spinfree

I bought my 2001 S4 in Nov of 2000. The car only has about 12K miles, but I've had my car into the shop 3 times already because of brake fluid leaking (BRAKE light flashes on the spedo).

The dealers (I've tried two) claim there is no leak, yet they keep having to add more fluid to the reservoir. There's obviously a leak.

I'm taking it in tomorrow cause the light is blinking AGAIN and the fluid is low.

Has anyone else has this problem? Any ideas? Thanks.

ryans4

It might be the resevoir (in which case you should have brake fluid under the resevoir).

Or it's one of your brake lines (the rubber ones, not metal).

Check for cuts/tears in the hoses, look for fluid residue. Also check where the hoses connect to the Caliper and the Car.

You may have picked up a rock and cut one of the rubber lines. So everytime you press the brakes, you squirt fluid out.

You may need someone to help out by depressing the brake pedal to find the leak.

There are 2 hoses up front, and 4 hoses in the rear.

DAP@EPL

I had a brake fluid leak. Same issue as you (brake fluid would drop to the min mark and set off the warning light roughly every 5000 miles).

In my case, it turned out to be a small crack in the clutch slave cylinder (the clutch uses the brake fluid reservoir as well). Had it replaced under warranty.

You definitely shouldn't be having to add brake fluid that frequently.

-Dave Pramanik

DAP@EPL

It wasn't leaking from anywhere visible. And the leak was slow enough that there weren't drivability issues. But it didn't take too much to convince the dealer that it was leaking so they took the car apart to find the leak.


-Dave Pramanik

ryans4

yeah, i read your post...the clutch slave cylinder is a PITA to get to...