling your calipers apart and resealing them yourself.

Again, no offence here at all.

ps: Are you even sure its leaking from the caliper? Could be flexible brake hoses or even a split in the hard brake line (bundy tube). Get it checked out and fixed asap.

pps: In future if you realise you are going through brake fluid regularly (like you say its been leaking consistently since you bought it and you've had it how long?) you need to get it checked asap as this is not normal and something is leaking.

[CHIEF88]

Point taken (honestly), cheers.